Reception

I don't get to do this kind of stuff very often, so I jumped at the chance to frame S & S's announcement. Their colors were black, red and white. I did learn one important thing. Years ago shadow box frames were a dime a dozen. I went to 5 stores before I found two of them I could choose from. I almost had to remove stuff from one of my old frames and use it. This frame wasn't as deep as I'd like but it turned out nice in spite of it.

Okay, I can honestly say Heather didn't get her ability to pose as a sex kitten from mom. I told her to give me a sexy pose and this is what she came up with. Hahahahaha! I'm waiting for her to break out in song any minute. Sorry mom, this picture was just to darn funny not to post. You can spank me next time we're together. Hahahahaha!

Ha! Me with my kid! Finally a picture I like. Okay, it would have been nice to have the top of his head in the picture but beggars can't be choosers. LOL!

Scott's partner brought S & S beautiful leis. They were a breathtaking dark lavender. What a wonderful surprise!

I'm trying to remember how old I am. Hmmmmm....12? If you look past the trees behind Sarah, you'll see a lake. I walked to the lake with Patrick, Marge, Stephanie and the baby. I had this huge red and white golf umbrella to protect my white Irish skin. The population was 98% hispanic and here I am not only alabaster white but I had to bring myself into focus for all to see with a huge red and white umbrella. LOL!

Anyway, I watched Patrick swim while I waded with Steph and the baby. Then Scott showed up and he and Patrick swam together. Not to be outdone and the fact that it was around 107 degrees out, I just figured, "What the heck....I'll dry out fast" and went swimming dress and all.

Now if I'd been in my twenties, I don't think I would have done it. But I'm at the age where comfort outweighs make up and hair. Yep, when I was done, the hair went flat, the make up base was washed off the bottom portion of my face and just mascara was left on my eyes. Ya know what? I didn't care. The bottom portion of the dress dried out fast. The top portion with the built in bra stayed wet and cool for about 3 hours. Now I know which dress to wear in the heat because I can soak the bra portion and stay cool for hours. LOL!

Heat & Dogs

It was a nice balmy 107 (47.6c) today with a wind that was hot enough to put any dryer to shame. I was walking by the kitchen window, looked out and thought of you Pete. For family that don't know who Pete is, D and I sold mom and dad's retractable to him. He's become an official little brother to me.

Anyway, I've been meaning to respond to Pete's email he sent the other day but I've been busy with S & S's picnic reception. Making cupcakes then attending. Anyway, Pete was whining (yep, you were whining) about how cold it is in Australia. Freezing your little ...... off huh?

Well, I thought I'd send you some California sunshine.

Wasn't enough for you? Here's some more. It's 8 p.m. and 94 (34.4c) out right now. I'm praying for a nice monsoon wind to come up and cool the house.

The sun is setting fast, so get Linda and the kids and put your hands up to the computer screen and start getting those little pinkies warm. I'll answer your email tomorrow....I swear.

It's been a tough two weeks for Nana's dogs. As you can see Tess and Ringo are being completely abused and beaten. Yep, that's a diaper on Ringo. I release him from his wheels for an hour each night before bed time to exercise his hind legs. He actually had the nerve to go over to Nutties litter box, lift his leg and pee all over the corner. Oh...did I mention D and I were sitting in the family room and he was staring at us while doing it? Yep, the dogs got guts.

He's not thrilled about the diaper but it works for me. LOL!

Speaking of Ringo. I was in the kitchen, let him out to go potty and the next thing I knew, he walks up to me while I'm doing dishes. I did one of those...."What's wrong with this picture?" then realized he was missing his wheels. Somehow he was able to leave them behind by the lawn. The dude's an escape artist.

This is Nuttie teaching the guests the art of holding the comforter down so it doesn't blow off the bed in the high winds we get. They got a little miffed with me because I put them all on the floor after I brushed my teeth and washed my face. They actually thought that's where they were going to stay for the day. Silly dogs!

Boy, I'm sure gonna miss all the help I've been getting from Tess. She's actually a heck of a guard dog. She's just playing opossum here. It lulls the burglars into a false sense of security giving her the upper hand with the element of surprise.

On a Clear Day in Santa Cruz

So what did I do this weekend?  Hmmmm.....I went to a becautiful wedding in Santa Cruz.  Of course you can recognize my son there on the right but on the left is his best friend Patrick.  They've known each other since they were kids. It's only natural S would be his best man (a few years ago).  So what's that mean?  Ahhhhhh....Patrick is Scott's best man!  YIPPEE!

Yep there he is with his lady love of almost 5 years.  It's hard to remember ever saying Scott without following with Sarah.  

She looks absolutely beautiful!  How did my little baby boy get to be so grown up?  How did the time go by so quickly?

When he bought this ring he hid it in the locked box that holds the serious drugs in his rig.  Apparently it's like trying to break into Fort Knox.  When he brought it home to ask Sarah to marry him, he hid it in one of the headers of the Chevelle.  Goes to show, when you're in the middle of a frame off restoration there's lots of nooks and crannies to hide little stuff.

