Monday Musings

Sometimes there really just are not the words you need. Keith's Aunt Vonna has passed away. There are some people in life that are able to make you feel loved and welcome to their family and she definitely was one of those. She will be missed.

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I love this picture. We went out geocaching yesterday and had, as always, a really good time. This one happened to be out at the lake and it was a little exciting. We had to walk into what I consider a forest, though I say that with the disclaimer that I'm quite a city girl and most would probably call it a couple of trees. Anyway, we walked along making crunchy sounds walking on the dried, fallen leaves when something scurried in front of me. Always ready with my walking stick to do a little kung fu I went looking. It was a lizard and he was pretty good sized. OK, no longer scarey and we resumed our walking. Again, something scurried, but this time Joe saw it and really, really wanted to take out after it. Turns out it was a bunny with a cute little cottontail. He finally did some leaps and bounds and left and oh did that dog ever want to run after it. At this point Joe got returned to the truck, where he did a grand version of doggy pouting. When Keith and I were finished and walking to the truck I thought Joe looked cute and snapped a picture with my phone. What I didn't realize is that Keith and I were reflected in the side of the truck. Even better, because of the shape of the truck (I'm assuming) we came out looking like Munchkins! Really tickled me.

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I did get a chance to be creative a bit yesterday and worked on some cards. This was my desk when I got up to go to bed. I had to leave some things out so the Stickles could dry and I kind of liked the creative mess it all created.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

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The knitted pixie hat for Brooklyn? So sad. I got my needles mixed up during the kitchener stitch and when I did the first point I ended up having the little curly-q right in the middle of the hat! I tried to un-kitchener and ended up losing stitches left and right, so finally just frogged the whole thing. I have it re-knit up to the point of the kitchener again, so hopefully it will work out better this time around.

Happy Feet

These were my happy feet at work yesterday. The weather had finally
cooled off enough that I was able to wear socks and clogs to work, it
being jeans day and all. But these weren't just any socks - these are
hand knit socks...by me even! They felt so good and my toes
practically danced under my desk every time I slipped my feet out of
my shoes. Unfortunately this is the only complete pair I have, which
means I better get to knitting. Obviously I do have a problem with
Second Sock Syndrome as I have several socks that just need mates.

Maybe by next year I'll be set.....

;)

Card for My Grandmother

Sometimes you need a card fast and that's what I'm finding lately. I have tons of thank you cards I need to get out, plus I want to send some cards to my grandmother as she convalesces at home. I found a beautiful card by Tangerine Dream on SCS and knew that would be perfect, especially as it seemed like I could get it done pretty fast.

And I would have....but my phone rang several times and, well, talking on the phone is really my favorite hobby. So what should have been a 15 - 20 minute card really took me a couple of hours. But it's all good, because the whole evening was doing something enjoyable. :)

Stamps - All I Have set by Stampin Up

Meandering Thoughts

Those that know me well know my love for garage sales, flea markets, antique shops, etc. I was thrilled to discover that my daughter-in-law enjoys the same thing! And now what makes it even better is this little grandbaby. When I got there this weekend Brooklyn was asleep and of course grandma volunteered to go get her up. I went in her room and took pictures first, then softly called her name. She did those amazing baby stretches where they stretch and kind of roll and scrunch up their face. Then she finally opened her eyes, saw me and just got a smile that lit up her entire face! The grandma in me wants to believe that the smile was just for me, but really this little ray of sunshine is just such a happy baby I know she would be smiling to see any happy face over her. I told her she reminds me so much of her Aunt Lynne' when she was a baby. :)

We were riding around with her in the back seat and she started making the funniest little sounds, then would just grin real big. I think she's definitely figuring out her sounds and it really is cracking her up.

We had another older gentleman try to get her this weekend. He was walking out of a garage sale with his wife, saw me sitting on the driveway talking to Brooklyn and he said "That's what I've been looking for all day - how much for the baby?" I told him that being the grandma I just couldn't let this one go and he just chuckled and walked on. His wife turned to me and said "Being a grandma, I know just what you mean" and with a smile she joined her husband. Too cute!

