DWGNLDY'S BLOG

Four new posts.

2012-02-12T11:40:00.001-08:00

I've been busy and haven't posted for awhile so I'm doing 4 individual posts. That way you can catch up when you're in the mood.

For D's birthday last month he wanted the kids to come over and celebrate Christmas again. It was to be an informal affair and the food for the night was going to be your favorite junk food.

The menu consisted of Cracker Jacks, freshly baked oatmeal cookies, artichoke dip, chips, Triscuts, Red Vines, Fresh Strawberries and Pizza. It was wonderful.

S brought her little snack wrapped in a soft pink blanket. Come on, you just have to nibble those little fingers.

Life is so hard at this stage isn't it? LOL!

Patrick and Marge brought our other little grandchild. No, he's not blood related but genetics are only a little part of family. I've never seen a little guy eat so many cookies and get away with it. Yes, his cheek is protruding because there is a cookie in there.

I've got to admit, my grand daughter has one large pair of big eyes. And...she doesn't miss a thing.

Ahhh...look, my little baby with his little baby. How sweet is that. S told me the other day Em laughed for him. He was so happy! He and S have many more treats like that to come.

D said no gifts for his birthday but S & S gave him this picture. It's absolutely adorable. I haven't decided where to hang it, so it is gracing the entry hall table. I'm getting used to it being there and might leave it a bit longer. It's the first thing we see when we come in the front door.

Deck..deck...deckie deck.

2012-02-12T11:34:00.000-08:00

I thought you'd like to see how D is doing with the deck. After all, it has cost him two fingers. LOL! I've heard of a two finger martini but not a two finger deck.

I went over the other night after work and gave him a hand. I was beat from working all day but it was actually very refreshing being out in the cool evening air after being in a stuffy office all day.

We worked until it was too dark to do anything else.

This is the backside of the house. I told D if he bought and cut the wood for the door frames, I'd get them painted and installed on the weekend while he was at work. He loved the idea but I haven't seen any new lumber yet.

Mundane but necessary project.....

2012-02-12T11:23:00.000-08:00

Well, the other day I got a bee in my bonnet and decided to tackle a job that was loooooong overdue. My dresser. With the new 'energy saving' lightbulbs there isn't enough light in the morning to see in my dresser to get my lingerie. So, I end up making a mess out of it.

In an attempt to simplify things and make my mornings easier, I dumped the contents the entire dresser and drawers (except 1) out on the bed and ruthlessly decided what to keep and what to throw away.

I was very strong. I tried on bras, undies and nylons. If I had to think more than 5 seconds on if I'd wear it again, it went in the garbage bag. I threw away brand spanking new and expensive bras. If they weren't comfortable as soon as I put it on, out it went. Hm....I don't even feel bad thinking about it today.

I ended up almost filling to the top, a big bag that we get 40 pounds of pellets in. If I couldn't find the mate to a sock, out it went! If I find the mate later, I'll toss that too. I now have a small spot I keep mismatched socks in. If it gets too large, in the trash they'll go and I'll start fresh again.

It took almost half a day for this job but I feel better already!

Advertisement for Fake Lawn

2012-02-12T11:13:00.000-08:00

I've decided we are an advertisement for fake grass. Here we are already through fall and winter and yet my lawn looks like this. Usually, it's knee high and green as can be. Not this year.

Natures lawnmowers are eating the lawn roots up. As you can tell, they're very afraid of me. So afraid this one decided she need to potty break before fright set in. LOL!

After relieving herself, she and her friend decided to graze a bit more before the little girl on the other side of the gate drew their attention and they decided they were full.

This one wasn't hungry enough to jump the gate and eat. She must have been at the front lawn mowing it before meandering to the backyard.

Hmmmm....what to blog about.

2012-01-14T17:24:00.000-08:00

I was trying to think of what I'd talk about this time around. I don't want to overdue the grandchild thing so I thought I'd do a cute dog thing. AGAIN!

While loading the pictures from the camera to the computer this popped up. D has been working on the clutch of the truck for a couple of weeks now. Yep, I said a couple of weeks. Apparently it's turning into a nightmare of a project.

Anyway, he takes me to work and then uses the car for running around. Now I'm thinking groceries, an occasional tool from Home Depot but I found this a little while ago. I think I need to gently explain to him my car is not a truck. It doesn't chauffeur around dirty tools, greasy car parts and definitely not construction material. Oye vey! What will he think of next?

I thought I'd take a break from working on a project for a friend of mine in Australia. I worked on it a couple of hours and then decided I'd take a few minutes to go clean the kitchen counter and change the sheets on the bed. When I entered the bedroom this is what I found.

How can two little dogs be so exhausted from laying around all day? Nissie found the hardwood floor gets toasty warm in the sun, while Nuttie took the direct approach to heat.

She decided she'd get a double whammy. Not only is she sprawled out on the little table in the sun but there's also a fire in the pellet stove. She was roasting hot and in doggie heaven.

That's it for the day. Nothing special, just a quickie. Have a nice weekend everyone.

Nighty Night Santa!

2012-01-08T10:06:00.000-08:00

Well, it's time to put Santa away for another year. This was a hard year not only for us but for many people. The tree was naked because D & I didn't exchange any gifts at all. But then, there's nothing we could ask for that would top the birth of little Em. Every cloud has a silver lining.

My sisters and I decided we'd make it easy on ourselves and instead of gifts, we'd give each other an ornament. I thought you'd enjoy seeing the beautiful ones I received.

This hummingbird is my favorite Birthday gift of 2011. The picture just doesn't do it justice. It's absolutely beautiful! Somehow the person who gave it to me knew I collected hummingbirds and thought ahead to Christmas. Thank you so much.

This is my favorite travel ornament, given to me by my sister A. I love the three D look it has, which makes it stand out on the tree. It's delicate like me. Yuck...yuck...yuck....a little Christmas humor there.

My sister E gave me this one. Santa here is my favorite sparkly character ornament. He's the traditional Santa and exactly what I would expect from her. Why you say???? Because she stops for shiny stuff. This little guy glistens all over. I could see her standing in front of a bunch of these in a trance with the shine in her face. I'll bet someone had to nudge or talk to her to get out eyes from rolling to the back of her head from pleasure. Hahahaha!

This is from my sister C. It wins the favorite sit and stare at it with my mouth open award. It's absolutely huge and I just can't quit looking at it. It sparkles in the day and it sparkles in the night. Yes, I suffer from the same 'shiny disease' my sister E suffers from.

Last but definitely not least, this is from my sister S. It's a traditional ornament that's very large and absolutely gorgeous. Ignore the yellow spot. That's the flash from the camera. I just couldn't get a good picture without that on it. Anyway, I love the glitter and that it's made of 4 different colors. Of course, she knows my favorite color is red so I would have been surprised if it had been blue. This is my favorite elegant globe ornament.

Now I'm thinking one ornament is missing. I think starting next year, I'll buy a special one for myself. I think I deserve it. After all, I put up the tree and take it down.

Speaking of which, I'd better get my tush in gear. I decided I'll get two things done today. Decorations put away and a control box for the well ordered, so it'll be here next week and we can quit playing russian roulette with the water in the morning.

Of course, I'm already ahead of my goal for the day. I spent all of 15 minutes cleaning the kitchen so it's pretty and sparkling. It's amazing how fast you can clean a kitchen when you had take out food the night before.

Now to crank up Pandora for the morning. My son got me hooked on it at Christmas. I not only play it at home on the computers but I play it at work when I'm posting payments or sending invoices. They're both kinda automatic non thinking functions so it's great to have music in my ears. Okay, just one ear. I need to hear the phone if it rings and answer it fast.

Hot dog, I'm a multi-tasker! Happy New Year everyone and here's hoping we all stay healthy, wealthy and wise this year. Do you hear that?????..... hubby of mine? I said, "Healthy!"

Goodbye 2011!!!!!

2012-01-01T09:49:00.000-08:00

I am so glad to see 2011 gone...gone....gone. It was a horrible year financially and medically. There were a few and I mean a few bright spots. First, D got the new pellet stove installed.

It's passed Nutties inspection. She likes to sit on the bricks but prefers.....

Laying across the top of the little round table where the heat hits her directly. The purchase of the stove was a decision I made by basically telling D., "Call on this and go pick it up." It's an older Lopi and had a few things we needed to replace on it. It was a little over $3000 new and we bought it for around $200 and threw in two new parts totaling I think $175. It's been running like a charm since then.

There are a few finishing touches that need to be done, like some paint spots need attention and the bottom trim piece needs to be fabricated. Other than that, it's a wonderful little stove.

It keeps the bedroom and hallway comfortable without being too hot or too cold. This is the first year during foggy days the back half of the house wasn't freezing cold. All in all, it was a successful purchase and project.

S & S brought little E over for Christmas. As you can see D is hating being a grandfather. There are just two sad things about this picture. The little Bear and D's finger.

What's wrong with this picture? Come on, if you read the previous blogs you'd know D lost the end of this baby finger in early November. What's that on his ring finger???? Well, in early December he almost cut off the end of it. That picture is of the good side. You don't want to see the rest, it looks like he put it through the meat grinder. His "hand surgeon", yes he has a specialist for that, was able to save this finger also. Although he's almost cut the darn thing completely off, it was a better job than the baby finger because he didn't destroy the bone.

He is starting to see the funny in it though. He told the doc, "Well, if I hadn't shortened the baby finger in November, then I would have completely lost it because the saw blade bypassed it and went into my ring finger." Yep, it was a room full of warped personalities because we found that hilarious!

So, we've saved another finger and once I have my car back....oh did I forget to mention the clutch went out on the truck so D's been shuttling me back and forth to work for a week? We're waiting for parts to come in. Once they do and the truck in back up running, I'm going to head to HD myself and walk right up to D in the tool corral and say, "Sir, my husband keeps cutting off his fingers because he refuses to buy the right tool for the right job. Would you please show me where the Forsner bits are and recommend which one I should buy for him? I have $40 cash right here!" LOL! Yep, that's the first thing on my list when I have my wheels back.

Yesterday (New Years Eve day) sucked. The Bear woke up not doing well. She'd peed and pooped all over herself and tracked it all over the family room carpet, kitchen and laundry room. She was out of sorts and couldn't stand up. We gave her the meds the vet had just upgraded and waited for things to settle down.

D went to work and later in the morning I kept hearing a thumping. I finally found her under his desk and she couldn't get up. She'd wet on herself again. I put her outside and she kept falling down. When she was finally able to stand she stumbled in a circle completely confused. I wrapped her in her favorite blanket which was an old bathrobe of mine and sat in my chair holding her and telling her it was okay to go.

She was having trouble breathing and really struggling so I called the vet and we decided it was time to put her down. We set an appointment for a little before one in hopes she'd just go to sleep. I didn't have a car so Scott came and took me to the vet when it was time. The Bear had wet on me two more times before the trip.

Nissie knew what was happing because she sat with her head on the Bear for the longest time. Okay, until the Bear started having horrible gas. Then it was, "She's your dog mom, you take care of her....I'm moving to another chair until the air fills!" Hahahaha! Fair weathered friend.

Scott took us to the vet and Dr. C. took her in to give her that final shot. She said the Bear died before the shot took affect. She said she had just put the needle in and she was gone. She continued the shot just to make sure there was no pain at the last minute.

So the first day of this year 2012, D spent lovingly placing the Bear in "Bern's Retreat" near where Pepper is buried. I have to think she decided on leaving this earth yesterday so we could start 2012 on a fresh footing.

All I can say is, if it weren't for little E being born, 2011 would have been a complete waste of time. So I guess every cloud has a silver lining.

Here's hoping the upcoming year brings happiness and safety to everyone in the family.

Daredevil......

2011-12-09T18:14:00.000-08:00

Yep, that's my husband on the roof. Don't worry, he made it off in one piece. As a matter of fact, I took 1/2 of today off so I could be home while he went up there. He's not allowed to do some things without me being home.

I got up this morning and the pellet stove in the family room was off. Again....it hasn't stayed on for the past week. Which means, there's a clog in the venting. It was absolutely freezing this morning so I left a note for D saying I was coming home around noon to 'help' him clean the pellet stove and chimney.

He got scolded for wearing these pants on the roof. He didn't see anything wrong with them. I see him getting his foot stuck on the flapping fabric and tripping. Yep, men and women definitely see the same thing differently! LOL!

Since he was up on the roof, he cleaned all three chimneys and fed the tubing into the bedroom fireplace for the new pellet stove. I figured if I could only have him up there once, I'd be happy. To bad I didn't give him a paintbrush and some black paint to redo the trim. I hadn't realized how cracked it was until he got up there.

Yep, that's duct tape. Man can't live without the stuff. Actually the brush we used to clean the chimneys is for the small 4" tubes. He was adding a towel over the brush to make it fat enough to wipe the sides of the inner liner. Oh...this is where I laugh and tell you he dropped the brush and it fell through the liner and landed in the fireplace in the bedroom. It was hilarious. The look on his face when he let go of the brush and it disappeared down the chimney. Hahahahaha! Priceless!!!! Hahahahaha!

When I got home, he'd already started moving the wood burning insert out of the fireplace. He got stuck and needed a woman's advice. So of course, I gave it to him.

Oh, this is where the brush ended up. You can't see it because the insert was still attached to the liner, so we had to take everything apart in order to be able to retrieve it.

When I left for work the bedroom was clean with the exception that the bed wasn't made because he was still asleep in it. Then the remodel bug hit and all hell broke loose.

See the small tube? That's the venting for the new pellet stove. It's inside the fireplace liner. The fat tube you can barely see at the top of the picture. The fireplace liner started to slip and come down into the firebox. It was almost touching the floor of the firebox and I wasn't strong enough to push it back up. I had D get the floor jack. Then I used it to slowly push the liner back up where D could secure it. It wasn't attached to a darn thing. Go figure!

D took off for work about an hour ago, so I took the opportunity to clean up after him. The room looks nice with a minimal amount of stuff you could trip over in the dark. I think maybe I'll actually head in there and put some clothes away. I just changed and threw them on the bed when I got home.

Hopefully, by the end of the weekend I'll have a new pellet insert installed and will be able to heat the back portion of the house. Next blog I'll take a picture of the 3 tons of pellets we bought in the past couple of weeks.

You'd think I'd have biceps the size of guns instead of little old lady wiggly arms. So much for hefting 40 pound bags of pellets. Maybe I need to do it on a regular basis instead of once in awhile....nahhhhh. LOL!

MEN!

2011-12-06T06:24:00.000-08:00

I've got D convinced it's time to sell some shi.....I mean unused items around the house and yard. With a month or two of coaxing and a huge fight, I finally got him to be persistent to list the cab of the old truck on CL. Guess what? It sold. Yippee!!!! He gets mad if it doesn't sell in the first couple of days and gives up. Sighhhhh...

The guy told him he had a trailer. Luckily I wasn't home for this little project because I would have rolled my eyes and said, "You've got to be kidding!"

Have you noticed the problem yet? The guy brought a boat trailer. The cab is on a couple of 2x4 skids and is strapped down with two straps. I just don't get the male mentality. I look at this and say, "Well, now I know why S is always busy at work. This is absolutely nuts!"

D said he had to take pictures so he could say goodbye to what's left of his old truck. Me....I say, good riddance. Hahahahaha!

Now to pick a new item for the auction block and prep myself for another blow out fight as to why it needs to be sold. I'm thinking fork lift is next, then the airplane mover. Yes, we actually have one of those vehicles you see at the airport backing up planes and loading luggage.