I love the, 'kiss the bride' part!  Maybe that's where the term, 'Sealed with a kiss' originated from.  LOL!

Ah yes, that's definitely my kid!  He shows class in any situation.

The family is growing!  I was disappointed that I didn't get my picture with Margie, Sean and Patrick.  They are after all my son, daughter in law and grandchild even if they aren't related by blood.

Finally a picture of my husband!  When it comes to his picture, it's like trying to capture a ghost.  Usually at photo time he just vanishes.

So the question from D was, "Where are you going for your honeymoon?"  The answer...."I'm going to Disneyland!"

Oooooo....brother and sister playing nice.  No punching.  What good children I raised.

The wedding went great.  Sarah did a fantastic job putting everything together without involving Scott much.  Only one little catch.  Sarah came with her parents, Scott came with his best friend and they didn't have a car.  I hadn't realized that until he asked if we had room for them and would take them to the reception.  Details....details.  

I loved escorting them to the reception.  What mother wouldn't?

See Heather....see Heather look cute and sober.

See Heather, Scott and Sarah enjoy the reception.  Nothing like a few free drink tickets to get you started.  Of course, we older soles went back to our rooms after dinner and a drink or two to settle in for the night.

From here Scott and Patrick went for a swim then they all headed back to the bride and grooms room for more celebrating.  Apparently as the story goes, Heather found a nice bartender who continued to buy her drinks.

See Heather with hangover.  The good news is...she rode with us to Santa Cruz and didn't have to drive herself home.  The bad news is....she didn't have a smooth ride home and on a couple of occasions had to hang out my car window and proceeded to decorated the paint with some of the previous evenings libations.  Ewww....she was polite and followed with pouring bottled water out the window to help clean some of the mess.

Patrick was up and moving in the morning as was Sarah.  Scott however, was nowhere to be seen.  He should have been pretty good in the morning because he was able to put an IV in the night before.  There are definite advantages to being a medic!

I guess I can now officially say, "I'M A MOTHER IN LAW!"  YAHOO!!!!!

Creative Sausage

Yesterday I put on a dress I hadn't worn since last summer and boy was it tight. I think I've been in denial on how much weight I've gained over the winter. This dress was a definite wake up call.  I felt like a stuffed sausage and completely unattractive.  So what did I do?  I kept wearing it all day.  I think I needed to be uncomfortable and unattractive to drive the point home to my brain.  I absolutely did not like how I felt and looked.

In frustration I spent all day working on a design for the boy child because he and Sarah are going to Disneyland in June.  I figured they could use some new beach towels and a bag to go with them.

Here's the process I go through when dealing with a new design.

Once I've picked and edited a design, I start figuring the colors.  For some unknown reason, I just can't pull a color out and go....'Perfect'.  Nope, I have to pull every color I have on hand and go through them one by one.

I print up a sheet that tells me which color or piece of the design is going to sew out and in what order.  I write in each square the name and color of thread I'm going to use.  I put a star next to the colors that will sew out more than once so I make sure they get a permanent position on the machine and I don't have to spend time adding and subtracting them manually.

As you can see by this picture, I recycle paper.  These are just my notes so it doesn't matter if there's printing on the back of the sheet.  I think this one has information on my Kodak printer when I was searching best prices and specs.

Once I've got the colors selected they go on the machine.  If the design takes more than 6 colors, I take the extra spools and line them up in the order they'll be sewing out.  That way, I stay organized and don't tie on the wrong color. This pictures shows I'll do the rust, then cream, then silver, then dark grey.

Of course, I always have my crack guard dogs on alert to make sure no one comes in and steals my designs or supplies.  See why I have two chairs in the sewing room?  It's that or I'd end up sitting on the floor trying to work on the computer.  LOL!

Anyway, I sew out a sample of the design first.  That way I have the option of changing some of the colors if I feel it's necessary.  On this particular design, I didn't like the outside of the sand dollar being dark grey, plus it didn't hug the design and looked awful.  I cut that portion of the design out and outlined the sand dollar again closer to the edges and made it the same beige as the fill.  It look neater and cleaner.

It's hard to tell how vibrant these colors are in this little picture but trust me they are.  I should have made the design a bit smaller so it would be easier to put on the bag but was too lazy to do the additional edit.  That was not the smartest move because it took a lot of time to set up.  The machine didn't like the tight quarters and I had to do a last minute adjustment on the lettering in the middle of the design being embroidered out.

Next time I'll take the extra 5 minutes or so and reduce the size of the design. That would save me about 20 minutes of fussing around during the embroidery process.

The upside is....I had moments of the day when I wasn't thinking what a stuffed sausage I'd become.  LOL!

Mother's Day

Well, it's a bit late but I finally got the Mother's Day gift C and I bought mom to her.  Just when you figure how long shipping will be, someone throws a wrench in the works to mess things up.  Oh well, better late then never.

Check out this keyboard.  It's for the visually impaired.    When I worked for the Bank I used to order checks for the visually impaired and they loved them.  They were huge, yellow like the keyboard with big black lettering.

