Joe to the Vet and Screen-free til 8:03

Today was the day we dropped Joe off at the vet for his 'comprehensive' exam. He has epilepsy, thyroid problems and his terribly overweight. Bless his heart, he takes more pills than we do. But he's such a sweetheart and we love him, so we think it's worth it.

And actually he enjoys this day as he is kind of the baby of the office. He spends the day there since they do a bunch of blood work and all the people there enjoying talking to him and petting him. I'm thinking he's got a pretty good life. :)

Screen-free til 8:03 : Usually when I come up with my hare-brained ideas for self-improvement Keith just kind of nods and goes on. He really is supportive, but bless his heart he has to listen to me all the time deciding that something else will work better!

Today on The Southern Housewife's blog she talked about how so many people are so tuned in to 'screens' that even relationships are starting to suffer. She of course said it very eloquently and her phrase was 'screen affairs'. :) I've thought about her post all day and while I've cut down on my computer time in the evenings dramatically, she also mentioned tv and her blackberry. I'm not a tv person, but I do stay connected to my cell phone at all times.

So while we're having dinner we talked about how all the 'screens' in our house were starting to become way too important in our lives. Our focus going forward is to have no screens on in the evenings until about 8:00. No tv, no computer, no cell phone. And that would actually be a challenge when I consider just how much I enjoy reading blogs!

But let me tell you about our evening tonight. When we got home from getting Joe at the vet we went in the backyard and started doing yard work...together. Side by side in that awful humidity tonight, with sweat pouring down our faces, we worked together. When we came inside we looked at the clock and it was only 7:10.

We brought out the Pente game that we used to play together all the time when we first were married. We played and laughed and had the best time. In fact, it reminded of why we fell in love in the first place.

I can't say with certainty how long we'll keep this up. But while we're doing it we're having fun together and getting things done that have been neglected for too long, so how can it be a bad thing?

Biggest Loser: Again this week I was not happy with who was sent home. Felipe seems like such a nice young man and really I'm not fond of the players that are left. Except for Tara, she's the one I'm hoping will win.

But I won't be able to watch any more because I'm starting a new Bible study next Tuesday night. And we're the couple that doesn't have HDTV or DVR. ;)

You Say Tomato and I Say Tomato

When we got home from church today I had just a little time before I had something to do with my daughter. And so I got my 3 new tomato plants planted.

After I finished I looked at my line of "pots" and here's what came to mind: "If the container for your tomato plant is an empty cat litter bucket....you might be a redneck." I thought for a bit about spray painting them - and still might - but what I finally decided is that this is such a great example of repurposing. We have a lot of these buckets and now they will get a 2nd life.

I drilled 4 holes in the bottom of each bucket and put a layer of rocks in the bottom, then filled the buckets with soil and a tomato plant. Each of the three plants are a different variety, so this is the year of tomato plant experimentation.

While I was taking pictures of the 3 new plants the original tomato plant starting whining that it wanted a picture as well. So I show you the Topsy Turvy tomato plant, now 5 weeks old. It is truly amazing to watch how fast this plant is growing.

Maurice Durufle's Requiem: One of Lynne's closest friends, and her mom, are in the Musical Feast Choral Society here in town. They had a performance late this afternoon and Lynne' and I went to see it. Truly it was unbelievable and reminded me of an old world European style of singing. And I say that with full realization that I have no knowledge whatsoever of musical styles. But the songs were done in Latin and one of the songs, Alleluia, honestly reminded me of angels. I even went so far as to close my eyes during part of the song and the voices were so phenomenal - what a blessing. The performance was held in a local church that has an amazing organ to accompany them. So glad I was able to go.

A Sock In The Sky

Sometimes you have to put yourself in a position that might be a bit embarrassing, but really it's worth it to get the photo. And that's what happened here.

I'm so close to getting my craft room organized to the point of sharing pictures. And part of that organization was identifying which WIP's (works in progress) I wanted to finish and which I wanted to take apart and store as just yarn.

I've got a lot of single socks and rather than take them out, introduce them to each other and hope that they might find true love I've decided to go ahead and knit the second socks. This is the pair that were finished early this morning.