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I haven't mentioned Weight Watchers in a while, but it's time. Weigh in last Friday showed a 1.8 pound loss, for a total so far of 10.8 pounds! AND...Monday night I started an exercise class, can you believe it? A girl I work with is working to get her personal trainer certification, so she started a class after work. She thinks nothing of doing a 12 mile run before work, so I will admit to being a little worried. But Monday's class went very well and I'm so impressed with myself - LOL! And truthfully it's one of the most fun things I've done in a long time. As usual, laughter is what I do. Another girl and I got tickled part way through the class and just laughed and laughed. And then the instructor separated us. ~ sigh ~ I guess she expected us to be a little more serious about it. ;) We do it again tonight and I'm actually looking forward to it.

Back to the 10.8 pounds - while at Walmart this weekend Keith and I were actually in the exercise department to get some 5 pounds weights for this class. He picked up two of them, smiled real big and handed them to me, while pointing out that this is about how much weight I've lost. WOW! Big incentive to continue because they were heavy!

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I finally this week started up with the cupcakes to work again (seems silly to post this after my WW post!). These are peanut butter cupcakes with a Reese's peanut butter cup in the middle. The recipe was one that some of the people at work found online and asked me to make for them (ironically, my personal trainer instructor was the one that asked!). I thought the flavor was very good, but they were a little bit dry. But the lack of frosting on them would make them very easy to transport somewhere.

Talimena Drive

What an amazing day we had! Keith, Joe and I headed up to Talimena Drive (a 54 mile stretch between Oklahoma and Arkansas) for a day of sightseeing and geocaching. There were times that a person could almost forget exactly where they were when standing in the awe and splendor of the Ouachita Mountains. God must surely have smiled when making this area.

Sometimes there are words that become overused and for the most part "breathtaking" is one of them. I'm going to claim that word for this area of the country though.

Driving along we just loved looking around. The trees were so much different than what we have around here and that made it enjoyable to look around. And there was still enough color in all the leaves that it was so beautiful to look at.

Joe had a grand time as well. We didn't see a lot of people the entire day, but at one geocache site there was a secluded field. We let him off leash and the three of us ran around and laughed and just enjoyed each other.

The last picture will be one of those memories that will be retold time and time again. On the way to our very first geocache of the day the GPS told us to turn right at CR-54938 (or whatever the county road number was). We did and this picture shows the road we followed. Now, the funniest part is that we followed this dirt and rock road for seven miles.....seven miles along sometimes the edge of a mountain. I wish I would've taken more pictures to show the vertical road and even more impressive the vertical drop had Keith not been such a good driver. But instead of picture taking I was busy being

the passenger driver and I was holding my invisible brake pedal down for all I was worth! I know that we had a bevy of angels helping me to hold that brake pedal down, you know, just in case Keith wasn't able to brake on his own.

We were on the road long enough that we started to get a little bit of a nervous chuckle between us. Keith turned to me and asked if I had told anybody where we were going, just in case. No honey, not a soul knows where we are, but I'm trusting in those angels to keep us on this road and DON'T STOP PLEASE cause it's a little creepy up here!

When all was said and done and we made it back amongst the civilized world we checked to see where we might've messed up. And we discovered that had we stayed on the highway we had been on we would've just followed the winding road about 20 miles around and ended at the same spot. But our trusty GPS wanted to save us about 13 miles, so it sent us off into the wilderness. We had blind faith that all would be well and of course it was. Following the road less traveled can sometimes be a lonely thing, but it will usually provide you with some deep insights.

And does anybody see the parable here? Blind faith in our GPS brought fear to our hearts. Being reminded of our faith in our Father and the angels surrounding us brought comfort. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!

"He changes times and seasons." - Daniel 2:21

Brooklyn Hat Begins

Just a little post to show that I really do still knit! :)