Girls A Knittin'

I suppose at some point I need to slow down and get some rest, but in the meantime I'm having the time of my life. Last night was my first visit to a new to me group of knitters at a coffee shop in a nearby 'burb. Got there early and went to dinner with a friend and her husband, then got back and just really enjoyed myself. LOVE the owner of the coffee shop and she was sitting with us working on her project. I finished a very small lace project I was working on (pictures soon) and did the cast on for a new baby blanket. Got home and played with the dog while talking with the hub and daughter before crashing in bed. But luckily today at work our CEO sent an email to the whole company saying he had decided to give us Monday off as well - woohoo! A four day weekend ahead - does it get any better than that???

~ Elizabeth

"A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures." - Irish proverb

WFMW!

OK, this will prove that I can be rather wishy-"washy" about things. Last week I posted about saving money and this week is spending money. ;) You can find the master link list at Rocks In My Dryer if you'd like to find tons of other tips!

I *love* the new Automatic Shower Cleaner by Scrubbing Bubbles! It's not cheap - I think the starter kit was around $20 at Walmart for the little machine thingy and two bottles of stuff - but it's worth it to me. Each bottle lasts us around 3-4 weeks and is around $3 on sale. After the last shower of the day is taken you just push the little blue button and it sprays cleaner in a circle around the shower. We have glass doors and since using this they stay clear - woohoo! This does not totally replace normal cleaning, but I don't have to do it nearly as often as I used to and no more shower stress.

~ Elizabeth

Always remember: baby steps! - Flylady

Lingering Images

Every so often I'll see something and it will stay in my mind for quite some time. Last night is an example. As we were heading to the new house we decided we should stop for gas and beverages. While K was gassing up the truck, J and I headed inside for drinks. Sitting on the curb outside the building was an older woman, next to her quite old pickup. Both she and her vehicle were rather unkempt, but what really struck me about this scenario was that she was sitting there with quite a few scratch off lottery tickets, diligently scratching and hoping for the big payoff. For some reason this image has stuck with me and I find myself thinking of her this morning.

No Place Like Home

J&L closed on their house yesterday! After work last night we rented a Uhaul trailer and got all the furniture and LOTS of boxes moved. It was so cute too - when we got to the house they had pizza delivered to feed us all and when we were sitting there eating every time I looked at James he had a big grin on his face. What a blessing for them to have their own home!

The only negative is that we got home at 1:30 in the morning, tumbled into bed and it seemed like the alarm rang almost immediately. Strange feeling today - it's like there's a buzzing all around me. ;) I guess getting just a couple of hours of sleep isn't really what this old woman needed - LOL!

~ Elizabeth

Without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year-olds. - JoJo Jensen, Dirt Farmer Wisdom, 2002

DFW Yarn Crawl

Oh what a happy fun Thursday I had! Went to work and asked off for the day to join a group of ladies on a DFW Yarn Crawl. We went to 4 of the area yarn stores on the north end of DFW and it seems like we ate our way across town as well. A very full day with lots of talking, laughter, coffee, sweets and even some knitting thrown in. Good times.....

Elizabeth

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive. - Anäis Nin

WFNW!

Yeah, I'm a joiner again! I just discovered this theme on Shannon's blog and have really enjoyed reading the tips on the other blogs. Some don't apply to me since my kids are grown now, but that's ok. And actually I enjoy reading the young mom blogs as it reminds me of my kids when they were little. :)

On to my tip! We really enjoy the Country Time "on the go" tubes of lemonade and Keith takes one with him to work each day. It hit us though that each tube cost about a quarter, so when we saw the extra large rub of powder at Sam's for only about five bucks we snatched one up. I went to Hobby Lobby and got a package of jewelry zip bags that I think measure 2"x3" and on sale they were about a penny each. Last night I measured out all the powder in little bags and when we did the figuring it ended up being about a nickel each! OK, saving twenty cents each didn't sound all that much until I was emailing my mom and figuring it out and if Keith takes one bag each work day over the course of a year that adds up to $52 - well worth standing there in my opinion.

Joyful Birds

Well the NBA season ended last night and Dallas did not end up on top. I can't say that I'm deeply saddened over the loss because I'm not a huge sports fan, but of course it's always fun for the home team to win. I sat with Keith last night while he watched the game, but I was knitting on lace and have to admit that I watched the knitting more than the game. At one point when something amazing happened in the game Keith was just incredulous that I could have missed it since I wasn't watching the screen. I serenely replied that how I enjoy the game was simply by being with him. He sputtered for a minute, then grinned and turned back to the game.