The green and yellow colors just called out to be pictured against the brilliant blue of the vast Texas sky today. So that's what I did - went outside, lay down on our picnic table and stuck my legs in the air for the photo. I'm sure I was a site to see and I can only hope that none of my neighbors saw me.

And then I looked at the yarn a little more closely and decided that they really needed to be against the green backdrop of our weed-filled backyard (don't judge - we're working on it!).

Such an immense sense of satisfaction to finish this pair and really I should get started on the next one quickly.

The only thing about these that didn't completely thrill me was the DK weight. It's the first pair of socks I've knit with DK weight and I think I prefer socks made with fingering weight yarn. We're all different and now I know!

Specs:

International Sock of Doom pattern, Knit Clinic Sock Yarn, DK Weight, Fading Sunflower colorway, Size 7 needles

Skip To My Lou

A funny thing happened when we went for a walk on our break at work today....

Why we decided to start walking again the day it turned to mid-90's for the high I don't know. The weathermen this morning said that today would be the warmest (hottest?) it had been since last October.

So the four of us - me, S, P and K - donned our tennies and headed to the covered parking area to walk laps. We walked at a pretty good clip, then S mentioned that he'd just read that skipping was really good exercise. Never one to back down to a challenge, I started skipping, and S and P joined right in.

It was so much FUN!!! We skipped and we laughed and I was about out of breath. And then we heard a jingling sound.

I turned around and one of the building security guards was skipping towards us with a big grin on his face! Truly I've not laughed that hard in a long time. Nor have I had that red of a face I'm sure.

Good times............

Dinner at the Daughter's

Dinner: It's an interesting feeling when your children get to the age that they invite you over for dinner. Lynne' has had us over to her apartment a couple of times for a dinner she's cooked and every time it's not only delicious, but we have a nice time as well. This time she cooked Southwestern Turkey Chili and Cornbread from a Sandra Lee cookbook and I think it's going to into our dinner rotation now since we really liked it. It's fun to get new recipes from your daughter. :)

Games: After dinner we like to play games, but she didn't have a lot to choose from and I completely forgot to bring any of ours. As luck would have it Lynne' remembered she had a pack of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cards. We had to put our thinking caps on for a game that three people could play with only one deck and came up with the game 31. Keith remembers back when he was young and their entire family would play together at their aunt's house, so it was fun to continue the tradition. And you can see by the penny pile that we are big gamblers....especially when Lynne' put up the $$ for us all!

The Biggest Loser: I was so sad tonight that Kristin got voted off. She's been one of my favorites since the beginning and she always works so hard. But in the end she should be so proud of herself for all that she's accomplished. I know I always end up being silly and saying something like "I was almost motivated enough to stop eating a donut" but honestly this show does motivate me. Between watching this show, Linda's 30x5 challenge and Gilad in the mornings, I sure hope that scale starts to move!

Crafting Update: I've been computer-less and running a lot in the evenings, so I haven't had a minute to take pictures. I'm hoping in the next couple of days to get the pictures taken so I can update the blog. I have some knitting finishes, quilt block finishes (and a start!), cards and actually a layout to share.

Good times...

We went to the "big box" hardware store to get a new screen door
closer thingy (and let me tell you that when it goes out the door
slams LOUD!) and took a stroll through the garden center. I was
entranced by all the spring color and took out my cell phone to take a
picture. When Keith saw what I planned he walked over to another
section. It amazes me that after all these years I'm still able to
embarrass him by doing this!

But aren't these plants gorgeous?

Scripture Memory Verse and Easter With Brooklyn

Scripture Memory Verse:

"Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult,

but with blessing, because to this you were called

so that you may inherit a blessing."

1 Peter 3:9

--<>--

Even though Easter is over I'm going to go ahead and post late photos. Remember that I'm a doting grandma that didn't have a computer, so I decided better late than never.

We had quite a bit of rain last Saturday night, so we changed our egg hunt from the yard to the inside. Since this is the first year Miss B was able to do egg hunts she didn't seem to mind at all and in fact squeeled in delight when she rounded the corner and saw eggs all down the hall. In the photo above she was excited about seeing the candy inside the egg and decided to show it to "Bapaw".

And of course she had to sample a few. I love her little dress and pig tails. :)

These are the cupcakes that I quickly made so that Little Bit would have some fun. I went to Stamp Club on Friday night and the lady that brought snacks had made these and I loved the idea. Though I will admit that when I saw this photo it made me chuckle because my little bunny cupcake looks a little maniacal!