Lots of pics...busy few days....

2011-11-28T15:41:00.001-08:00

The girl child surprised us with a short visit over Thanksgiving. It was a complete spur of the moment surprise. It's funny because she talked to S & S and told them she expected to see her new niece or nephew when she visited. Guess we know who's boss in this family. LOL!

She's always avoided touching or holding babies but admitted she had been practicing with a bag of flour. Hahahahaha! Thatzah my girl!

Here's the proud grand dad! No there are no picture of me. I'm always on the other side of the camera and nobody ever thinks of taking a picture of me with my own camera. sigh..... I'm blatantly absent in all my children's pictures also. It's the price of being the guy behind the lense.

Okay, this guy is jut not tired enough. Guess we know who's getting up and feeding the little one.

No Coco is not snarling. He just yawned. Just thought Nana would like a picture of her grandson.

S is looking much more rested on this day.

H got mad because I snapped this when she wasn't 'posing'.

Thursday, D sold the cab of the truck. Finally! Yesterday (Sunday) we worked on putting it in position so the guy could pick it up this week.

D previously made a dolly for it to sit on so he could roll it out of the way when necessary. One of the wheels came loose so he had to repair it. Look ma, no circular saw in sight.

It didn't take long to rotate the cab into position. Let's hope loading it onto the guys trailer will go without a hitch. D needs to make a couple of skids so they can slide the beast onto the flat bed trailer.

While D was working on the wheel, I was sweeping leaves. This reminded me of when we were kids and dad would rake all the leaves into pile and we'd play in them. This is just a small sample of what I did. I got sidetracked and just stood there and enjoyed the view. Sometimes I do that.

Today was a wildlife day. I woke up to deer eating the front lawn. We need more rain so they'll stay on the hill.

When the mist melted away we had more turkeys on the hill. No these aren't the rerun of the pics I posted earlier. Just another day with the beasts. I told D if he could train the stupid things we'd never have to till a firebreak. They're scratching the hill and picking up anything they can see to eat.

If we could get them to do it on command and dictate where, we'd have a nice weedless hillside. LOL!

When I got back from the store this afternoon, there we two coyotes just outside the fence. They look monotone here but they were actually very spotted. Look how fat they are. I suspect they've been catching turkeys. Go coyotes go!

I met D next door to work on the deck for awhile. When I came down the driveway the pyracantha were swimming in turkeys. Proof they fly enough to get in the trees of bushes. It's hard to see but there are 5 in this small section of bush. When they saw the car, they flew down in a panic. I was driving through feathers like it was snowing. LOL!

Isn't this just as pretty shot? No not the icky turkeys, I mean the leaves on the ground.

D's been working on steps for the deck. These are the ones in the front.

I added support brackets to them today so D wouldn't have to.

When I left, D was finishing up the back risers. I can't wait until the actual decking starts to go on all this framing.

Well that's it. Family, animals and projects. I'm pooped. I think it'll be nice going back to work tomorrow. Although I have to admit, I really enjoyed having 5 days in a row off.

Thanksgiving Cancelled!!!! Oh my!

2011-11-25T10:15:00.001-08:00

Well, Thanksgiving was cancelled this week. We were going to celebrate tomorrow (Saturday) but had a last minute change of plans. D and I had a nice romantic dinner with a large game hen, garlic mashed potatoes, veggies, fruit and a nice wine. All this was done in the living room at a small table with candlelight in front of a beautiful fire. I love it when we do that.

A few minutes ago a flutter of movement caught my eye when I was in the kitchen and an influx of turkeys took over the kids base.

This is actually nothing. When I went to work Wednesday, I gave up counting at 40 how many were on the hill. I figure it was about 50+. They're noisy and dirty and much bigger than what you buy in the store. I know because years ago D and I were on a turkey farm (can't remember why now) but I remember thinking how large they were. These wild guys are actually larger and yet still stupid. LOL!

Oh what were, 'said change of plans', you ask? Here's our little Emma. She is a little over an hour old here. She was born Tuesday at 5:37 p.m. She's a whopping 6lbs 4 oz and 19" long. Scott couldn't wait until Sarah was done feeding her so he could play papa.

Yep, one hour and she's pooped already. Scott was cute. Sitting in a chair, held her close to him and softly said something like, "Let me introduce myself. I'm Scott but you can call me dad."

This is our family doctor. He surprised us by stopping by. He wanted to take a look at the newest W generation. He's getting a kick out of our children who were his first gen of kids to take care of, now having babies.

Here's the papa trying to compare which of his traits his little girl has. So far she looks more like Sarah than anyone. I saw some of her brother in little Emma also.

Ya just can't beat this picture! No caption needed.

Of course as the perfect grandmother, here's a picture of little Emma almost 24 hours old. My how she has grown. Hahahahahaha!

Heather surprised us and is in town. We'll be meeting her at Scott and Sarah's along with Pat and Marge for some pizza. D and I will pick up a couple of Papa Murphy's to feed everyone. I think I'll also take one of the apple pumpkin pies I made yesterday morning too. I'm hoping to keep the visit to around two hours, so we don't over tax the new family.

So Happy Dang Thanksgiving to us all! Whoopie.

No pictures, just stuff

2011-11-22T17:53:00.000-08:00

No pictures today. I have a dog in my lap and one asleep on my shoulders and I don't have the heart to wake them up.

First, it's been hell the past couple of weeks at work because we've had auditors. They're the most unorganized, inexperienced group of young people I've ever met. I thought I was going to be fired Friday because in the morning I lit into them for their lack of professionalism and stress they've been putting on the employees.

It's a long story but to make it short, the head auditor went in and was talking to my boss explaining his side of the procedure and she said he was fighting tears. I almost made an auditor cry. Hahahahaha! Anyway, her comment to me was, "Why didn't you take them to task sooner?"

Having been an internal auditor and married to the big honcho B of A auditor, I know how they're supposed to be performed.

Today, I stopped in to meet my boss because we were going out to Casa Real in Pleasanton for a meeting. I've been organizing the Christmas party and just finished the open enrollment party, Halloween luncheon and a few other client breakfasts/lunches. She hands me the smallest yellow post-it note and says, "You've been doing a fantastic job. You're a hard worker so I talked to the CEO and CFO and we're giving you a 10% raise." Wow! I had to fight back the tears. How nice is that.

Wayne at work sent me this:

Click here: Biertijd.com // Media » Tablecloth Trick

I hope you can click on the link and check it out. Go to the bathroom first because I promise you'll pee your pants laughing. I must have played it 8 or 10 times today. I laugh harder each time I see it. So enjoy!

Birthday

2011-11-17T06:52:00.000-08:00

I had a nice quiet birthday last week. D took me to lunch because he had to work that night. We're skipping the gift portion because the money is going to someone's medical bills. I wonder who that could be. LOL!

The important thing is, he remembered and took me out so it was just the two of us.

This is a picture of the birthday card my big sis gave me. I don't know where she finds them. She sends the coolest cards. I hold onto them until D bugs me to throw them away.

Here are my birthday socks. They are the best! I've been coming home from work, taking off my shoes and stockings and putting on a pair of socks she knitted for me. They run circles around what you buy in the store.

I've been remis on thanking E. for the wonderful gift. So thank you big sis! I love, love, love them!

The flash lightened these. Picture the darkest blood red you can conger up and that's them. Are you ready for this? I took the picture this morning but my boss gave them to me 10 days ago. I asked if they were from her garden and she said, "No not this time". She grows the most beautiful roses. It's obvious she doesn't have deer. Hahahaha!

Work has been super busy so I've been behind on almost everything on my computer and at home. I worked from 7:15 to 5:00 yesterday without a lunch break. Everyone was sick and there was nobody to relieve me. My boss told me to take off early Friday to make up for it. So, I'm going to be a good little employee and take her up on the offer.

Speaking of work, gotta jet. See ya'll around the computer sometime!

Hum drum.....

2011-11-13T19:39:00.001-08:00

It's been an uneventful week. (Thank goodness!). It's been very busy at work and there just hasn't been enough time in the day to get things done. I've been crashing when I get home.

This weekend I was going to just do absolutely nothing but instead I finished an icky project. My griddle has been caked with grease and crap for ages. It took me over a week of soaking and scrubbing to get it this clean.

Saturday I decided to buckle down and finish the job. We'll it's almost where I want it now.

I've oiled the griddle since I took this picture and it looks great. There's a small spot on the right side I'd like to work on a bit more but I simply pooped out. I'll tackle it when I get hit with a burst of energy again.

I got this cup from mom's things after she died. It's a beautiful cup but is actually very hard to drink out of. The handle is extremely comfortable for my small fingers but the lip is shaped odd. When I drink out of it, I always spill on myself. As my dad used to say, "You have a hole in your lip". I've decided I still love the cup but will only drink milk and OJ out of it so I don't get burned when I try to drink. LOL!

Tonight when D got home we worked on a pellet stove for the bedroom. He's had almost all summer to install it but of course waited until it's cold to work on it. It's a used pellet. Small for the bedroom and back part of the house.

We got it for a couple of hundred dollars. If we have to put a few bucks in it, it'll still be a screaming deal. It's a Lopi and is a little older. Considering the one in the family room is 25 years old and we've only had to replace the auger once we're sticking with that brand.

D replaced the starter and now it will light. He's been talking to the Lopi repairman on the phone. He wants D to test the convection fan tomorrow because it's not working right. Depending on how the test turns out, we'll either have to replace the circuit board or the convection fan. Either way it's still a screaming deal.

I wanted to try the new style but the smaller one for the bedroom. I'd like to replace the one in the family room with a newer model that would be more efficient and easier to clean. I figured if we bought a used one for a reasonable price, we'd be able to see the difference between the model we currently have and the newer style.

We had this lit tonight on the deck and it's the small stove for a small house and it was kicking out a lot of heat even with the convection fan not working. I think I'm glad I didn't decide to put a large one in the bedroom. We'd roast to death. LOL!

I'm hoping the weather stays nice for next weekend. Then D and I can go up on the roof, clean out the chimneys and install the small exhaust tube inside the existing tubing we have for the wood burning stove. If it's wet, there's no way I'm letting Sir Clutzalot on the slippery roof. Hahahaha!

Fire!

2011-11-03T18:13:00.001-07:00

First I'd like to say, I forgot Neal. I loved his Halloween costume. He came as....are you ready for this???? Steve Jobs. Hahahahaha! He was hilarious!

Tuesday night was a very quiet night. D was working and I was chilling out in the family room. I got sleepy around 9 so thought I'd head to bed. I know these are hard pictures to figure out but when I went to the bedroom I saw flashing lights reflecting on the walls.

The lot across the road had caught fire earlier in the evening. Each of those spots are fire vehicles. I counted over 20 of them.

It's the long winding road across from us. The house we'd looked at and decided not to buy.

If you put these pictures side by side, you'd get the idea of how many vehicles were there. One right after the other. I didn't even catch all of them because some of my trees were in the way and it was too cold to walk around the driveway to a clearing.

The fire vehicles started at the house and then there were a few at each bend of the road and bumper to bumper once they hit the flat part off the main road.

Now you're going....ahhhh....that house. It burned about 3 acres. I never heard a siren or smelled the smoke. I'm wondering if the sounds were blown away from me because they came from the canyon side, across the backyard and toward the road. The wind sounded like a freight train.

Here's a small article on it: http://www.danvilleexpress.com/news/show_story.php?id=6609

This is the fear we have every 4th of July, which is why we never leave home during that entire week.

Oh and to address my sister's comment about the mangled finger/thumbs in the family due to power tools....In ER I told D, "You just couldn't leave Ray and Dave to have the cut off fingers...Now could you?" It's interesting (if you can call it that) how the three of them have completely different versions of amputations. Although, Ray gets the first prize if there's one to award. Here's hoping Steve and Darryl can behave themselves and keep all their digits.

I'm thinking by the time the finger heals, it'll look like a mini version on Megan Fox's weird thumb nails. That is if we're lucky. We'll see.

Time to go find me some popcorn. Bones season premier is tonight. I think the occasion calls for either popcorn or ice cream. Since I want to fit into a nice dress for our Christmas Party, I think I'll go for the popcorn.

Tah tah!

Halloween....

2011-10-31T18:42:00.001-07:00

So before we venture into Halloween see that spot on top of Nissie's head and eyebrow? Go ahead guess what it is. Okay...okay....we had quesadillas and buffalo wings for dinner. D. decided to take the garbage out while I did dishes. We both forgot to clear the table completely off. I turned around and guess who was lapping up the sour cream? I'm thinking the white dot in the center of the dog's head is giving you the answer.

This just goes to show a man with one full hand and one hand with 4 3/4 fingers can still spoil his dog by holding her in his lap. Awwww.....isn't that sweet.

This is the pumpkin Ann and Alan at work made for the front desk. I think it's cool.

I'm betting at night you can't see the wires and the eyeballs might glow in the dark. Cool.....

We had a pot luck at work today. I organized it and we had tons of food. This is just the dessert table(s). I started out with one 8 foot table and we had to add on to it.

Just in case you didn't notice the jello. This is it up close. Is that cool or what. It's a brain!

This is actually 4 tables which equal about 32'. It doesn't look like much here but it was a ton of food. We had about 100 of the employees participate.

This is Ann. She and the Alan (her husband shown below) made the pumpkin above along with a pumpkin for each of their employees.

Is Alan cool or what? I didn't get a close shot of Ann and Alan standing but they were very sharp. Their department got into the swing and really went all out and dressed up.

This is Thao. She's very shy and quiet. Her Jack Sparrow outfit was really great. I pointed her out in a mass email and she came to the front desk and quietly said, "Oh...you outed me". I just laughed at her and said, "Well, yeah. You have a great costume!"

It's hard to see Nikki here. Her veil is really pretty black cobwebs with spiders on it.

Here are a few of Alan's staff. It's just a drop in the bucket. See the girl sitting to the left of the guy with the orange shirt? She got awarded most creative. She had on a black hoodie, and a box of Cheerios or something with knives sticking out of it. She hung it from her neck. I said, "Okay, I give what are you?" Are you ready for this????? She's a cereal/serial killer. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I love it.

Well, that's all for the excitement tonight. I really had a great time at work putting the luncheon together and checking out the costumes. I have to admit though, I'm pooped tonight.

Bunny, Buzzsaw & Booties.....

2011-10-26T07:02:00.000-07:00

I think I need to ask Santa for a nice camera for Christmas. My little one is great for pictures for the blog or CL but when I'm trying to take a shot from a distance, it just can't seem to cut the mustard.

We have lots of bunnies around here (okay, they're really jack rabbits) but they rarely sit still long enough for me to take a picture. They're actually quite large and very fast.

When H was growing up she called them Ed. She didn't care if they were boys or girls, she named them all the same. LOL!

I came home the other day and the sleeve of my jacket was hanging off the bar stool and looking rather odd. When I got closer, I noticed little buzzsaw (Nissie) got a hold of it and ate the sleeve up to the elbow.

I haven't a clue why she did this. I think the last time I wore it I was cooking something like bacon. Which means the smell was still on the sleeve and she decided to have a snack. I'm keeping an eye out, since she doesn't seem to have passed the pieces yet. Ewwww....

Let's see, we did the bunny, buzzsaw and now for the booties. I work with Irena. She's from Russia and we just hit it off from the beginning of my working at ITN. She makes me laugh. Sometimes I can't understand half of what she's saying but she keeps me in stitches.