When I saw this keyboard last month, it just screamed mom.  I got it all set up for her to make sure it works.  She told me she wasn't writing emails because she couldn't see the keys on her black keyboard.  I didn't know that before I bought this.  Now she doesn't have an excuse for not keeping in contact with us.  Hint...hint...mom.

We also had a nice quiet lunch at Chili's.  Boy, I've got to tell ya, I had the chicken tenders and they really were.  Tender.  Usually they're dry but these were moist and juicy.  I brought some home in my little lunch bag.  The server was nice enough to fill a zip lock bag with ice for me so the chicken was nice and fresh when I got home.  Guess I know what I'm having for dinner.

Y'all keep a watch out for those emails from mom on her new keyboard!

Tired and Sore

Today was a tough day.  I've been moving slow because I hurt my back yesterday and am having trouble moving without pain.  I spent the morning drugged up and in bed but felt it made sense to move around.

D & I decided we'd take the dogs for a walk in the park.  We need to get Nisie socialized so she'll quit being scared and growling at strangers.  As you can see, it's a horrible park but we suffered through having to spend time there.

Luckily, D doesn't bother reading my blog or I'd be in trouble for posting this picture.  As you can tell, hanging around the park was exhausting so we had to nap after eating our picnic lunch.

Ahhhh....here's the reason for hurting my back.  For some reason I was under the illusion I was still in my 20's so I turned all the dirt over in this area and planted my tomatoes.  Uncle Leonard would be proud of me but D isn't happy with the hurt back, sunburn and hurt thigh I'm suffering from today.  

For some reason, he's under the impression I over did it yesterday.  I think I'll divide the rest of the garden into thirds and tackle a little at a time.  That is once I can bend over again.

The hurt will be well worth it when I eat my first tomato sandwich of the season.  OH YEAH...that will be absolute heaven.  I'll even take a pill so I can put Best Foods Mayo on the bread and not get a migraine.  Yep, I've been dreaming of this for quite some time now.

I just came in from checking on the tomato plants to see if anything ate them last night.  We'll, it's an official record.  They made it 24 hours without being eaten by bugs, rabbits or deer.  YAHOO!

Look at my little grape vines I planted at the end of the summer last year.  I wasn't quite sure if they'd survive because they were pretty sickly when I planted them.  These two are looking good.  The one on the other side of the gate (not shown) is a little anemic.  I'm hoping it'll perk up and become a real plant someday.

Desk and Ruby Ring

There are a couple of things I don't like about my desk....the opening for my chair isn't wide enough.  The slide out shelf sits on top of my right top drawer so the drawer has to be open to use it.  Which means my knees won't fit under it.

What I absolutely love is.....the drawers don't go the entire depth of the opening.  I have a bit of air space where I can hide my surge protector and have all my power cords disappear through the hole in the top of my desk.  Now that's just simply convenient.

I was plugging in my new printer in hopes of getting it up and running but ran into a little snag.  Make that two little snags.  When I got on my knees to get into the opening to plug in the new baby, I was instantly attacked by these frightening beasts.  You can see Nuttie has a hold of my finger and  Nisie is trying to figure how she does that and doesn't get scolded. 

Actually, Nuttie will grab hold of your hand (when given the chance) and try and walk you around the room.  It's hilarious and she never bites down hard. Just enough force to gently guide you where she wants you to go.  Needless to say, I had to give up on the project until the little beasts wore themselves out playing.

Yesterday I went to a bridal shower.  It was rather cool.  It was small and intimate which was nice because the last shower I went to was in a rented hall with about 70 women in attendance.  Talk about not the least bit fun.  It took forever for the expectant mother to open the gifts.  To say everyone lost interest after 20 minutes was an understatement.

Anyway....I digress....at yesterdays shower there were  only 9 of us.  It was great.  Each one of us was a character and we had to come as that character.  I was Ruby Ring who thought she had fashion sense but really didn't.  I figured, she had a little fashion sense but always went a bit to far and added that splash of gaudy.   Hence the canary yellow with the perfectly matched red/black dress and hat.

What you can't see is the great plastic WalMart jewelry I bought.  It was made from all the colors of the rainbow.  Necklaces, ear rings and bracelets.  Now I've got something for Taylor to wear and play with next time she  comes over.

Anyway, this was a mystery...who done it and a lot of fun.  The shower was an afternoon tea served in courses, soup, salad, finger sandwiches, dessert then cake.  At each course someone would read who they were and their story.  Each of us had jewelry stolen and we had to figure who the thief was.   

The downside to taking pictures is you never end up in any of them.  Then of course there's the fat factor.  I always look fat in pictures so I hate them.  I thought for the fun of it I'd take my own picture.  It actually turned out to be one of the better ones of me.

Now I know the secret to looking thin and younger in a picture.  Put on to much make-up.  Pop a hat with a veil on your head.  Wrap a boa around your pudgy little neck to hid all the chins.   Well it worked for me!  LOL!

Today my beautiful daughter will be picking me up to take me to lunch for Mom's Day.  It's going to be great.  We haven't seen each other in a few weeks so it's time to play catch up.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO YOU ALL!