While Loni helped me finish these up before lunch I gave Brooklyn one of the marshmallows, her first ever, and I'm here to tell you she thoroughly approved!

Good times..... :)

Happy Computers Make For Happy Households

This will be one of my shortest, happiest posts ever - I've got a computer again! Just amazing how much I missed being able to get online. Equally amazing is how much I got done around here since I couldn't play on a computer - ahem.

Regardless, I'm all set up and now going to bed. I've been looking at my smiling keyboard and monitor for a while now (see their photo above???) and I'm a pooped puppy now.

And may all your pixels and gigabytes be happy ones.

Happy Easter!

Wishing everybody a glorious and blessed Easter Sunday!

March Quilt Block and Brooklyn's First Easter Egg Hunt

Tomorrow we head to the quilt shop to get next month's block. I'm pretty happy with the way the blocks are turning out and can't wait to see the whole thing together.

The block above is the March block and of course I just finished it today and need it tomorrow! When I take it in and show it I'll get the April kit free. At the end of the year, as long as I keep up with it, I'll have the quilt top for only $5. Except that tomorrow I plan to get the setting kit and I think it's right at $50, so my price just went up a bit. :)

Brooklyn Easter Egg Hunt Story: I just got off the phone with the kids and they were telling me stories about the Easter egg hunt that Brooklyn had at her daycare today. Now, you know I'm not the least bit biased about how darling this grandbaby is, so this is the honest truth. ;) Apparently little Miss B is somewhat of a teacher's pet. The kids got there and saw that B was outside helping the teacher put the eggs out on the playground for all the kids to hunt. Such a heartwarming and sweet story.

Then all the kids in her age group got to go out and hunt for eggs. They said that some of them were wandering around and some just dropped their baskets and started crying. Brooklyn saw the kids start picking up her eggs, the ones she'd put on the ground, and that made her cry. They got her going again, then she saw one little girl put one of the eggs in her basket and Brooklyn took it out and put it back on the ground!

This whole thing makes me giggle to think about. We take the Easter egg hunt "rules" for granted, but when you are 20 months old this is some very serious stuff. And I suppose that in her eyes all these kids were taking her toys, not even thinking about the fact that there are enough for everybody.

And while we were on the phone I kept hearing her in the background making all kinds of noise. At one point I asked if she was crying and James said, no - she's laughing...and she's on a bit of a sugar high from the cupcakes and cookies at the daycare party!

Silly, sweet baby girl. :)

Happy Anniversary Babe!

My original plan for today's blog was to scan one of our wedding pictures. Unfortunately my computer is down, which means no access to the scanner. So imagine if you will two young people who look really young, attired in groovy '80's clothes and have '80's hair and that would be us. And today we celebrated 29 years of marriage. :)

We ended up going to a little restaurant that a friend of Keith's had recommended that required a leisurely 45 minute drive to a nearby small town. Dinner was great and then we went strolling around the square afterwards (to walk off some of the dinner perhaps?). This building is the county courthouse and I was enchanted by its charm. Keith pointed out that it was built of granite and I think that was one of the things that made it such an imposing building.

The square was full of cute shops, including a craft mall and several antique shops. Unfortunately it was too late in the day and they all were closed. I do believe I can talk him into going back with me sometime, especially when we saw the cutest park ever! Honestly I see a Saturday with Brooklyn in our future.

And Happy Birthday! Today is also my baby brother's birthday. So a very happy birthday to you and I hope you enjoyed your dinner as well. :)

Tuesday Tales

We had the best weekend! A weekend spent with Keith's family, which we don't do nearly enough. And on Saturday we all headed to First Monday Trade Days in Canton hoping for bargains and treasures. This is like the ultimate flea market, craft show, fair and I don't know what all rolled into one.