Anyway, she's been knitting since she was 8 and loves it when I show her what my sister and nieces have been working on. She made these for me Monday night and gave them to me Tuesday at work. They're mohair and just the softest darn booties I've ever touched.

I think I embarrassed her and made her proud all at the same time because when I was at the front desk, I put them on top of the counter where everyone could see them as they walked by. When someone asked me about them I proudly told them Irena made them for me. She got lots of compliments.

Oh for those knitters in the family, she loves to knit and crochet baby blankets, booties, sweaters, etc. for new mothers. She can't afford to keep buying yarn so she gets it from....are you ready for this???? The second hand/Goodwill store. She buys sweaters dirt cheap, brings them home and washes/cleans them, then takes them apart and reuses the yarn for more baby stuff. I never would have thought of that.

She loves it when I show her the family blogs and new projects everyone is working on. I've promised to send her pictures of the blankets my sister made for the baby and my son and daughter-in-law.

Oh...maybe I'll do that right now! Yep, so I'll hush up and start editing pictures for Irena. Bye!

The Meltdown.....

2011-10-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

So I had a meltdown this morning around 6:45. I'm talking embarrassing yelling and swearing using the F word. As you guys know, I never...ever use that word!

The weekends are supposed to be my day to regroup and prepare for a busy week ahead. I'm not getting that because I have to get up and take D to work because he can't drive. He can work as long as he doesn't climb ladders, lift heavy stuff or drive because of the pain meds he's on.

With the bear getting so old, my morning routine isn't easy anymore. The little dogs don't want to go potty and pay attention because they want in the Bear's cage so they can eat her poop. She's been pooping and peeing in her cage because she just can't hold it at night anymore. Which means I'm picking up her wet stinky blanket and stuff and putting it in the washer each morning.

So the mornings have become a zoo trying to get the little dogs to focus. Then if I turn my back, Nuttie swoops in and starts eating the Bears breakfast.

The past few days the Bear has come out of her cage and while I'm dishing her breakfast and hiding her pills in it, she poops on the floor then walks in it and tracks throughout the kitchen. If I put her outside before feeding her, she just stands on the step and cries. Yet she can't hold it when she gets excited like she does when she sees I'm putting food in her bowl.

This morning she peed on the hardwood floor and I didn't see it because I was trying to settle the little dogs and feed them. I walked in it and it stained the hardwood.

Well, poor D was in the kitchen when I lost it. Yelling wishing his dog was dead. How life will be so much easier when she's gone and so on. It was a horrible, mean, ugly thing to say but what scares me most is, at the time I meant every word I said.

So instead of coming home after taking D to work, I went to WalMart, bought some stuff we needed along with a Vampire movie that looks pretty good. Then I went to the grocery store and bought what I needed to marinate the flank steak. I've decided on an easy dinner of BLT and we'll have a nice meal of the flank steak tomorrow.

I've put all the groceries away and fried up some little smokie sausages to eat. I know better because they have sugar and give me a migraine but I just didn't give a darn.

On the upside, I fried up 8, ate 2 and gave the other 6 to the dogs. Which of course, they don't get people food so they think I walk on water right now. I finished my two sausages about 10 minutes ago and I'm already fighting a headache. Well, doesn't that just serve me right!!!!

I'm going to go in, take a pill or two and watch my vampire movie. If I'm lucky I'll fall asleep for a short nap but I doubt that will happen with the migraine starting.

Once I'm rested, I'll go in clean the kitchen, put the WalMart stuff away and hook up the new wireless keyboard and mouse I bought D for the PC in the office.

Speaking of D. The surgery went well yesterday but the damage was more extensive than first thought so they had to do a 'modified amputation' on the tip of his finger. I believe the doctor said it was massive damage to the tissue. He should have a fingernail though and she removed 5 mm off the end of his finger. We'll see Friday what it looks like.

I really have to find that guy a desk job. He's turning me into a wreck. LOL! I've told him how much his 'accidents' affect me but I don't think he seriously realizes how each time something happens, it just drains me. This is his 3rd trip to ER in 10 months. Although, he has promised no more trips this year or all of 2012. You'll have to pardon me if I'm skeptical. sigh.....

Okay, where'd I put my vampires?

ER...ER....ERERER.....

2011-10-18T06:39:00.000-07:00

Okay friends and family, I hope you're sitting down. 'As the D turns', has a new episode. Yep, this is my hubby Monday evening. Grab a cup of coffee, put your feet up, get comfortable and start reading.

He called me around 4 (Monday) at work and said, "Could you please come by ER on your way home from work?" That question would put fear into most women, for me it received just a sigh and a question. "What did you do now?"

The reply is, "I cut my finger so I'm in ER."

When I get to the hospital there's my hubby lying on a gurney. I look down at his baby finger and it's not a nice simple clean cut like from a utility knife. I sigh and say, "What did you do?"

D: "Well, I was working on the deck and cut my finger with the circular saw." Yes fans, it was that ugly.

He cut through the fingernail from the tip of the finger to where the nail comes out of the skin. The finger is dangling....okay that's graphic enough. Just suffice it to say it wasn't pretty. The doc in ER thought he was going to lose that part of his finger. The surgeon they called in said he knew a specialist that could probably rebuild the finger. So they stabilized it and we headed to the orthopedic surgeon the following morning (Tuesday).

She sees with some work, she can repair it with hopes that most or all of the nail will take root and grow again. The finger stitched back together and with some grafting over the end that's white and dead, it'll look pretty normal but he won't have feeling in that one spot.

After awhile and quite a bit of cleaning, they again stabilize the finger in a big splint with lots of cushioning and make an appointment for surgery Friday morning. They'll put him in a light sleep so it'll be easy to wake him, not require a tube down his throat and make it so he won't feel or remember any of the surgery.

Now most of you would say he'd stay out of trouble. NOPE!!!! It turns out he needed an EKG before they'd do surgery. Instead of calling me back from work to take him (awhile after seeing the surgeon) Tuesday morning, he drove himself to the doctor for the test.

While getting out of the truck, he caught his finger on the door and ripped the splint and protective padding off of it. Yes, he said it hurt like....well you get the picture.

As luck would have it, the orthopedic surgeon is downstairs from our family doctor who was going to do the EKG. So D stopped in at the surgeon's office (second time that day) and had them wrap the finger again.

I'd like to point out that when I got home I immediately noticed the finger was wrapped differently and asked why. He had to confess his trip back to the doctor and the damage made to his poor little finger.

Just a few points. This happened because he was too cheap to go out and buy a $40 Forsner bit to do the job that needed to be done. Instead he thought he could save money by making the cut with the circular saw. Um...WRONG!

I asked how long it would have taken to go buy the required bit and he conceded maybe 30 - 40 minutes. So my comment was, "Let's make this easy. $40 and 40 minutes to get the right equipment. Right?"

D: "Well, yeah."

Me: "So now you've spent 5 hours in ER and spent a few thousand dollars and the finger is still not fixed."

D: "Uh huh."

Me: "Now we've got plastic surgery to put the finger back together, which means more doctor visits and probably a little less than $15,000 or $20,000 to do the job."

D: "Uh huh."

Me: "I'm thinking, $40 for 40 minutes is looking pretty good right now."

D: "I suppose if you look at it that way, yeah."

At this point I'm about ready to fall on the floor laughing at his male mentality. Then he hits me with sticking his pinkie up in the air and says, "I think Home Depot should let me give the safety classes." I almost peed my pants laughing so hard!

He said, "Ya gotta have the right tool for the right job!" Duh, now the light goes on over his head. Hahahahahahaha!

I'm one tired, exhausted, wife with a very warped sense of humor. Definitely not the same woman he married 38 years ago. I like to think of myself as seasoned. LOL!

Ah....note to self. Thank boss tomorrow for the wonderful Health Care plan I'm taking for a test spin. {;- )

The Good Wife...kinda...

2011-10-15T17:19:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week my boss got flowers from her future daughter in law and son as a thank you for throwing them an engagement party. When I came in Friday, they were on my desk. It was a very nice surprise for 7:15 in the morning.

I went in to thank her for them and her comment was, "I'm sorry, I meant to give them to you yesterday morning. I wanted you to enjoy them longer."

Before D left this morning, he was a bit down and told me how he envies me and my working relationship with my boss. I told him I've had some very nice bosses in the past but Ann walks on water as far as I'm concerned. She appreciates everything I do and asks my opinion on stuff a normal boss wouldn't bother with. I give her way more than 100% of my effort and time. I love her to bits.

I thought I'd be good and clean house today and shampoo the hall and bedroom carpets. While I was working my fingers to the bone, a little black dog was getting into things she didn't belong in.

I came down the hall to refill the tank for the shampooer and saw these batteries on the floor in the kitchen. I know I'd put them on the kitchen table.

When I started shampooing the hall carpet the bills were in a nice neat stack under my purse and my wallet, checkbook and hankie were safe and snug inside of it.

Friday morning Nissie got into my purse and ate my chapstick (again....sigh....) and my bubblegum. Apparently that wasn't enough for her and she went back to the source today for my new tube of chapstick and anything else she could find. Luckily, I gave Janeen at work my last two Pepto Bismal tablets yesterday because she had an upset tummy.

I know it was Nissie because when I was picking up the stuff to put it back in my purse, I glanced down by the bar and she was rolled over on her back showing me her tummy with that, 'Nuttie made me do it' look. I'm thinking it's time to start putting the purse on the bar in the future.

Today I was a good wife by cleaning and cleaning and cleaning. Now I'm sitting here looking at the bills and checkbook balance. My friend Toni said when she noticed she still had money, that meant she needed to pay bills. I see what she means. I've just been procrastinating because yesterday was payday, the checkbook looks healthy and I haven't felt broke for 24 hours.

Maybe tomorrow I'll bite the bullet and make some creditors happy. I'm thinking PG&E and the phone company will be the first on my list.

Well, time to go make some rice for dinner. S called yesterday to say hi and inform his ma Safeway has huge shrimp on sale for $7 a pound. D's going to bring some home tonight so I'll make his favorite Shrimp Victoria for dinner.

Deck stuff again....yawn....

2011-10-11T06:42:00.000-07:00

While D was at work Sunday I thought I'd go over and work on the deck. The boards coming out of the house were pretty rotten so my job was to sister boards up to them for the new framing.

I was getting ready to work on the first one and decided I wasn't going to get close to these cobwebs. I know there are black widow spiders living among the wood. Yep, I'm a chicken. Remember this pictures. LOL!

I got quite a few of the joists done. I was even able to get all the joist hangers installed. We decided to recycle some of the wood from the old deck that was in good condition. It won't be seen but the rest of the wood that'll be exposed will be the same new stuff D's been using.

We're already putting tons of wood in the landfill so it was time to scout for something that's reusable. It was a hard search since the entire deck was so darn bad.

Remember the cobwebs? Every place I put one of these little screws, D has to go back and put 2 screws next to the house melding the boards together. He made fun of me that I wouldn't work with the spiders but a girl's gotta stick to her guns sometimes. LOL!

On Saturday, I just went over for a short time. I was working on the downspout. D lifted me up on the framing then went to cut some boards in the back. I thought it would take me 10 or so minutes to do my job but it only took about 2. So there I sat until he was done with his job to help me down.

I toyed with the thought of jumping. It doesn't look high from this picture but when you're sitting there, it's high. Add to that, I'd hurt my left knee the day before at work. Don't know what I did but it was very painful. I'm thinkin' it might be an old age thing. sigh....

In the backyard, the neighbors have this scraggly thing that tries to pass as a tree. I've been convinced it's dead because it's been so lifeless. All of the sudden it broke out in these beautiful berries. The tree is still scraggly looking but colorful now.

I can't figure what kind of tree it is. It's almost like a pyracantha but the berries and leaves aren't quite right. It's definitely not a holly. All I can say is it was a nice spot of color.

My trees are more confused than ever this year. Look at this. These are all Raywood Ashes and yet one is already about to drop its leaves while the other is still lush and green. Looks like we'll be enjoying the fall colors for some time to come.

Speaking of trees, we had Davey Tree come out and inspect them and found massive damage to 7 trees and moderate damage to another 10. They're cost to save them....are you ready for this.....$1700! The guy who will prune and deep fertilize them gets $185 an hour. I'm thinking I'm in the wrong business! Hahahaha!

We'll see what J. B. Hunt has to say about that.

Ahhhhh....my husband....

2011-10-07T06:42:00.001-07:00

Remember the paper patterns in the last post? Well here they are cut for the deck.

I think they worked out pretty good. Although, there might be more metal in the post from the screws than the plate D made. Hahahahaha!

I think this was a good idea and an even better idea putting them on the inside where they aren't seen. Great job D!

When I came home Wednesday after work I couldn't find my husband. I called and searched then went to the kitchen and low and behold he was BBQing in the rain. It was pouring and there he was. LOL!

I have to admit the steak was one of the most flavorful and tender ones we've had in a long time. Was it the rain or the chef....hmmmmmm...something to ponder about.

My son says I put to many dog pictures on the blog so I thought, 'what the heck'. This is Nissie going through her nightly routine. She is begging to be put in her taxi for the night. She shuffles all four feet in one space, like a doggie moon walk, then does this weird stuff with waiving her head around and flapping her mouth. No, that's not a bark, she usually doesn't make a sound with the exceptional groan that might pop out. It's just hilarious.

It usually starts around 5:00 but now I've got her trained to wait until after dinner. If I ignore the dance, she'll jump in my lap, try to lick my face, jump back to the couch and dance, then jump back into licking my face. It goes on until I tell her, 'Okay, ya wanna go to bed?' Then off she runs to her taxi.

I'm thinking the dog has a wee bit of personality.

Her mother on the other hand, doesn't want to go to bed so she finds someplace to hide until I hit the sack. It'll be in a pillowcase, in the Bears bed, under any blanket or pillow she can find, in any room she can hide in.

Animals are God's little joke on us. If you pay attention, they'll do something funny and make you laugh.

Trees...

2011-10-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know, I'm supposed to be cleaning out the retractable, cleaning the sewing room and embroidering. And here I am blogging again. I swear, I'll do at least two of those things today, even though it's almost noon. LOL!

This is Robbie. He's a very sweet guy. He's the tow truck driver we use when we buy cars for our Australian friend. Robbie is important to this story.

This is Robbie's business partner. She goes everywhere he does and is soft, gentle and loves to be stroked.

A few weeks back, D's clutch went out on the truck. We called Robbie to come and tow it home for us because he has a nice big tow truck. Now remember the nice big tow truck phrase and it coming up our driveway and going down with our big truck on top without a lick of trouble.

Now part two of the story. A day or so following Robbie bringing our truck on his tow truck up the driveway, D was under the portico working on repairing his clutch. He kept hearing loud exploding noises and found a huge J.B.Hunt truck trying to make a u-turn in the circle, without being noticed.

D went to investigate and started yelling at the guy. What D was hearing was the branches exploding off our trees as the idiot came up the driveway.

If you look carefully you can see limbs hanging off the trees further down. This is the first tree on the right as you go down the driveway. You'll notice a large portion of it is laying across the brick light pillar.

Look carefully and you'll see the light fixture among the branches. I was amazed when D moved the branches off, the light was not only unbroken but the bricks were also okay.

This shows where two large limbs snapped and partially snapped off the tree.

These are the trees just past the light pillars. The damage goes all the way to the base of the driveway.

Apparently the fool driving the truck wasn't smart enough to figure, "Duh, if I don't fit down here and I'm destroying trees on this flat section, maybe I won't fit at the top either." He was definitely not a brain surgeon.