I've always been one that enjoys the beauty of birds and am particularly impressed when I see a cardinal or bluejay in flight. This must be a good year for cardinals as I've seen several flying in front of my truck lately. But this morning was the winner. While waiting at a traffic light this morning a stunningly beautiful bright green bird flew past the window and up into a nearby tree! I have no idea what kind of bird this was, but I'm hoping it wasn't somebody's pet that escaped. And it did give me great joy to see him in flight this morning. :)

~ Elizabeth
The most important part of vehicle maintenance is clean windows - so if you are broken down, you can still enjoy the beauty of the view. - Dan Eldon

Ode to the Lunchbox

My daily routine includes bringing my lunch to work in order to stop eating fast food and my sweet husband makes my sandwich for me every morning. I add the other stuff and schlep it into a Walmart bag and bring to work, looking suave and stylish. Last night at Sams though I bought a new lunchbox! Maybe this shouldn't be that exciting, but there you have it.

This morning while driving to work I looked over and saw it sitting there, which brought a smile to my face (even if it is red rather than pink!). It occurred to me how much we take for granted in life. I know without a shadow of doubt that I will have lunch each and every day. On the rare occasions that we run late in the morning or forget to buy bread, even then it's not a crisis as I'll just go out that day for lunch. And you think of the people worldwide that have so very little, while we enjoy so much.

So may the lunchboxes in our lives always be filled with healthy, delicious foods and may we always remember to be thankful for that.

~ Elizabeth

People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering. - St. Augustine

WIP Friday

Another challenge that I decided to take part of! Every Friday we are to post our "WIP's" - Works In Progress. I decided not to picture everything I've started as all those pictures would probably not fit on my camera's memory card! These are the items that I'm actually working on right now:

* Christmas 2005 Scrapbook
* Pink scarf to donate
* 5 Hour Baby Sweater
* Cat embroidery panel that will become a pillow (probably) when done

Red Friday

Pot O' Flowers

Here's one pot full of the free geraniums from my work and there's another on the other side of the porch. We went to Lowe's last night to get pots and potting soil since I don't have a spot ready yet in the backyard for planting. As we were working on getting them potted Keith did point out that my free plants had cost us about $70. ;)

The swelling has gone down in my face today, so hopefully I won't look like an ogre all weekend. I almost didn't walk this morning with Joe since I did hurt myself yesterday, but realized that there really wasn't any reason NOT to walk, so off we went - and all went well. My brother told me yesterday that from now I have to wear a bicycle helmet and down vests for my walks, but I threw caution to the wind this morning and went without.

J&L came over last night with Keith's father's day present since the weekend will be busy. Really quite cool - they got him a picnic backpack! When we went to the Dallas Arboretum on Mother's Day we had mentioned that we would like to start taking picnics out there and just enjoying it, obviously when it's cooler again. This backpack has the dishes, utensils, blanket and a place to put a beverage bottle - great idea!

And their offer on the house was accepted, so looks like they will be homeowners soon! Very exciting and stressful time for them right now. I can't wait til they get in the house and can start their new lives there. :)

~ Elizabeth

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. - Proverbs 16:3

Blue Thursday

5 Hour Baby Sweater

I hate to call it a Finished Object because I still need to weave in the ends and do the seams under the arms - oh and buy buttons and get them sewn in - but the knit portion of this sweater is DONE! Definitely doing some Snoopy dancing around here as I rarely finish anything I begin. Actually I take that back - in knitting I'm getting to have a pretty good track record on finishing. :)

Today's Adventures in Exercise....I've never been known for my grace, but for the most part that's ok. However, today took the cake. Joe and I went on our usual morning walk and I cleverly decided to "kick it up a notch" and add some brief jogging spurts in. We hadn't jogged more than half a house length when I tripped and did a very impressive swan dive - right into the concrete. I landed chest and shoulder first, so I have a beautiful case of road rash across my chest, a bruise on my shoulder and my arm is sore enough I can't even hold my cell phone up - GASP! Next to hit was my chin, which bounced substantially enough that my jaw was too sore to eat - another major GASP! I conceded defeat at this point and limped back home, crying piteously, took a shower and then slathered on the Neosporin. ~ sigh ~ So much for being a world renowned marathon race runner.

Last night we all went to the Studio Movie Grill and saw DaVinci Code with the church. Yummo pizza, popcorn and pop and the movie was pretty good, too.