The day started out chilly, but we peeled the jackets off pretty quick. Right off the bat Keith's folks rented a scooter since it promised to be a day full of walking. It was amazing how many scooters were out there and by the end of the day I think we all were a little envious. :) Brooklyn thought it was pretty interesting to see her great-grandparents each on a scooter. But best of all was that great-grandpa had a bag of kettle corn in the front of his scooter and she LOVED that! If she ran out of popcorn on her little stroller tray she would start looking around for grandpa. :)

Once we got back to Keith's brother's house we all stayed outside until it got dark. We played with Miss B and the dogs and then had dinner outside as well. The weather was just so beautiful. Early on Loni brought out some strawberries for a Brooklyn snack and you can see by the chipmunk cheeks and juicy chin that she thoroughly enjoyed them.

30x5 Update: I can't believe how well I am doing on the movin' and groovin'! Making a vow to move for 30 minutes a day is just so doable that it's almost embarrassing to think that I am so proud of it. Now before I get in trouble for bragging I do want to remind everybody that I don't have young kids at home or anything like that. When I get home in the evening, after we have dinner and clean the kitchen, the entire rest of the evening is mine. So yes, that does make it very doable for me.

So far I'm on track doing the Total Body Sculpt on tv every other morning. In the evenings I've been trying to always take Joe for a walk (he's old and out of shape as well), then ride the bike while watching tv. And when we did all the walking on Saturday and then running around with Brooklyn in the backyard Saturday night Keith mentioned to me how proud he was that I could keep up so much better. That made me feel really good, especially as I have seen absolutely no difference on the scale. But I feel confident that it will come.

Goodbye Computer: And then on Sunday night....my computer died. It was a rather traumatizing moment when I realized what this meant, because really I'd rather surf the net than watch tv. Keith went today to price parts and because the computer is so very old we can no longer just replace the motherboard, we'd also have to replace memory and CPU and power supply.

~ sigh ~

When he told me the price I told him no, at least for now. We do have an ancient dinosaur laptop at home and really I think I"ll just use it for now. And might I add that I feel very blessed that I have it.

Scripture Memory Verses: I don't know if I ever mentioned that I've begun doing some scripture memory work. This has really been on my heart recently because it's not enough to have read the Bible, I want to be able to call upon the verses when I need them. Too many times I'll think "I know there's something in the Bible about this" and then will draw a blank. This is perfect for me. And I thank all my "Siestas" that are so inspirational to me!

And To All A Good Night! And with that big ol' update I"ll be signing off. I admit that I am a big Biggest Loser fan and it's on right now. Plus, last night I got some fabric cut and tonight I'm going to go in and start sewing it into a quilt block.

1st and 15th Scripture Memory

"I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.

Psalm 119:11

Brooklyn Says Her Colors

Listening to a toddler speak is one of the cutest things ever. Funny thing is, pink is my favorite color, but now that I hear her say "Geen" I find myself becoming rather partial to it. :)

Brooklyn and Keith's Birthday

And I ask honestly, isn't this the cutest baby girl? Not that I'm biased or anything. :)

We had the best time on Sunday when we all got together to celebrate Keith's birthday. The plan was to have dinner at a mexican restaurant in a nearby 'burb and we got there about 2 hours early in order to walk around and visit the little shops. Unknown to us, it was Thomas the Tank Engine day and there were lots of events for littles. The main thing was the train that goes through town had a front to it so that it looked like Thomas. For a brief moment we considered taking the 25 minute ride, but although Miss B would be free the rest of us would pay $18 each for a ticket. Perhaps someday, but she's only 20 months old and doesn't even know who Thomas is!

So instead we walked around and looked at the train exhibits, then saw a man with little bitty ponies all in a circle to ride. I didn't even hesitate, put Miss B on a pony and told Keith to pay the nice man. Not sure she was thrilled, but it was still fun.


After a bit we decided it was time for dinner. Loni teased me because I ordered a guacamole appetizer just because Brooklyn loves it. But the hot sauce was way too spicey for her and she kept watching us dip our chips, so what was a grandma to do???


After dinner we came back to our house to spend more time together and so Keith could open his gifts. Brooklyn had fun with the new little toy at our house.


And one of the best parts of the evening was when B and I went into the backyard. She's at an age where she seems to enjoy doing whatever grandma is doing. We both sat in a chair and she got so excited by the birds and the airplanes. God bless the Dallas area and all our planes, it was almost like a video game for her.

At one time I sat at the picnic table in our backyard and she climbed up on the seat next to me. She looked at my hands and she folded hers to match mine. Then she looked up at me and grinned. It truly melted my grandma heart. :)