Anyway, when D saw this guy trying to make a u-turn in the circle he investigated, saw the damage and started yelling at the guy. The driver just kept saying, "Call J.B. Hunt, call J.B. Hunt!" Which of course gave D the impression this wasn't the first time this guy has destroyed property.

Ya ready for the best part? He was at the wrong address. Yep, Einstein was delivering a washer and dryer to our neighbors. Apparently he failed to notice the 3 foot yellow sign part way up the driveway that has our name, address and an arrow in bold black paint on it.

D contacted our neighbor got the delivery information and has been in contact with J. B. Hunt. He said at this point he wants them to pay for Davy Tree to come and inspect the trees. If they suggest making some trims here and there then D will do them. If they say some of the trees won't make it through the winter and will go into shock because of the damage, then we will expect J. B. Hunt to replace them with full sized trees. Considering these threes are over 25 years old, it's the least they can do.

We aren't even dealing with the gash the boob put in the aggregate driveway, bricks he broke off lining the circle or the juniper bush he ripped limbs off of.

I'm telling ya, common sense is a dying thing when it comes to those who practice walking upright these days.

Fall is in the air....

2011-10-01T16:07:00.001-07:00

Fall is upon us and it's been raining pine needles the past few days. It looks like brown snow.

They blanket everything from the patio furniture, shrubs, ground and roof.

The rain gutters are filled with them. Guess that's on the list to clean out before the rain starts.

It's Saturday so time to go work on the deck next door. First thing on my list is to grab my favorite cup and fill it with ice water. This cup goes in the freezer and has a gel that keeps everything cold for awhile.

What I don't like about it is, after awhile my water tastes like plastic. I hate that and I can't believe it's really good for me if it leaches into my water.

D's been busy on the deck this week. He's got the outside framing done boxing in everything that was done the previous week.

I spent awhile today putting screws in specific spots for extra strength.

This is the 3rd and last side of the deck D ripped out last week. It's connected to the front of their house. There were only a few support uprights holding this thing in the air and they were pretty rotten.

Remember the rickety steps from a few posts back? This is what D ripped apart.

This will be an interesting corner. I don't know if D is going to angle it or just make it a square corner. I'm not going to ask him, I'd rather be surprised.

This is a bit out of order but it shows the frame we worked on week before last (on the right) and the new outside wall D added last week (on the left) and how he pulled them together.

I bought this radio for D years ago. It's been a real trooper. He's dropped it more times than I can count and it's even spent quite a bit of time in the rain. I think it might be on its last leg though. I couldn't get it to work today.

I find that funny since D showed me yesterday it has a built in battery charger in the back. He just figured out it will charge two sizes of his batteries. It took how many years to figure that out? Hahahahaha! I think Santa might have to buy a new one of these this year.

Okay, what is it? Come on...it's my homework from next door for the day.

Give up, they're patterns. D. wants to add steel support brackets to some of the beams of the outside wall he created last week. Each one is a bit different so he had me make custom patterns so he can cut the brackets and install them next week.

Another case of overbuilding from my dear husband.

Well, that's it for today. I'm just shooting the breeze waiting for D to come home so I can make some scalloped potatoes. I have the meat, cheese, onions but not the potatoes. Minor detail.

What can I say, the cool air blowing put me in the mood for oven baked food tonight.

Yawn......it's Tuesday

2011-09-27T06:49:00.000-07:00

Sunday we went to the kids to put up the crib and came home to a larger swarm of ants. This has been going on for over a month now. Where's the darn queen?

I think it's time to figure out how to get D up in the attic to spray. They aren't coming from outside. I've sprayed the foundation around the house twice and D once. There are no trails anywhere. These little creeps are living in the rafters. Oye vey.

I came home last night and there were even more. Talk about breeding like crazy. I do like the fact that if they leave this corner I kill them by spraying 409 on the kitchen counter. It snuffs them out instantly.

When I was changing to go to the kids I found this on my leg. It's huge and I haven't a clue where or when I got it. Usually I'll bump myself and then think I'll remember what I did later. Not this time. It just appeared by magic. I think it looks a bit like South America. LOL!

Well, it's obnoxious grandma time. We put the crib up Sunday. D and S were supposed to do it. As you can see S handles an awkward box pretty well.

While D takes a minute to conference with the help on how to attack the project. I'm sure Cole had tons of ideas for D.

Let's see....box says, 'do not use knife to cut open box'. Explains why D is using scissors. LOL!

Confused? Hahahahahaha! How can one crib have so many parts?

Once a Manager always a Manager. Let the young tackle the grunt work while you read the directions.

The important keeper of the small parts. She doled them out perfectly except I want to know why we had two parts left over. Hmmmmmm.....

Now the mother of the child suggested doing this in the bedroom because the crib won't fit through the door and hall once assembled. The father of the child ignored her......for awhile.

Note the crib has been moved to the bedroom for assembly. I love it when the women are right.

Okay, okay...it was supposed to be a guy project but the Irish in me just wouldn't butt out. It turned out to be a competition between mom and son on who could assemble their corners fastest. I think it was a wash.

Just a few finishing touches and walla! A crib for one.

S stumbled on this crib set by accident at Ross. It matches the room perfectly!

Ya think they're gonna be proud parents?

Some of the animals S made and put on the wall. They're much cuter in person.

Okay, I'm going to work now so you guys won't have to deal with anymore baby stuff this posting. I'm leaving now....watch me leave....bye.....I'm moving....really I am.....

Friday, Saturday & Sunday....

2011-09-25T09:56:00.000-07:00

They were making fun of me Friday at work because I was telling them how beautiful the sunrise was that morning.

Just before 6:00 I looked outside and saw this. Is it beautiful or what? At 5:30 it was pitch dark, just before 6 Mother Nature put on a show.

The moon was showing through the clouds. It was a quarter moon and just as bright as can be. It was so pretty I didn't feel quite so foolish running from the front to the backyard in my nightgown snapping pictures.

The top picture of the moon was taken in the backyard. By the time I'd moved to the front, the sky had lightened this much. It just teaches you to grab the camera right away because Mother Nature moves fast and in the blink of an eye.

Speaking of eye, Rene at work said the only thing he wants to see at that time in the morning is the inside of his eyelids. LOL! I'm thinking I won't be seeing him on any early morning sightseeing tours.

I was going to embroider all day Saturday but woke up to more ants. Technically they never went away. We just get new hoards of them. They thin out and then a new swarm comes through. I'd think by now, we'd have poisoned the queen but it looks like she's still alive and kicking in the attic somewhere.

If D didn't have a car blocking access to the attic, I'd send his tushie up there to spray. Since the car is on blocks, there's no way we can move it. Welcome to my world. sigh.....

I decided Saturday I wanted the house in that, "Companies coming!" mode. You know where everything is clean and pretty? So....I didn't embroider. Instead I spent all day cleaning, cleaning and then cleaning some more.

The house is beautiful and it feels good to know, I don't need company to come over in order get it in that condition. I was exhausted last night but so happy to look around at everything shiny, clean and polished.

When I was bleaching the kitchen sink, something caught my eye. I ran to get my camera and this is what I shot. See the tail?

This is the coyote that's been visiting the yard the past couple of months. When he first showed up he was very skinny and sickly looking. He's apparently been doing a terrific job keeping the rodent population under control.

He usually wanders through the hill in the morning. This was around 1:30 so I was surprised to see him.

He's the size of a large german shepherd, very shy and now very healthy. Only the bear is let out alone to go potty and now I have to keep an eye on her. The odds of this guy bothering her are pretty slim but stranger things have been known to happen.

It was nice to wake up this morning to a clean house. I got dressed, made the bed and my work was done. I grabbed a bunch of strawberries and a glass of milk for breakfast, then sat down and finished a book on my kindle.

I thought I'd catch up my blog before heading to my son's house. D will meet us there after work today and we'll put up the crib we bought for the baby. Now that's going to be a fun afternoon!

Another Saturday Gone....

2011-09-18T09:05:00.001-07:00

Here's a little history with our neighbors. Years ago they used to brew beer. They were very serious and very good at it. They have this 'guest house' that had 3 rooms in it. They wanted us to help turn the kitchen and bath into one large room tiled from floor to ceiling and add a huge fan and industrial sink so they can brew their beer.

It's locked up so I had to take pictures through the sliding glass door. But here's the tile job D and I did for them on the walls. The pictures for the floor just wouldn't turn out but it's the same tile with them alternating light and dark for a checkered pattern. On one end is a large drain.

D had to rewire the entire thing which of course I find that part boring and just not in my realm of interest. This room is about the same shape and size of Shannon's kitchen. There's a larger 'living room' in front.

This is why when they wanted their deck rebuilt, they came to D.

Last weekend we ended up with this. Just turning the corner to the second side of the deck.

Saturday, when I got there, I was amazed how much D had gotten done. He leaves mundane chores for me to do.

See that big beam sticking out? Well there are three of them.

Here I am straddling one of them installing additional big bolts. It's too high up so I had to sit on it with my legs dangling. That makes it hard to get leverage because I have nothing to brace myself against.

I love this drill! It has so much torque, it'll send me spinning in circles if I don't use it at low speed. Even then, it could very easily snap my wrist. It's fun but I highly respect its power.

So my question is, 'How in the world did D get those beams up there and installed all by himself'. I asked him and he just smiled. So I think that means, "Honey, you don't want to know".

D wants to make sure this deck doesn't fall apart like the other one. Talk about sistering boards together! Does my husband over build or what?

I can honestly say, when he makes something, it takes an act of God to blow it apart. LOL! Well that's not completely true because the winds up here have blown our neighbor's gazebos and arbors apart and ours are still standing.

Cudos to you sweetie!

Two posts in two days....wow!

2011-09-11T15:50:00.001-07:00

I promised on yesterday's post I'd try to clean up the pictures on my desktop and post them. So consider me on a roll. Two posts in two days. Go me!

If you look really...really....really...r.e.a.l.l.y....hard you can see 7:57 in this picture. It was pitch black in the bedroom and this is the time displayed on my ceiling.

D. keeps unplugging his clock radio and moving it around the house, so he's always missing his alarm. I decided I'd set mom's clock up on his nightstand. I turned on the feature that displays the time on the ceiling. Sisters, you really messed up giving this to me. It is soooooo cool! You really need to run out and get one for yourselves. I love it!

Even though the display is above D's side of the bed, I can easily see it. No more having to lift my head off the pillow to view the time. Whenever I do that, it wakes me up and I can't get back to sleep.

This is side 1 of the 3 sided deck D has been working on. Look how pretty and green the lawn is. That's because D spent a week working on the sprinkler system which was totally out of whack.

Side one almost finished with the framing. D put me to work on Labor Day finishing up this part of the frame in.

I should have taken better pictures of how dangerous and rotted this deck was. I took some pictures of side two but not enough.

D finished up this corner last week. It was a real pain in the patoot. If you look very close, you can see where none of the pillars holding the deck up are straight. Not only were they not straight but some of them we're completely disconnected from their bases.

This is how rotted the wood was. Walking on the deck was very iffy at best.

These are the steps on side one...the front of the deck. They are so rotted and the nails have all pulled away I was actually scared to climb them in order to take pictures. I ended up stepping smack dab in the center where there's a support. They rocked and bowed when I stepped on them.

This is side two where D pulled off the old deck. He brought in 4 loads of gravel.

This looks simple but I think D used every swear word he knew in getting this corner lined up.

The second phase of the deck will be a step up from the first. Working the corner of the deck was an engineering feat. LOL! Friday, D already had 1/4 of the framing of the second part done. He's still got a long way to go.

I am sooooo far behind!

2011-09-10T13:25:00.001-07:00

This is my desktop. I usually try to keep it pretty clear and put the important stuff on my hard drive. As you can see, I've fallen very far behind. The guys who take care of our computers at work tell us to keep our stuff off our desktops and on our hard drives so if our computer crashes, they can usually retrieve almost all of our work.

I've been meaning to post pictures since before I got back from the cousin reunion and just haven't had the time. In the black area of my desktop all those little squares are pictures I need to edit and post on my blog.

I figure since I'm already out of date order, I'm just going to grab a batch and post it. Then I can clear them from my desktop and look efficient again.

So....I'm starting with the pictures I took last night (Friday 9-9). As the sun was going down the dark storm clouds rolled in. It was so darn tropical, I felt like I was back in Fiji on vacation again.

Unfortunately, I had to reduce the size of this picture too much. In the original, I could see about half of the moon's shadow hidden in the clouds. It was really cool. It couldn't be seen by the naked eye but the camera picked it up.

Now, picture me sitting verrrrry still for about 10 minutes with the camera perched on my knees. Yep, I did that. We had so much lightening, I was determined to get a shot of it. The only problem is, I didn't know when it would strike and by the time the shutter opened and closed, the lightening was gone.

So use your imagination on this. Right in the center of the picture it's a little pink. Well, that's the end of the flash of lightening. So, technically I'm going to say I caught a picture of the flash. LOL.

Looking out the front of the house, the sky was dark on the left and clear on the right. When I started to rotate toward the back, I got a bit of blue showing through the storm.

As I turned to the garage side, I saw some dark clouds but mostly clear.

Within minutes Mother Nature was giving me a breathtaking view that knocked my socks off.

I called D out so he could stand in the hot rain with me. I love it when it's muggy and wet. Especially when the raindrops are those huge fat puppies. It's the time you don't care you hair and clothing is getting all wet.

Some Great Ants and not so Great....

2011-09-05T15:07:00.000-07:00

For a week and a half we've been fighting the not so great ants. I've given up on the big names like Raid, Black Flag etc. They just don't make the same product they did years ago. Must be an eco thing. sigh.... We tried Hot Shot and the ants completely ignored it. We put Terro next to the Hot Shot dispensers and the ants went wild.

Rather than remove the old containers we just added new ones next to them. It's hard to see but each one of these is filled with little black bodies. Wooowhoooo! We've had a black line coming down the pillar on the kitchen counter for well over a week. Yesterday it got very thin and today I think there were less than a dozen creatures looking for food. Yep, Terro wins hand or should I say, Ants Down! LOL!

Now this is a Great Aunt. Yuck...yuck... This is my Great Aunt Harriet. For my nieces out there and daughter in law, this would be your Great, Great Aunt Harriet. She's my mother's, mother's sister.

When I was up in Seattle at the cousin reunion (pictures to follow at a later date), I called my cousin Harriet to see if I could visit my great aunt. She said, "Absolutely, she'd love it!"

I saw Aunt Harriet when I was up there in 2009 and she remembered the visit and all of what we talked about. She's as sharp as a tack for a woman who will be 97 in November. She's just limited on her mobility. Which doesn't seem to slow her down much.

She was thrilled I bought my sister Sue with me. It's been ages since they've seen each other.

This being Labor Day, I thought I'd labor. Yep, that's me working on the neighbor's deck. D was working on the part that will go around the second side of the house and I was permanently attaching the framing boards on the edge of the backyard side. I surprised him by being done much faster than he thought I'd be. So I filled in my time eating some grapes from Carol's arbor. LOL! They were pint size but sweet.

Now I'm home trying to catch up on paperwork but thought I'd better do the blog since I got a text message from my daughter-in-law reminding me I haven't posted in awhile. D is starting the BBQ so I can cook a pork roast for dinner but we'll head next door for a little more work.

I'd forgotten how rewarding it is to work on a project that size and actually had a great time. I do have a stipulation to work in the shade whenever possible. LOL!