~ Elizabeth

I don't think jogging is healthy, especially morning jogging. If morning joggers knew how tempting they looked to morning motorists, they would stay home and do sit-ups. - Rita Rudner

Gray/Black Wednesday

Homes and Flowers

All 5 of us ran around with the realtor last night looking at houses for J and L and today they're working on a contract! Such a big decision and I remember well the worry and stress involved in a house purchase. Keeping our fingers crossed!

This morning I arrived at work to discover a Floral Freebie. The office building I work in periodically changes all the flowers in the landscaping and usually carts the discards away to a compost pile - the horror of it all! Today they told our receptionist that if anybody wanted some to come on out. We all started scrounging around for empty boxes and out we went lay claim on the bounty of geraniums. I now have about 10 large plants filled with red flowers! Now we'll see if I can get them transplanted and kept alive - without boiling them I might add. ;)

~ Elizabeth

Look at the flowers - for no reason. It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are. - Unknown

Brown Tuesday

3 Days of Fun!

We had another fabulous 3 day weekend at the lake! This one was filled with people and lots of laughter - does it get any better than that? Keith, Joe and I headed up Friday morning and spent a little time on the lake in the afternoon. Much to our dismay when we returned to the cabin we discovered that the air conditioner had finally given up. We took the dog and headed to the nearest town with a Lowe's and bought a fancy schmancy new one and it took quite awhile to get it installed. I swear it was like a sauna in there and as much as I was "glowing" I should surely have lost 10 pounds, but didn't. All is well now though!

Later Friday night James and Loni and Lynne' and her friend Andrea arrived. We had a blast right from the start! Loni, James and I played Jacks and had a good laugh when James declared that "real men play jacks". We also talked about how good mom always was at this and she had taught the kids to play jacks when they would go to the lake when they were little. Good times...

B and R were also at the their place this weekend, so Saturday we spent a grand time out on the water - and found out that Andrea had never been to the lake or on a boat before! She was quite a trooper though and even rode the jet skis....with tears streaming down her face at the beginning. After a minute though she had a grin across her face, so all was well. Saturday night was spent at the National Sand Bass Festival in Madill, Oklahoma. We always love attending this and this year's concert was Mark Chesnut.

I also managed to finish the knitting portion of my 5 Hour Baby Sweater this weekend and will get pictures soon.

And yeah, this is a picture free post as I forgot to get pictures of the weekend. DOH!

~ Elizabeth

"Friends, our life is love and peace and tenderness. We are called to bear one another's burdens, forgive one another, and never judge or accuse one another. Instead, we must pray for one another, helping one another up with a tender hand if there has been any slip or fall." - Isaac Penington

White Monday

Yeah, I'm a joiner. This is my entry for Color Week and while not as stunning as some that I've seen, I like doing these as it forces me to look at things in a bit more challenging manner.

Stay tuned for the rest of the week......

~ Elizabeth

Boiling Roses

(not my rosebush - I found an image through Google since I needed visual aids for my story...)

Yesterday at work one of the ladies was talking to me about gardening and plants in general. Bless her heart, she's new and doesn't know the reputation I have with killing plants. Anyway, I did gently tell her that I know nothing, so she's decided to educate me on the subject. One of her tips was to pour coffee on your rosebush because they really like something in it and they will grow fuller, have bigger and better smelling flowers, etc. This morning I noticed the last few cups of coffee in the pot and since it's getting so hot outside now I don't drink as much and end up pouring it out. But the lightbulb went on in my head and I trekked out to the far end of the backyard (I say that like we have this huge yard or something, rather than your basic city lot) holding the coffeepot. I approached the rosebush warily and poured the coffee at the base - only to see quite a bit of steam billow up from it. I suppose the part of the instructions she DIDN"T tell me - and assumed I would just know on my own - was that you let the coffee cool first. I think I might have boiled my rosebush alive. :(

We had our last Bible Study last night on the Davinci Code and I know I will miss it. Next Wednesday night our church reserved two screens at a theater and we'll all go see it. This happens to be one of our favorite theaters as they serve dinner while you watch the movie and they have wonderfully comfortable leather chairs that lean back. So it's pizza, popcorn and movie night. :) Last night's lesson was on symbols and architecture and honestly we don't really talk about the book all that much - it's mostly used as a jumping off point for discussions. We have learned so much each week and the three of us have had some great conversations on the way home afterwards. Yeah, I'll really miss it.