Happy Labor Day to you all!

Last Sunday...

2011-08-07T13:42:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I worked on the inside of the house and on Sunday I worked on the backyard. Of course I had to don the perfect attire to tackle the job. I figured since I put the hole in these pants trying to climb over the gate in the backyard, it was fitting to make them my work jeans.

Of course no job is right without the perfect shoes. No I wasn't weed whacking so these would be perfectly safe. By slipping on and off, I could get the crud from between my toes cleaned throughout the job. LOL!

With the uniform all chosen it was time to check on where the animals would be. The Bear would be hiding in the closet for most of the time. Although the leaf blower doesn't scare her because she's used to me drying her off with my hair dryer after a bath.

Nissie decided once she saw the contraption I was going to use, she'd spend the time on the bed in my bathrobe.

Nuttie took up the post of guard dog. Which meant, she just wanted to be comfy laying on the lounge and used me as an excuse to do it.

With Nuttie outside, I had to keep an eye on the hawk that was circling overhead. Since she's smaller than a rabbit, I always make sure she's not outside by herself without either the Bear or me close by.

We had the yard weed whacked, so not only did I have the pine needles to contend with but also the cut weeds.

It's a dirty, hot job which might be why I decided the little tuffs of weeds looked good where they were and I wasn't going to deal with them on this day.

What you can't see in this picture is, on the other side of the gate there are so many pine needles you can't tell there's a brick walkway under it.

When I got it cleared, I was amazed at how much the roots from the pine tree were wrecking the walkway on the other side of the gate. That tree has got to go. I'm sure we'll drag our feet on it though because it's a huge job and we'll have a hot house again because of the lack of shade the tree provides.

I've decided leaf blowing is an art form and not everyone can do it.

It should probably be called wrangling because you have to keep those little critters in line or they'll scatter to the 4 winds.

Getting them in a nice line and through the gate takes patience but is very rewarding once it's done.

The best part about getting on the other side of the gate means I can spread the debris all around. No packing it up and taking it to the trash for me.

To do the entire yard including by my shed and garden area it took about 2 hours. It was exercise well spent.

I find if I divide the yard into 5 sections it makes the job feel smaller than it really is. You know a little bit here, a little bit there.

I bought two of these cool 'swing' chairs about 3 years ago and they're still not hung. I take them out each year and attempt to put them together. I always get all but two ends put together and then quit. The wood will not fit in the slot because it's so small even if it did, I'd be afraid when someone sat on it, it would slide out.

I just haven't finished the job because I know there's some serious modification that needs to be done to this beast before it'll be safe to use.....maybe next year.

The grapes inside the garden area are doing great. I didn't prune them at all this year just to see what they'd do. As you can see, they are neatly trimmed on the outside where the deer can reach them.

On the inside however, there are actually grapes.

Nuttie kept an eye on me and followed me around during my workout but Nissie was still on the bed when I finished the job. Yep, that dog has it rough.

I headed straight for the tub after finishing the job. I definitely worked up a sweat. I don't know if I brought more dirt in on me than I left outside. I do know, it was heaven in that tub after such a hot job.

What did I do this weekend to outshine last weekend? Hm.....I shopped most of Saturday for clothes for work or groceries. I found 5 tops which were all under $8 each. I hit those great surprise sales where it was 75% off the original price.

I normally don't find much on those types of sales but yesterday I hit the jackpot and didn't break the bank. I found 1 simple top at Kohl's and 4 at Penney's.

When D got home in the afternoon, I went with him next door to work on the neighbors deck. When he gets home today, we'll head next door again and see if we can get more done on the deck.

Yawn....boring post....

2011-07-30T14:15:00.001-07:00

I had today as a lay around be a bum day then I went to the bathroom. Not this one but the one the down the hall. While sitting there I realized how dusty everything was. Not dirty but dusty. So I finished going potty and immediately started cleaning the room. Even with the floor and toilet it took about 15 minutes.

It felt and looked so good I headed to the laundry bathroom.

This is the before picture. It wasn't very dirty just dusty and tired. So, I tackled it.

This is the after picture. I know it looks the same but it's sparkling and smells fresh. Nuts, I forgot to drain the bleach out of the sink. Guess I'll do that when I'm done with this post.

After the bathroom, I wandered into the kitchen. This is the before picture. Not much to do. Just a few things to put away but I hadn't cleaned the counter next to the big window in ages so it was dusty and dull looking.

I'll know when we have to sell the house when I can't climb on the counter and clean around the sink anymore. LOL!

Here's the after picture. Not much different, except all the appliances are scrubbed and shiny along with the counters. Believe it or not, I spent almost 2 hours working on this beast. Maybe it took longer because I was listening to Harry Potter on my portable DVD player. See it there on the counter in the foreground? It was the best gift D has ever given me.

Of course since I was in the kitchen I might as well tackle the eating area. I don't think I've swept the floor in over a week so it really needed. And those books on the chair are the new phone books I set there around 2 weeks ago.

Whenever I clean the eating area, I have to turn the table a different direction. It makes me feel like I did something productive. LOL!

While I was tackling the house, the dogs got to go outside for awhile. The weeds have been whacked so they can spend some time in the sun once in awhile. I have to watch Nuttie though because she'll stay out until her tummy is sunburned.

With the kitchen and bathrooms done, I thought I'd do some laundry. Then I decided the laundry room was a mess. Okay, it's not that bad but compared to the other rooms, it's a mess.

What you don't see here is the ice cream D always leaves stuck to the washer/dryer and counter. For some reason he has an allergy to cleaning up sticky stuff when he dishes our Friday night treat.

With the laundry almost done, appliances clean of ice cream stickies, the baker's rack straightened and the floor washed, I'm happy.

When the dogs heard the dryer door open then close and me walk, they ran in the house somehow knowing I had the blankets to the Bear's bed. They just love the blankets hot from the dryer.

I thought I was done but then headed to the bedroom to get more laundry. My mother always said, "If the bed is not made, then the room looks a mess. If you make the bed, you almost instantly have a clean room." Well, she's right. Although, D did a pretty good job decorating the furniture with his clothing.

Once I got the bed made and D's clothes put away it was time to tackle my side.

As you can see I didn't have nearly the amount of clothes to put away, but I somehow collected more garbage on my nightstand.

It only took minutes to take care of my side. I think the bedroom took less than 10 minutes total to straighten up. It's driving me nuts my dresser hasn't been painted yet. I'm still waiting for summer to start. We haven't had enough consistently hot days to take the dresser outside to sand and paint. With the fog and overcast in the mornings, the wood would warp before I could paint it.

I'm one of the few people hoping for a week of 90 degree weather. Then I could get my darn dresser done!

Noe came out and weed whacked the yard the other day. I love it when he's done. It always makes the yard look bigger.

The downside is, now I have bits and pieces of weeds all over the patio. Part of me is thinking I should locate the blower and clean up the yard. The other is saying, "Find your Kindle!"

I'm thinking the 'other' voice is winning out. But first I'd better address the birthday cards to my sisters. I bought then awhile back and just found them during my cleaning process. They made me laugh out loud so I thought Andi & Nana would also get a chuckle out of them.

Happy Saturday friends and family. I think I have a kindle to locate.

Two Thumbs UP!!!!!

2011-07-28T07:16:00.000-07:00

Guess what I did after work last night? You got it. J.K. Rowling did a fantastic job pulling the story together.

These are pictures I used my 'screen shot' feature to get. They're from the clip of the movie I watched on line.

I love the blues in this shot.

S and I have argued throughout the books about Snape. From book one I said he was a friend and protecting Harry. He didn't come to that conclusion for a couple of books but was right when he though Snape hated Harry but was protecting him for some reason.

The job D just quit had a guy who worked on this Dragon. He said every 5 frames were his work. D said he was very talented and shy. He got embarrassed when he showed D some of his beautiful work.

I didn't remember Grimhook getting killed in the book. Guess I'll have to go back and read it for the 5th time.

If you haven't seen this movie, do it. That's all I can say. It was fast and very enjoyable.

When it's quiet.....

2011-07-26T19:38:00.000-07:00

Not much going on around here lately. This morning the dogs were very quiet. In this house when they're quiet, be afraid...be very afraid.

I couldn't figure out why Nissie was so quiet until I went in the family room in search of her. It would appear there was something in the Bear's cage she wanted. She was pulling the Bear's 6' x 54" blanket out through the squares of her cage.

She was concentrating so hard, she didn't hear me until the shutter clicked on the camera. I didn't get a picture of the guilty expression on her face. Nuts.

Look how much of that blanket she was able to pull through the side of the cage. I'm still amazed at how successful she was.

Just goes to show, when someone's determined to do something, they'll do it.

That Darn Well Again!

2011-07-14T06:56:00.001-07:00

The other day Nissie and Nuttie went to D and were driving him nuts. Nuttie was running around like a goof and Nissie was doing her, "I'm staring at you and want something" routine. Finally, D got the hint and asked, "What do you want?" They got really excited so he said, "Show me!".

They ran to the bedroom with Nuttie barking and raising holy heck. D opened the closet door and it looked like a bomb went off in it. The gift bags were all over the place as was the ribbon and wrapping paper.

There was a huge lump in the Bear's sleeping pillow. She has this huge stuffed doggy pillow she sleeps on. Apparently she went digging for something (I'm guessing a mouse) and tore up the closet in the search.

When she didn't find it, she chewed a hole in the pillowcase of her bed and got herself stuck inside. The other dogs saw her and ran to D to tell him, "Timmy is stuck in the well again!"

D got her out of the pillow and proceeded to wash both the outer casing and the batting itself.

As you can see, the clean batting became a playground for the other two dogs. It's hard to tell but Nissie's collar is hooked on the batting and she was dragging it all over the kitchen. That caught Nutties attention so she attacked it, ripping it apart in an attempt (I'm sure) of saving her darling daughter.

My solution: Dump the pillowcase and batting and put the Bear on my old bathrobe she loves and a blanket. It apparently worked because she instantly went to sleep on the new bed without a moan.

After the fun with the batting, Nissie decided to put herself to bed and Nuttie decided she'd jump in my lap and groom herself. I was watching TV and although she quit for this picture, she was in a half circle trimming the nails on her back paws.

Yep, she was grooming herself in my lap. It's nice to know the humans are good for something.

Frustrating Day in the Embroidery World...sigh....

2011-07-10T12:51:00.000-07:00

I've been having fun working on the critters for the quilt but today has been so darn frustrating. I think it began when I actually wanted to sleep in this morning and D refused to wake up and feed the dogs. Now sleeping in for me is 7:00. I hauled my tush out of bed and took care of them. Once I'm up that's it. I tried going back to bed yesterday at 5:30 but ended up reading until 7. So I think I'm out of balance.

Anyway, I put this little snail together today and the satin stitch just wouldn't grab the fabric. I've been basting the fabric, cutting it out and gluing it on the final quilt block, then attaching it and doing the embellishing.

On the second try, I basted the fabric to the quilt square and cut around it with my applique scissors. It's better but I'm still not happy. I need to cut closer to the basting stitch, change the basting stitch to a double run so it'll hold everything together better. The basting stitch is allowing the applique to move. I also think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and widen my satin stitch. I wanted it narrow but I think it'll allow the fabric to fray after washing.

I don't think I'll have to make the satin stitch too thick, I'm thinking of going from 1 mm to maybe 1.2 or 1.3 which may give me that extra grab I'm looking for without intruding on the design.

The frog is pulling away at the outer edges of his legs so I'll redo him too. Also, it's driving me nuts that he doesn't have holes for his nose. Sorry S, I think he needs to breathe. I've already digitized them in for the next design and changed the satin stitch to 1.2 mm.

I just got off the phone with my son. He's on his way to work so I was describing what I put in this blog and he got real quiet. After I finished he said he didn't understand a thing I said. Hahahahaha! He was polite and listened while I rambled on about the designs, so that meansI trained him right. Hahahahahahaha!

Well, I need to get away from this project for while so I think I'll go watch Sewing with Nancy and Quilt in a Day. Two of my favorite shows. I see the old Zorro TV show is on between the two, so I think I'll go grab some lunch and eat my way through the next 90 minutes and chill out.

Babies everywhere....

2011-07-09T09:11:00.000-07:00

No...this little darling isn't in jail. It's actually doing what it's supposed to be doing....resting on the other side of the fence while mom is grazing and eating the weeds off the horseshoe pit. It's sibling however....

Has been very active and getting into everything.

See my birdbath? Well, what's left of it. This is what happens when a itsy bitsy deer brushes up against it. I haven't taken the time to check and see if it's broken or just resting. That's on my 'to do' list this morning.

Speaking of little ones. Here's my 12 ouncer the size of a banana floating around letting S take care of it. I think it's a little monkey. Look at that head! Both of my children came out as heads not babies which of course doesn't thrill my poor daughter in law.

S has been reading the blogs and wants me to make sure Aunt Elayne knows Frogs are absolutely okay. I believe she said something like, there will always be frogs, frogs everywhere. So yep, green frogs and pastels are to be seen all around the kids room.

Hey S, how about shooting me a picture of the wall you're doing? I can post it on the blog.

I was also asked about a shower and I think it's September but I'm having a senior moment so don't quote me on that. I just know S & S want it to be a picnic/BBQ at the park where kids and spouses are invited. They want it to be laid back and not the least bit a typical girly shower.

I swore I was going to clean house and shampoo carpets today and then go on the computer. I've already turned myself around so maybe I'll watch one episode of SG1 and then work on the house and then digitize and watch a bazillion more episodes of SG1. Sounds like a plan to me.

It's finally real....

2011-07-05T07:07:00.000-07:00

Finally, I can go out and start the Grandma thing. I ordered the crib for S&S which is my gift to them. Then I went Craigslist shopping. S wanted a Jungle Jumperoo and it happened one of the places I was going had one. She went nuts that I bought it because it matches the theme of the baby's room.

I was actually headed to buy this swing when the Jumperoo issue arose. This is so completely different than the swing we used to crank for Paul. I can still remember trying to wind it up without waking him.

Don't know what happened to the corner of this picture. Hmm....a Tuesday morning mystery. Oh well. This is the Pack n Play I bought to keep here for the baby visits. Play pens have come a long way since I last used one.

I digitized the giraffe and then S sent me her updated version so I scrapped what I did and digitized her version.

Here's the sample sewout. Now I need to go find some yellow polka dot fabric for the background. I'm really enjoying digitizing these little creatures.

Saturday S, her mom, Margie and I went to a baby swap. You bring baby stuff, pay $5 at the door and then take whatever you want. For free! We left with an almost identical swing for S and newborn diapers, a changing mat, tons of newborn clothing and bibs. S. spent the rest of the day laundering items. It was really a lot of fun!

Finally a Swimming Pool!

2011-07-03T09:30:00.000-07:00

We decided to join the ranks of the rich and famous and get a swimming pool installed. So a trip to the upscale Le WalMar was in order. First I had to decide on shape. Hmmmm...did I want round or round? After much soul searching, I decided on round.

Next, did I want blue or blue? Darn! Another tough decision to make. "Okay", I thought, "I'll go with the blue".

Oh my, now size. Well I was limited on space so I thought maybe the 12' that's a hair under 3' deep will do. After all, I do need to be able to get in and out of it without breaking my neck.

Now it was time to find a crack installer. I decided Mr. David's Construction and Remodel would do. After all, they're highly professional in dress and manner.

Once I signed the exclusive contract, Mr. David himself started the construction along with his able assistant Ms. P.

Mr. David immediately tackled the filter and electrical while Ms. P. handled the pool herself.

Fortunately she's a hearty old gal with strong lungs. Although, I did hear grumblings of being light headed once in awhile. Then of course there were the times when she would lay down and blow into the pool inflating it.

While Mr. David was still busy with the pump and such, Ms. P continued to work on the pool itself. Okay, out of fairness, Mr. David did give her a hand trying to work out the wrinkles.

Once the pool was being filled, Mr. David took on the job of blowing up the accessories. As you can see, he's not quite as long winded as Ms. P so he decided it would be beneficial to take the accessories to the garage and blow them up with the air compressor.

A great plan in theory with the exception of the loud 'BANG!' Ms. P. heard on the other side of the house. Yep, you guessed it. He blew up the accessory with enough air to make it explode like a balloon. Luckily, that particular chair was for Mr. David.

Here is the pool almost done with Ms. P.'s chair and a new pink raft to float on. She is nice enough to let Mr. David use her floating chair. What a doll.

The pool still needs about 3 more inches of water which will be done most likely tomorrow (Monday) and a little more air in the top ring. Other than that and a little more tweaking, it was a joy to float in last night in the heat.

This job is so professionally done, there's a deep end and shallow end. Luckily the patio was custom made to drain rain water so the pool can have the customary deep/shallow ends.

I've never had a concept of space and always have to lay out a remodel plan with tape on the floor in the house. To me 15' is the same as 5'. For someone who uses measurements in embroidery all the time this is really a handicap.

Anyway, when I was looking at the pools, I thought 12' that's not big. I almost went for the bigger one but decided I'd pay attention to the wallet and scale down. Holy cow! 12' is really big! It took up the entire patio off the deck. While floating last night, neither of us bumped into each other unless we specifically tried. How cool is that?

When I got out I told D, "I didn't realize how big this thing was going to be until it was done. Then I thought about our first bedroom being 8'x10' and this pool is bigger." I couldn't quit laughing.

Panda...

2011-06-27T06:47:00.001-07:00

Here are the characters I'm going to digitize and sew out for a quilt for the baby. I digitized the monkey this weekend but didn't have time to sew it out.

I finished the panda and it's shown below.

I think I know what I'm going to do with the lion but it's a bit vague in my brain. Sometimes I don't know what I'll do until I'm actually in the process of doing it.

This is why I do a sew out. Look between his eyes. I didn't get the fabric flat enough and he looks like he's been hit in the head and has a bump there. Hahahaha!

The bear went to the vet and it turns out she didn't have an anal gland rupture. Are you ready for this? I looks like a foxtail went in one side of her thigh and worked its way out the other. Ewwww....ouch and ick.

Stressful Friday.

2011-06-25T07:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was very stressful so I thought I'd start out with this little guy who was standing on the back lawn staring at me in the office. Sorry it isn't a sharp picture but I had to take it through the glass door and screen. He took off seconds after shooting this. What a beauty!

Are ya seeing why I don't have plants in the yard? And they've taken to eating the back lawn so it's almost gone. I told Dave we should look into fake lawn for that spot.

Yesterday was very stressful. D showed up at work very upset, he quit his new job. Turns out the owner was a Jekyl and Hyde. He was a yeller who talked down to you and made you feel stupid. D figured he got enough of that crap at Home Depot, he didn't need it 40 hours a week.

He was so upset it broke my heart. The good/bad news is, he didn't quit HD. He told them he'll work weekends. I think he's going to leave it that way for a little while because he's got a summer job working on the neighbors yard and rebuilding their deck and now our friend in Australia wants us to find 10 cars for him. So, we'll have a little income coming in and he'll keep busy. He's still looking for a full time job so keep your ears open.

This is where I work. I'm supposed to be at the front desk in the mornings but the girl who is to be covering the afternoons has been training on her new job and hasn't made it out there yet. I've been covering full time for 4 weeks now so the work in my cubicle has been piling up. Literally. My boss said she put some filing on the stack I had sitting there and it fell over so she started a second pile. Friday I noticed there's a third stack now.

She's been fabulous about my falling behind and knows I'll catch up once my afternoon replacement can step in and help. It's just my cubicle is always current and clean, so she's not used to seeing me fall behind but knows I can't be two places at once.

If you always wondered what's behind that reception desk, here it is. Not much to see. Although Friday I took out the rinky dink little cabinet on the left and put in a locking two drawer file cabinet. Sometimes Janeen and I need to work on something confidential so I figured a locking cabinet made sense. So this area is much more organized and cleaner now.

This is the reception area for guests. It's a bit sparse and I've been promised a nice coffee table to fill in the space but it's not appeared yet. Friday I switched the plants around so the big one is on the left away from the window. It keeps stopping the curtains from raising and lowering. And, it's getting burned from the sun.

This has got to be one of the prettiest parking lots to view. During the winter when the trees didn't have leaves, I had a view of the hills. It was beautiful. Now if you don't like gross stuff, don't look any farther than the picture below.

This is another view of outside my window.

This is the bear's butt. She had an anal gland rupture Friday. D didn't notice it. He had dealt with Nissie getting a foxtail up her nose and a trip to the vet which also resulted in her getting her teeth cleaned and 4 pulled. A $600 visit. CRAP!

Anyway, the bear hasn't been feeling very well. She went to the vet a week ago and we thought it was a tumor or pulled muscle or arthritus. Good news, it wasn't a tumor! Bad news, she has two huge holes in her poor tush. I called the vet last night just before 6 when I got home and noticed it. She said to put hot compresses on it and bring her in this morning at 8:40. The bear is loving the hot compresses. I took this picture a few minutes ago avoiding making you have to look in the big holes. She looks like she's been shot in the butt with an arrow and it was a through and through. Last night it was much more swollen and uglier.

Well, speaking of the vet. I've got to go get the dog and get out of here. I am so glad Friday is over!

A Good Friday!

2011-06-18T08:41:00.001-07:00

Yesterday morning, the Bear couldn't stand to eat her breakfast. I had to hold her right hindquarters up and balance her. She's been having trouble walking and it's been getting worse. D had the day off so he was assigned taking her to the vet in the morning.

I took this picture of her sleeping before I left for work knowing D would have to put her down. I was angry with her because we'd had a conversation that she would just go to sleep and not wake up instead of making us decide when to end her life.

D took her to the vet and Dr. Dowd came up with three conclusions. 1. She pulled a muscle jumping. 2. Arthritis. 3. A tumor.

She gave D some meds and said if it was the muscle or arthritis she would feel better in a few hours. He said within an hour she was walking more and without the stiffness. So when I came home, there she was trying to jump around while greeting me.

Yep, she's still slow but now much more comfortable than before. She never showed or acted like she was in pain, just slow. So the Bear will be with awhile longer. Sigh.....

At 4:30 yesterday a delivery came to the office. I was at the front desk and said, "Oh...for me?" and laughed. The guy said, "If you're Patricia Ward, they're for you." I was shocked! My husband sent me flowers.

When I got pregnant with both kids, I sent him flowers in ceramic cradles announcing the arrival of a new baby. This is what he sent me.

Yes, you read it right. He got a job! He starts Monday and didn't have any problem going to Home Depot and telling them he can't work Monday through Friday anymore. He's still going to work weekends when they'll give them to him because the extra money certainly won't hurt.

The timing is perfect because they've cut his hours down to almost nothing. He actually isn't working this weekend at all so he's got time to bone up on QuickBooks.

Last weekend I put an ad on CL saying "Hire My Husband Please!!!!!" Then I proceeded to be honest and give his good and bad points. I got several responses, some were scams and some were jobs you wouldn't do no matter how destitute you were.

Then one interesting response came in and the guy said he thought my ad was a joke until he continued to read it and found I was serious. He's the President and CEO of a small company in Hercules with a staff of 12. Most of which are traveling salesmen. This is the 3rd company he's bought. He's looking for someone to start out as grunt and bookkeeper who could eventually turn into the CFO and Comptroller. He loved D's qualifications and the fact that he's "Mature".

He'd tried younger people and they turned out to be unreliable, flakes and didn't like talking to customers. The President is 64 and was looking for someone "Mature" and with business experience but never thought he'd find someone of D's caliber because of being a struggling 2 year old business.

Anyway, D went for the interview and they hit it off along with the second in command who is young (35ish). The youngster was afraid of D's ego and asked him about it. His response was, "I don't have one". Dude, he's an ex VP mucky muck working at Home Depot! Hahahahaha!

Anyway, he'll be doing lots of stuff including cleaning along with his bookkeeping duties. He knows it's a young business and everyone has to pull together to do what has to get done even if it's sweeping the warehouse.

D loves the idea that it sounds like the company I work for in its infancy. Which is exactly what he was looking for.

Also, it turns out the President used to live on our road and my kids used to play with his son. So there was an immediate connection because they kinda knew each other. You know, not as friends but neighbors who'd wave and talk once in awhile.

So....it's a great weekend. The dog is alive and comfortable and my husband is employed. They'll discuss salary Monday which won't be anything like the bank but the opportunity to contribute to a company that already has a bright future is exciting for D. Also, he has the impression he'll make about what I make (maybe more) which will definitely cover the house and car payments. But most of all, he'll be using his brain again. I can't wait to watch him flourish and his self esteem improve.

So...today we're going to the neighbors where D. is fixing their sprinkler system and rebuilding their deck for extra cash. So I'd better hush up now and head next door to give him a hand. We're marking and moving sprinkler heads today. Whoopie!

First Attempt.....

2011-06-12T08:21:00.000-07:00

Well, it's time to start the grandchild's quilt. I haven't decided how large to make it yet. I need to figure that out pretty soon. This is my first attempt at converting a cartoon into an embroidered applique.

At first I was going to do the entire hippo as embroidery but that's a ton of stitches so I decided to applique the design and embroider the details. This is my first sample. You'll notice I used weird colors, that so it's easy for me to see the stitches and detail so I can decide what and how to change it.

First off, the scan came out weird. The design is on lighter purple and is a flat solid color. Actually, I like the washed out colors on this and now either need to add embroidery to highlight more areas or see if I can 'stone wash' the fabric so it's faded here and there like the scan.

Next all the black outline will be a shade darker than the purple of the fabric so it'll blend and contrast at the same time.

I know you can't tell but each hoof nail is a different stitch. I think I've decided on satin stitch that split for each nail and going different directions so it stands out. I'm not sure if I'll outline it though. If I do, it might look clunky instead of outlined. Thread does that, ya know.....

It was a bit of a pain basing the fabric then cutting around the hippo while it's still in the hoop and putting it back in the machine for the rest of the sewout. I'm thinking I might want to do an outline of the hippo, cut it out, do another outline of the hippo on the quilt block, then glue the hippo on and do the sew out that way. I'm thinking that might be faster and have cleaner edges.

All this work and it's just one out of, I think S had 12 different characters she wanted done. I believe the monkey and panda will be the most work and fun at the same time.

Well, back to working on the little hippo and watching old episodes of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea on Hulu. There are distinct advantages of having two computers on one desk. LOL!

This is for Peggy...

2011-06-08T07:09:00.000-07:00

Peggy and I were talking about computers when we were working a couple of weekends ago and I mentioned D had a cube. She couldn't get a picture of it in her head. Anyway Peggy, here it is. It's the one on top. It's 6.5" x 6.5" x 2".

The thing it's sitting on is an external hard drive. His computer automatically backs up everything if you attach it to an outside hard drive. Then if his computer ever crashes, he has everything safe and sound in a secondary location. I upgraded my computer to Snow Leopard so now mine will automatically back up to an outside source too.

That goofy looking wire thing is a base he made for my beautiful black lamp. I could have killed him for modifying my lamp. Anyway, he thinks it's great because he has his computer goodies under the lamp.

Both of our computers will run Windows but for now we'll use the PC's for that and keep the Macs free of the bugs associated with it. I'm letting the person I take digitizing lessons from experiment with using Windows on her iMac for her work. In the beginning she said it was a nightmare and now it's settled down. Once she gives the, 'go ahead', I might venture into doing an occasional design on the Mac using Windows.

So there ya go, Peggy. That's a Macintosh Cube.

Saturday was soooo busy!

2011-06-05T18:42:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I went to my best friend's house and helped her make some sense of her office area. It took us all day but it was beautiful before I left.

When I came home I got a bug to start working on my sewing room but was too pooped to do it so I did it Saturday. Ya know things are a mess but have a tendency of leaving that room so you don't have to deal with it.

I'm ashamed to say this is my hooping stations before I started.

Dang it feels so much better to have this area nice and clean.

My hoops which I should lovingly take care of because they're expensive were all over the place.

Now they're where they belong and all but one heater is put away for the season.

If Babylock saw this, they'd take my machines away. The upside is, nowhere in this room will you find food or food wrappers. I keep food and liquids away from the machines.

I need to take machine #1 in to get fixed. The threads keep pulling out of the needles or breaking. I'm putting it off because it'll be expensive.

My desk was in pretty good shape. I'd moved the laptop into the closet a couple of weeks ago so I can get into the left drawers in my desk. It's a much better set up.

I cleared off the top shelf of the bookcase and now can put the important digitizing disks where I can get them in a pinch.

Nissie is such a smart cookie. I moved her box and she immediately found it and went potty. What a good girl!

When I finished working the sun was going down but before it got dark, I was met with this beautiful rainbow. What a nice finish to a very exhausting day.

And then came Sunday!

2011-06-05T18:26:00.001-07:00

After working my butt off Saturday, I thought I'd take it easy and work on some quilt squares for the new baby quilt. I walked into the office and got hit with the bug from the day before.

I had boxes of computer stuff all over from trying to find a cat5 cable the week before.

I know you think the closet is just as messy but really there's a madness to it. I moved the eBay and CL stuff to the bottom and the computer stuff to the top. Now I know what to sell and what not to. Ya have to look real close to see the difference.

Nuttie has been upset because she couldn't get to her chair. She'd whine and we'd have to lift her over the crap.

Now she can either nap in the chair or her little bed on the floor. What's funny is she'll continue to take the big chair while the Bear sleeps in that tiny bed. I'll have to take a picture of that someday.

Now out of fairness, some of these papers came from the sewing room yesterday.

I swear I either filed them or tossed them in the garbage/shredder. I do have a tiny stack that needs file folders made for them. Maybe tomorrow I'll do that.

The chair is covered with Class Reunion stuff and the floor is taxes and medical expenses I've been dreading putting away.

Look ma! The taxes are filed and that box in the back is the Class Reunion stuff.

Unlike yesterday I didn't have a beautiful rainbow to look at when I finished working my fingers to the bone. Nope it rained and the winds were like winter. It blew a ton of leaves off the trees and looked like fall.

I just love how this branch decided to get stuck in the crossbars of the gazebo. Looks a bit like holly doesn't it?

Well, I'm bushed and will now head to the family room and veg out for the rest of the evening. It was a tiring but definitely productive weekend.

For the Canadian Great Niece and Nephews

2011-05-22T17:05:00.001-07:00

I thought I'd post some pictures for the Canadian branch of the family. My niece told me her kids were interested in the pictures of the wildlife we have in and about our yard so I took some today.

Okay, this one isn't quite wildlife. It's the bear. I haven't had a chance to get out and weed the yard yet so she's playing velcro and bringing them in to me instead.

The deer babies are starting to grow and I need to teach them where the boundaries of the yard are. I had two in the yard this afternoon. This little one was asleep under the trampoline until the dogs saw it and started barking.