~ Elizabeth

I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day. - Abraham Lincoln

Pictures

Today's picture is stolen from Loni. ;) This was taken on their honeymoon to Lake Tahoe and it's just so beautiful. Though as I look a little more closely at the photo I have to wonder if they are really there or if they Photo Shop'ed themselves into the picture. :)

Speaking of pictures, the 5 of us headed to our church last night for Olan Mills night. The church is putting together a pictoral directory, which means of course the free 8x10. The pictures came out fabulous and I won't even mention how much my free 8x10 - and then some - ended up costing me. But we haven't done a family portrait in at least 10 years and now we are 5, so it's time. I also have for the first time one of the larger pictures that looks like the painting on canvas and can't wait to have it hanging in its place of honor over the fireplace.

Yesterday was also Loni's birthday and James and Loni's one month anniversary! Because of the pictures we went out to eat on Monday night and gave her the gifts then as well. She picked a mexican restaurant that was soooo good and a then we all went to Fry's to do a little window shopping. While James and Keith were busy looking at boy stuff we all went over to look at the refrigerators for the new house that will soon be purchased! They went yesterday and have their preapproval letter, so now just need to find a house. Good times.....

~ Elizabeth

"Eating everything you want is not that much fun. When you live a life with no boundaries, there’s less joy. If you can eat anything you want to, what’s the fun in eating anything you want to?" - Tom Hanks, Esquire, June 2006

Yippee Monday!

Home last night from a wonderful 3 day weekend at the lake. Poor Joe is exhausted from all the fun he had and looks very old in this picture. Friday the 3 of us rode the jet skis out to the islands and swam and played ball and such. So good to be back doing the things we love best! In addition to water time we have finished the main part of the painting the cabin and that is very satisfying. Lots of play (sore muscles to prove it!) and lots of rest makes for a very nice weekend indeed.

One of the coolest things we saw was on Friday when the lake was a little less crowded. There was an airplane with "those things on the bottom that make them float" (can't think of what they're called!) that few in and landed on the water. That was exciting enough to see, but shortly after we saw him take off as well. I don't know why, but that sort of thing is just thrilling to me.

And here's the latest picture of the lace scarf. I have learned SO MUCH from this lace pattern that Missy wrote! Saturday night we were relaxing and watching King Kong (finally - we are never cutting edge on our movie watching) and I was knitting lace at the same time. I ended up with an extra stitch, so just rearranged the pattern a bit to get rid of it. Then I know that I read to repeat those 34 rows twice more, but happened to glance down at the pattern after row 3 of the 3rd repeat and saw that it's just once more. Dilemma! Now the old Elizabeth would just frog the whole thing and start over, but I decided to try my hand at tinking the 3 rows - even if it was lace knitting. Amazingly I think I did ok! Whew - crisis averted. So I happily did the bind off - and discovered that my single stitch was on the wrong end! Hmm.... OK, well let's try my hand at un-binding off since I know I've heard it's possible. WooHoo - did it! Added another row of sl1, k and then did the bind off again and my stitch was at the right place. At this point I decided to go to bed as I'd had enough lace fun for one evening. Moral of the story - probably not a good idea to watch a movie while doing lace. LOL!

~ Elizabeth

I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. And what I can do, I ought to do. And what I ought to do, by the Grace of God, I shall do. - Edward Everett Hale

Lace Has Begun!

Started the Lace KAL last night while watching the Mavericks game and doing laundry and this is what I have completed so far. The photo shows the first 20 rows of the pattern (not quite one repeat) and you can sorta see the penny that I included for size reference. Keith just looked at what I'd completed, shook his head and said "You're crazy". I won't comment on whether he's correct or not in general, but I am enjoying the lace!

I can't post the pattern because of copyright, but the amazingly talented gal that wrote the pattern and is leading our KAL is Missy and if you scroll down a bit you'll see a photo of her completed purple scarf using this pattern.

Now I'm off to finish my morning routine as I'm running a little behind today....

~ Elizabeth

...for the joy of the LORD is your strength. - Nehemiah 8:10

Random Thoughts

This flower picture was taken on Mother's Day at the Dallas Arboretum. The more I look at it the more I'm falling in love with it. Doesn't the center seem to glow and pull you in?

The radio station this morning has been reporting that a church in one of the Dallas 'burbs had their air conditioning unit stolen. They've put up a big sign that reads "To the thieves that stole our air conditioner - you think it's hot here...." ;)

~ Elizabeth

The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. - Proverbs 15:3