Its buddy was happy eating the cherry plums that fell off the tree and were decorating the ground.

There were a few turkey hens wandering around this afternoon too. Usually there's a tom with them but he didn't show up until about 1/2 hour after I took this picture. There were about 7 hens in this group.

This tom seems to think he owns the yard. I'm going to have to get a paintball gun and tell him otherwise.

The turkeys are loud, dirty, noisy and scratch the heck out of the paint on the cars. And contrary to popular opinion, yes they do fly. They're stupid but they fly. Not like a conventional bird just enough to get them out of harms way and onto a roof or tree away from predators.

So my little Canadian great niece and nephews, this is what's going on in my backyard this May.

Oye...glasses.

2011-05-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I broke my bifocals.

Three days after that I broke my back up pair.

While I was waiting for the bifocals to be fixed, I improvised with what I had on hand. They worked but I looked like a geek.

While I'm typing this I'm live chatting with McAfee. I'm fed up with the pop up telling me to renew. I'm asking them how do I turn off the pop up and they're telling me I have to buy the upgrade.

That's blackmail. I just asked her to tell me how to turn off the reminder and again she said, "If you upgrade, it'll turn itself off". She won't tell me how to shut off the pop up.

I just asked her can the pop up be turned off without uninstalling the program? Yes or no. She's taking a looooong time in answering the multiple choice question.

Finally she came back and said, "no". You have to renew your subscription or the pop ups will continue. It took 30 minutes and 46 seconds for her to tell me that.

So I'm going to check into ANTISPYWARE because I had their trial version and it was reasonably priced and didn't conflict with my embroidery software.

I'm already tired of the software companies putting an expiration date on their merchandise. I feel like I've been scammed. Oh well, I'll get off my soapbox now and find some new software to purchase.

I guess that's what's bothering me. I 'purchased' the software. I didn't 'lease' it. I know....whine...whine...whine....

On the upside, my bifocals are fixed and I'm only wearing one pair of glasses these days. LOL!

The Final Goodbye....

2011-05-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

I call this the final goodbye but I don't believe it. I'm not a religious person but I'm spiritual. That's the only description I can come up with that accurately pegs my beliefs. Since I speak and listen to the dead, I don't believe there's ever a final goodbye.

About a week or so ago for several days in a row, all I could smell was dad's cherry pipe tobacco. Home, work, in the parking lot at the grocery store and in the clothing stores. Since we're going through a very trying time, I think it's his way of making me settle down and focus.

For a couple of days, I could smell old lady perfume. I always knew it was my mother in law but now that mom's dead, she wore pretty much the same powdery scent. I don't think it's cologne I'm smelling but face powder. It's going to be hard differentiating between the two women so I need to meditate and find a way to tell them apart.

Anyway, I was surprised at how fast and easy putting mom to rest was going to be. It was a matter of minutes that they pulled back the lawn, placed her gently into the ground and covered her up. I thought she would be put in with dad but instead her ashes are resting to the left of him.

I decided to post these pictures not for morbid reasons because death is a part of life but because it just felt good in my heart.

This is mom's temporary marker. A new stone will be made and placed marking both mom and dad's spot on this earth.

It was a small group who attended this part of the ceremony and it just felt right. I loved the intimacy of the day.

I have to say, I have my problems with the Federal Government but this definitely isn't one of them. This has got to be one of the most serene beautiful places I've ever been to. It's not depressing but uplifting.

Mom is placed below the left corner of dad's marker. When Paul went to read the stone, he was standing on the spot they'd just placed mom. I looked at him and said, "Hey Paul, why are you standing on gran?" It was hilarious watching what I said being processed through his mind and then watching him try to quickly move off the spot. I just couldn't quit laughing. I told him it was okay because gran was laughing her butt off too.

I love this picture of A & P. I think it's one of the best I've see of both of them.

Here's 3/4 of the Goonie Sisters. I think Ray fills in just fine as a Goonie.

I'm a sap for the American Flag. Yes, I get choked up when the National Anthem play and I think the flag is absolutely beautiful.

The only thing missing from the picture is a small breeze. Other than that, it's great.

I don't want to turn this political but this really hit home. Those white spots are new graves. That's just a tiny spot I took a photo of. There are several other places in the cemetery like this that are waiting for lawn to be laid.

When Bush was in office, we got a head count of every cotton pickin' solder that lost his or her life each day of the week. With Obama, rarely is the sacrifice noted.

When we went up to the flag area and looked at all the new headstones, it hit me like a sledge hammer the loss of life noted in this graveyard. I know most are not from the fighting that's going on right now, although there were a few close to where dad is laid to rest. But...when you go to sleep at night, please remember this picture and those who gave the ultimate price because they love this country and freedom.

It's been decades since Doug died in Vietnam but I still have bouts of tears and wonder what he would have been like as a married man with children.

My Inheritance.....

2011-04-20T07:12:00.000-07:00

Nothing says, "I love you" like reading a will. Now some would complain about their inheritance but not me. Nope. Look at this lovely sweatshirt...it must have been the apple of my mother's eye.

Do I complain about the stains on it? No. What about the smell? No. The applique apple? Wellllllll....oh, uh no. Which sister lovingly put it in my box? Noooo....because I too helped make sure they got something as lovely as this when they got home.

Seriously, going through my mother's items was hard but an absolute blast. My sisters and niece where hilarious and made the day go fast. My mother was watching us, laughing her ass off and proud of how well her daughters were getting along.

So....sisters, you really need to post your favorite 'surprise' item you found when you got home. Sue...you need to send us your blog address so we can add it to our list and see what you're up to.

The Memorial

2011-04-14T06:56:00.000-07:00

These are the beautiful tulips they gave me at work when I got told them my mother had passed away. It's sad but they only lasted a few days. They just don't like going from the controlled environment of the store to real life temperatures.

I'm now wondering where I'll plant the bulbs. I'm thinking under one of the arbors where Pepper is buried.

My cousin Betsy sent me these freesias. They're still blooming today although they don't look near as pretty as when they first arrived. It was nice that Chris was able to go back home and tell Betsy how beautiful the flowers are.

What do I love about Ray? He consistently takes a good picture. He's always so relaxed looking.

This is my cousin Mary. I really didn't get to visit much with her because I was trying to visit so many people and spent most of my time with Chris and Peggy because they kept me laughing.

Jim doesn't seem to change with time. Yeah, he's older like me but still he has the same core features as when we were kids. He's looking like Percy in his movements as he ages. It's kinda funny. That's his daughter but I don't think I've ever heard her name.

Will is another one who's nice to take a picture of. He never hides and just gives you a smile. I love it when I can take a picture of him.

This is Steve's sister Linda. She relented and let me take one picture of her, so I did. We went to school and graduated in the same year. I feel like I've known her for ages. Which I have.

Ahhhh....the nieces. Is that a group of mischief makers or what? They always make me laugh. They're a very nice bunch of young women and I'm very proud of them.

Then of course there's Jen. Remember all the pictures of smiling people? This is how she greets her tired old aunt. Hahahahaha! What a kick in the pants.

I love this picture. It's one of the best that I have of my boys and daughter in law. Talk about relaxed!

Ahhhhh....as Steve would say, "Here are the Goonie sisters!" I have to admit, I think the nickname fits. I love the picture because it's so rare we'll all stand together in front of a camera.

Here are my two favorite people in the world. If I'm down they're there to make me laugh. Chris on the left is my cousin and Peggy on the right is my childhood best friend. I have to admit Chris has it over Peggy because being my cousin she's known me longest. I met Peggy when I was 5 and she was 4. We got into tons of trouble together throughout our lives. What a blast!

See what I mean? What a kook! I just love this woman. I took her to Blackhawk shopping center to wander around before her flight. We ate lunch at the Blackhawk Grill and it was wonderful. They make their own pickles so Chris asked for an extra one and they brought her 3 more. The server was fantastic so I gave him a 22% tip. My son and niece who used to be servers would appreciate that!

Our table was right next to the water and this swan kept coming up and showing off. It never really begged for food. Just strutted its stuff.

Gran..

2011-03-28T06:57:00.000-07:00

When I thought about which picture of Gran to post on my blog, this one immediately came to mind. It's my favorite because it was taken on one of her happiest days and she was, well....Gran on that day. It was at her and Pop's 50 year Wedding Anniversary shindig.

I remember trying to get her to quit talking so we could take the picture and she wouldn't. It was hilarious.

I had the same problem with her at S & S's reception. We took 3 shots and told her to quit talking and each one had her mouth yackity yacking.

This is the Gran that I'm going to burn into my memory. Smiling, happy and yes, talking....talking....talking.

Okay, I'll share one more memory of her I've laughed at over the years. We lived in the Manor and dad found a dead mouse. Well, living with dad through his funny stage of life was great. Nothing like his angry final years.

Anyway, he found a dead mouse, grabbed it by the tail, walked up behind mom and said something like, "Hey Ellen, look what I found for you." Mom turned around saw that dead mouse and screamed. Which of course lit dad's fuse and he pushed it into her face laughing. She ran out the front door and he chased her down the street with it, all the while she was swearing up a blue streak at him telling how she was going to kill him.

Those are the memories of my parents I like to reflect on. You know, the ones that bring a smile to my face and a bubble of laughter to my throat.

Feeling off today...

2011-03-13T11:18:00.001-07:00

Well, this was Nuttie this morning but she's left me for the warm bed and now Nissie is sitting behind me on the pillow snoring. Oops....I lied she just came in, whined and now she's behind me with her daughter sleeping. Life is tough for a wiener dog in this house.

The bear is getting sooooo old. I think she has the canine version of Alzheimers. She'll start walking, suddenly stop and just stand there and stare. She'll walk up to the wall with her nose inches from it and just stare. It's funny and sad at the same time. She gets confused and befuddled. We have to be careful approaching her when she's like that because she'll get startled easily and more confused. I usually stomp my feet so she can feel me approach, then I'll gently touch her and guide her to her bed.

D usually cuts my hair but Friday I thought I'd just shoot in to Great Cuts and let them trim a little off all around. When I signed in, I had a foreboding feeling and ignored it. DUH!

I told the woman to take an inch off all the way around. I said, "See how my hair is? That's how I wear it, just trim it all the way around so it looks the same in a shorter version. I curl it with a medium curling iron each morning."

When she didn't cut the top, I said, "Cut the top about an inch. It grows really fast." She said, "U wanna it spike?" I said, "No, just like it is only shorter". She cut the front and I said, "That's perfect, now layer and trim the rest." She put my head down and the next thing I knew I heard, rip at the back of my hair. Before I could protest, she'd taken a razer and shaved off two sections of hair at the back. Then the side was gone. I said, "What are you doing?" She said, "I make it whispy!" I said, "I don't want it whispy." She shaved the other side to match and I said, "Okay, that's fine. You're done." Then she pulls out the hair dryer and starts to dry it. I said, "No. I'll go home and wash it."

On the way home, I could feel huge spots where it was 1/2 to 1+" longer here and there. I was going to have Dave take a picture so I could post it but I was so relieved to see him come home, I forgot.

Anyway, I said, "I'm sorry. I thought I was saving you time and went to get my hair cut. Could you try and fix it without cutting the shortest parts any shorter?" He started checking how it was cut and kept saying, "Oooooooo and Ohhhhhhhh.'' I finally said, "Just cut it and quit laughing!"

So, I now have a pretty even haircut but it's very short. I can curl the important parts and figure by my class reunion next month, it'll be the length I like. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that hair grows and nobody knows you have a bad haircut unless you tell them.

I'm feeling off today. Yesterday when D put out our pills, I pulled one of his out of my cup. I think he did it again today but I didn't catch it. About half an hour after taking them I got a splitting headache, my tummy is really upset, my skin feels like there are ants inside trying to scratch their way out.

I went back to sleep for a couple of hours hoping to sleep through it and got up a little while ago. I ate some toast and a cherry smoothie. I'm still not up to snuff but feeling a bit better.

I think I'll grab PAW's papers and go find a nice comfy spot on the couch and finish getting the tax stuff together.

I think I've decided I'm just not junkie material. I'm going to stick with my drug of choice being my one thyroid pill in the morning. I'm not enjoying the effects of whatever he gave me this morning. Looks like that's one rehab I'll never have to experience. LOL!

Lots of Pictures!

2011-03-05T11:20:00.000-08:00

Here's the difference between men and women. Last weekend we unloaded 100 bags of pellets. Because D's already taken one header off the back of the truck he got mad that I wouldn't let him unload them by himself. I moved them from the pallet to the tailgate. He then proceeded to move the first 50 into the family room.

The second 50 I unloaded from the back of the truck onto the tailgate then handed them to D through the bedroom window, where he stacked them into the spa room.

It was hard work but not once did he fall or get hurt.

We used to get our own wood but this year I had him order and pay for delivery. Now he fills the wheelbarrow and puts it near the front door so it doesn't get wet. He wanted me to pull the car all the way under the Portico and got mad when I stopped.

He see's the wheelbarrow as full and stable. I see a heavy weight ready to fall and smash the side of my car. So everyday, I put the car part way under the portico which drives him nuts. This is actually much closer than I normally put it. I'd prefer even more distance between the accident waiting to happen and the front of my car.

I think I posted a picture of this weeping willow last year. It's a shame the picture doesn't show how really yellow the branches are in person. It's breathtaking in person.

I love this time of year. Driving down the road in the morning on my way to work is very refreshing.

These flowering plums are just now starting to lose their flowers and will soon be blossoming out in beautiful purple leaves. They're very messy trees but beautiful.

I decided I needed to thank 4 people at work for all the help they gave me covering the front desk so I could pack up 15 rooms for our relocation.

I really enjoyed putting these designs together.

I loved the reaction from everyone. Neal snuck up behind me and I heard a excited whisper saying, "I love it! Love it! Love it! Love it!" Then he proceeded to tell me it was his birthday week so my timing was perfect.

I think I had the most fun with Lisa's because it took quite a bit of edits. She went nuts over this. I didn't have a clue not only was blue her favorite color, but this particular shade is what she's drawn to. Talk about luck choice.

Part II on Saturday

2011-02-20T09:53:00.001-08:00

I finished my post around 12:30 yesterday. Did a couple of more things before grabbing my Kindle to finish the rest of the day being a lazy bum. When I went by the kitchen window around 12:40 I noticed the deer had disappeared. I always wonder where the heck they go.

When I put wood in the bedroom fireplace so I wouldn't have to get up again for a couple of hours, I saw where the little beauties had relocated. To the front lawn.

Now, remember these pictures when you see my front lawn in the summer. It's chewed up, looks like a tractor did wheelies on it and just looks like crap.

That would be because my deer seem to believe it's their dining room, bedroom and bathroom. I might complain from time to time but how can you stay angry at something so beautiful. Look at how pretty the little girl in the back is and the little boy in the front who is just now starting to get the buds for his antlers.

Now back to working on a logo, embroidering 5 blankets, 3 totes and hopefully 1 or 2 of my belated Christmas presents before an order for double hooping 24 shirts comes in. Oh yeah, there's still the dreaded taxes. Ugh!

Lazy Saturday

2011-02-19T12:12:00.000-08:00

5 a.m. Woke up and it was sooooo cold I started a fire in the bedroom fireplace. I had D buy 1/4 cord of wood the other day so I didn't feel the least bit guilty for burning.

5:10 Watched fire roar to life, grabbed my Kindle and read.

7:30 Got up to take my morning pills and saw 9 deer lazing around on the hill. What's interesting is when they lay like that their heads are always up. If you look at the guy second from the right, he's actually laying down with his head rested in the weeds. That's unusual. In the 28 years we've been here, that's the first time I've seen one do that.

7:35 Came back to the bedroom, opened the curtain and saw snow. Duh....no wonder why I was so darn cold.

This is the snow on the hills out the bedroom window.

Found my Uggs and checked to see if there was anymore snow. Yep, these are the hills on the deck side of the house.

7:40 Went back to bed, grabbed my Kindle. Read for I don't know how long before I fell asleep and woke again at 9.

9:00 Brushed teeth, combed hair, grabbed Kindle and read until 11:30.

11:35 Got up added wood to the fire, got dressed and cleaned the kitchen. Which meant washed two plates, 3 glasses and 6 bowls. Two days worth of dishes.

Moved tax stuff to the office to work on later.

Wandered around, folded socks that were drying on the mantle, cleaned pellet stove, straightened family room, cleaned oven (okay, I pushed the button and set it for two hours of cleaning) and came in and loaded pictures for blog. Worked on blog and it's now almost 12:30.

Now I'll head back to the warm bedroom, sit in front of the fire and read until 2. Then I'll work on taxes and I've made the management decision to take a bubble bath at 4 and change the oil in my hair.

I have tons of embroidering to do and have decided to start it tomorrow. Since I'm off Monday, I considering Sunday and Monday my Saturday and Sunday embroidery work days.

Whine...whine...whine....MEN!

2011-02-16T16:52:00.000-08:00

This is the wrist thingy D is supposed to wear for his fractured wrist. See how nice and happy it is not on his wrist.

See the nicely cut lawn? D was complaining about how both wrists hurt and won't heal. Let's see why.

Exhibit A: Wrist support above without a hand through it.

Exhibit B: Lawn became magically shorter while I was at work.

It would appear my husband can't mow the lawn with the wrist dohicky on so he took it off. Then he spent the evening whining about how sore his wrists are. ARHGHHHHH!!

Guess how much sympathy I gave him? I think you guessed it.

I miss the sun. I got in the habit when I woke up on the weekend, of laying my clothes out in the morning sun. I'd go eat breakfast, brush my teeth and comb my hair. By the time I got around to dressing they'd be nice and toasty warm. Again...I miss the sun.

Yawn....just stuff

2011-02-13T10:05:00.001-08:00

Last Saturday a bunch of us got together and moved mom out of her one bedroom apartment to a studio downstairs.

Nana and Sue and their crew kicked butt packing up everything and had the guys bring it downstairs to Andrea and I.

I told Sue I was going to put this on my blog and make fun of her sitting while everyone else is working. She didn't believe me and doesn't read the blog so I'm safe following through with my threat.

The only thing is, she's sitting and resting after helping Nana pack up the apartment. So she's sitting in an empty unit.

I just thought I'd be a brat and make it look like she does nothing. That's what little sisters are put on this earth to do....annoy big sisters.

Andrea and I got the downstairs all assembled and ready just in case mom can come home from the con home. Nana is putting on the final touches by hanging the pictures. I understand she bought bedding so it should look really nice now.

I pretty much worked in the bedroom and bathroom. I didn't envy Andrea tackling the kitchen. It's a tedious job and she did it with humor and hard work.

I've been working constantly and just poop out when I get home from work. I've tried to tackle the Christmas decorations but couldn't seem to get far. A couple of days before going to mom's I was able to at least stash the last of the Christmas decorations in my bedroom.

Sunday, D gave me a hand putting some of the stuff away. Although he tried to help, between my putting the stuff away myself and his injured wrists, he gave up.

When I buy stuff, I keep the original boxes so they can store safely. That drives D. nuts. I think it's one of the reasons he gave up. He wanted to just put stuff in boxes and call it quits. But each of my boxes are labeled on the outside what room the decorations are for and exactly what's in the box.

That was just too much tedious organization for his tastes. That must explain the difference between the inside of the house and the garage. Hahahahaha!

I thought I'd be working until it got dark but actually finished at dinner time. The sun was just starting to go down and I couldn't see straight.

I grabbed the camera, took some pictures and then crashed on the bed with my Kindle. I fell asleep mid chapter and didn't wake up until D had me come and eat dinner. Then I tried to watch TV and off to bed I went.

I look at this picture and now I need to go center the hope chest at the end of the bed. That's driving me nuts. Hopefully this summer I'll get up the gumption to finish the headboard. It looks rather sad with those holes in it. LOL!

.......okay, I couldn't stand it. The hope chest is now centered at the end of the bed. Just a footnote, the hope chest belonged to my mother-in-law before she got married. It's faded with age but I love it. Maybe next blog, I'll take a picture of the beautiful front on it.

Busy...busy...busy....

2011-02-12T13:41:00.000-08:00

It's been a long few weeks. I've been working my day job and embroidering on my time off. That is, when I haven't come home and just crashed. Yep, there have been days when I came home and went to bed at 6:30. Which proves, I'm definitely not as young as I used to be. LOL!

A customer called and wanted to know if I could cover a logo on her husbands favorite suede jacket. I took a look at it and figured the only way was to do an applique. The logo was white background with gold lettering. I thought that would be too stark on the beautiful jacket but he was adamant about using white/gold company colors, so I sewed the sample on a piece of leather I had. She and her husband fell in love with it and immediately disregarded the white background idea.

It was a tough applique to do because the old logo was sewn very close to the zipper. Normally logos are placed centered on the left chest. Whoever did this one didn't have a clue on the placement. Add to the fact it was a huge logo. Luckily they gave me creative freedom to adjust the logo as I saw fit to make it work.

In order to do that, I was able to adjust the boarder to be higher than it was on the original logo so it covered what was underneath.

It's hard to tell, but the piece of leather I used almost matches the stripe on the collar and cuffs exactly.

This is my booboo. It doesn't look like much but it hurt like you know what. My husband was helping me move a cabinet at work and didn't wait when I said wait. He crushed it between the back of the big black cabinet and metal shelf on a whiteboard.

This picture was taken the day after and doesn't show the bruising or swelling. It's been two weeks and the blood blister is just now raised enough where I can start picking it out.

It still hurts like you know and I'm convinced he broke it in a couple of places. Having broken it before, I know they can't do much about it but splint it and hope for the best. Today, at least I'm able to bend it and type. I'll give it another few weeks and work on some of the old PT I did last time I broke it.

I've sold some Zoobies in the past couple of weeks and put a name on a pillow sham someone at work bought from Pottery Barn Kids. It was really adorable and she wanted his name sewn on the baseball bat. It turned out very nice but I completely forgot to take a picture of it.

That's it for now. I just haven't been on the computer lately and have been exhausted when I've come home from work so I haven't blogged. I need to pay more attention to it because I always feel better after I've posted something. I think it's therapeutic.

No Pictures....

2011-01-13T06:53:00.001-08:00

Well, Humpty Dumpty got the splints taken out of his nose yesterday. Ewwww....they said it would be uncomfortable and hurt a little. He almost threw up it was so painful. We had to sit about 10 minutes just so he could collect himself enough to walk out of the surgeons office.

The good news is, although swollen, his nose is pretty straight.

My desktop and laptop PC's have been running like crap. Slow, pages close, I get thrown off the internet and I feel like it's dial up. I did some researching and found lots of raves about Superantispyware so I checked it out.

It's a free download but when I have the money I'll buy the full version. It's fantastic. I installed it on the desktop PC first because my pages were closing in slow motion whenever they felt like it and my icons were bouncing and flashing on my desktop.

Well, I ran the program and didn't have one hitch happen. My desktop PC runs like it's brand spankin' new. It didn't run that fast or great when I first bought it.

As I'm typing this (on the Mac), I just installed superantispyware on the laptop and now it's running its scanning system. We'll see what happens because the laptop is what has all my embroidery software and designs. I might have to spend the afternoon when I get home from work putting stuff back on but I'm going to cross my fingers and hope all goes well.

Not much else to say this time around except, I highly recommend going to superantispyware.com and giving it a shot on your PC if you're running slow or have a virus (like the one my daughter sent me).

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.....

2011-01-08T15:46:00.000-08:00

So now I'm trying to figure out if I'm married to Tim the Toolman Taylor or Humpty Dumpty. I'm split. Either one works for me.

Just a few days after our sitting with the family and saying how happy we all were to see 2010 behind us, 2011 shot in with a thud. First, I'm suppose to tell you D is smiling. He said if this went on my blog he wanted that said up front. LOL!

He was unloading the pellets off the back of the truck and got light headed. Instead of sitting on the wheel well, he decided he should climb down. Well he didn't make it. He took a header off the back of the truck and luckily his face broke his fall. He has a hairline fracture of the right wrist, severe sprain on the left, split the inside of his lower lip open so it has stitches and broke his nose. I told him I'm getting to old for this sh.....!

He was in the hospital from Tuesday morning to 6 p.m. Friday night. He refused dinner because he wanted home made soup from his wife.

He's been on a heart monitor all week and had a little blip once. That sent some cardiologist in who immediately wanted to do surgery and implant some sort of monitor in his chest. Both our personal physician and son believe because he hadn't eaten since the previous day, and was bending up and down while straining, he slowed the blood to his head by the up and down motion along with straining the vegal muscle which slows the flow of blood to the heart. They also changed his meds thinking it could have contributed to the lightheaded episode.

So if I can get that husband of mine to eat, keep fluids in himself, don't overdo and strain and keep his meds up to date, we should live to a nice long retirement age. Hmmmm....I think in some worlds that's called moderation.

So here's to starting 2011 on a down note and ending it on an up one.

Christmas

2011-01-02T12:05:00.001-08:00

D gave me this adorable teapot for Christmas. It has two handles because the top portion is the actual teapot and the bottom part is the cup. Now I think I need one of those little hot plates to keep it warm for me. It cools off very quickly.

I got D a Flip video camera. He's been busy the past two days taking pictures and editing them into videos. He's getting pretty good at it too. We're attempting to make some do it yourself videos for women. I'd like to start with very easy projects and slowly morph into more advanced stuff.

We celebrated Christmas on New Years Eve this year. It was nice to celebrate so close to the actual date.

This is Sean, he's been scared to death of all the dogs since he was a baby. He had a stupid uncle that teased and scared him with a dog so he freaks out when he sees one.

This Christmas, we got him to finally touch Nuttie and the Bear. It took him about an hour and then he wouldn't leave them alone. The bear finally took off and hid in her closet and Nuttie spent the night running away from him. She spent a lot of time jumping from lap to lap of each adult.

I think we may have created a monster. LOL!

I'm a convert.

2010-12-22T07:08:00.000-08:00

When my friends from Australia visited earlier this year they brought me some Uggs. Well, they don't call them that there but you get what I mean. Apparently they originated is Aussieland and they thought I'd like a pair.

My feet were so cold the other day, even my warm sister made socks didn't help so I rummaged in my closet and pulled these out. Oh my, they're absolutely fantastic. Not only were my feet warm (without sweating) but so were my calves and ankles. I'm definitely in love and owe my Aussie family a great super warm thank you!

Yesterday was a long day. When I got home D had a nice fire going for me to relax in front of in the living room fireplace. Before I could pull up a chair and my Kindle, Nuttie picked out her spot and plopped herself down for a nap or two. As long as I was in the room, she was too.

Nissie doesn't like heat from the fireplace or space heaters. She prefers the electric blanket. I don't know why but she does. Nuttie will take heat anywhere she can get it.

Odd Couple of Days

2010-12-20T07:55:00.000-08:00

It's been an odd few days. Friday I spent 3 hours sewing out this applique name tag for D's work apron. It's got over 300,000 stitches so takes forever to sew out.

Anyway, everything was going perfectly until about the last 3 minutes. Check out the bottom of the design. For some reason the darn thing came out of registration. I'm thinking it's because of the large size of the design and it has to go into my biggest hoop. It's too big for the next hoop down but too small for my largest hoop.

I've been scratching my head on how to stabilize the darn thing. I might change some of the sew out order and see if that might do the trick. Oh well....who says life was supposed to be easy? LOL!

I spent all day Saturday putting up more Christmas decorations. I have about 2/3 of them out and have decided to quit. I've got to come up with a quicker and easier method of decorating.

Soooo...the family room pretty much only has the fireplace decorated. The kitchen, living room and entry hall are decorated. Normally the entire house is festive, especially the family room but not this year. A lot of the problem is, now I'm working so time is at a minimum and my shoulder is killing me. Sigh....myabe next year.

I was pooped and pretty much useless yesterday (Sunday). I loaded a book on my Kindle, listened to the monsoon winds try and pull the shingles off the roof and watched the backyard rapidly fill up with the few leaves that were left on the trees. Yikes, what a mess!

I have to admit, I'm all rested today. I think a day of lazing around in my big chair reading and occasionally napping did the trick. I made the mistake of turning on the lap blanket to keep warm. That mean a lap full of wiener dogs. Oh well, with their weight, they also add warmth.

Catch up time!

2010-12-13T15:50:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm back. Like my niece, I quit blogging because I didn't feel like anyone was reading what I wrote. So now I'm back until I feel like I'm wasting my time again.

While I've been away from the bloggersphere I've done a few things. D and I picked up a few cars for Peter. Check out the Cuda above. It's a mess but the Aussies will love it. Go figure. It should be on the ocean now heading toward Australia by now.

The Cuda is actually a pretty good looking car compared to some of the stuff Pete buys and ships.

D and I picked this beauty up in Santa Rosa. It was just shy of a 6 hour trip. We left after I got off work at 2, so it was a long day.

We brought it home and then D called S to see if he'd like to take it to Oakland PLI with him. As you can guess, the kid had a blast. It put a little spark in him to work on the frame off restoration of his Chevelle a bit more.

Each year at Thanksgiving D cooks the turkey in the Webber. He's done that about 25 years and each year he tries to figure out how long to cook it. It must be a 'man' thing.

This year he took a picture of his cooking time calculation and wants to print it and put it in the Webber cookbook. Looks like a recipe from the cold war to me.

H came home for Thanksgiving. It's the first time we've seen her since she moved 8 months ago. She won't be coming home for Christmas, so this visit is going to have to last us until next November.

I don't know if the red eye will show when this posts. I felt it was appropriate to leave it because it really shows the inner aura of my little devils. LOL!

The decorations at work are minimal but the tree is beautiful. One of the couples who works there have relatives that own Windmill Farms. They brought in this beautiful tree and decorated it for us.

I told Maureen this morning that she's got the best smelling room in the entire building. The tree really looks beautiful when it's dark a yucky out. Once the newness wore off, I noticed how the tree leans to one side. Now it drives me a little bit crazy when I'm filling in for Mo at the front desk.

Okay, that's the end of this post. I promise to try and put something on at least once a week. Hopefully I might actually post twice in a week.

Upside...downside...

2010-06-16T09:06:00.000-07:00

The downside.....I'm looking up more these days. While D was making the bedroom look nice and up to date, I noticed this huge cobweb in the entry hall. Look at this beast.

How can you go so long and not notice something like this? One day you look up and WHAM! There it is.

It starts at the ceiling and connects to the dolphin's mouth in the fountain. What's worse is, it isn't fine and thin. It's thick, dusty and definitely visible.

Now the decision is, take it down or see how big it gets for Halloween. If we were going to have a party, I think I'd leave it. You know, just to be annoying to the hubby.

I have a feeling I'll give in and suck it up with the vacuum cleaner. We'll see how long I can hold out.