Weekend Recap

Why yes, we HAVE had a lot of rain recently. So much in fact that we have sprouted our own crop of mushrooms in the backyard. Part of me just can't help but be a little proud of our new "garden" since I am so awful about keeping plants alive.

With the rain came the cancellation of plans we had made for the long weekend. We decided to make the best of it though and yesterday was a "spa" day for myself - all done at home. First I colored my hair since I have had that attractive stripe down the middle of my roots for quite some time. After I dried my hair and saw that it was a little darker than before, I headed to Lynne's room to get her opinion. Her reaction was a "whoa". Reaction duly noted. The last time I got my hair colored I thought it was too light, but this one is a tad dark. Surely there is an in between shade. I will admit though that this seems like it is pretty close to what my natural color must be because it matches my eyebrows. I'm hoping that seeing it in the mirror for a few days will get me used to it and I'll start liking it.

Next was the pedicure. Not sure what happened there, but when I walked to the cabinet to get polish after starting the work on my toes I noticed I was leaving little bloody toeprints behind. ~ sigh ~ OK, stop the bleeding, then notice that my toe hurts and decide not to add polish to the mix. Note to self - no sandals to work on Tuesday. ;)

Yesterday morning we saw the much anticipated Pirates 3. Thoroughly enjoyed it, but I really think there was not enough Captain Jack in this one. His fey character makes the movie in my opinion. And I hope that this really is the end of the movies - it just seems like it's time.

Speaking of Babies...

Keith and I went to see Shrek 3 last night and I'm in love with the Shrek babies. I'll admit that it felt a little funny for the two of us to walk into the theater as I think we were the only ones without young kids. It was fun to hear the kids laughing during the movie though.

We tried out the new Studio Movie Grill by our house and must say that this is the best way to see a movie. You go to the theater, sit at your table, place your dinner order and eat while watching the movie. What a brilliant concept! I'm glad there's one so close to the house now since I think this might be a movie summer with so many good ones coming out.

And I'll admit to being somewhat swayed by the Shrek commercialism. This morning at work a gal was showing us a Shrek baby that she got at McD last night. Too cute!!! Wonder how long I'll hold out? {Edited to add: Probably won't hold out very long. This little thing TALKS! I've been hearing it belch and say "dada, dada" all morning! LOL!}

Hmmm....looking at the babies again. They are so adorable.....and I sure hope Brooklyn doesn't look like them - LOL!

New Knit Bag

Keith, Joe and I went to visit the folks this weekend and had such a nice time! It was a much more relaxed trip than what we usually take and I enjoyed that. We had lunch with Mom, Gary and Michele on Saturday at Mimi's Cafe and of course that was fabulous. On the way back to mom's house we had a "boys" car and a "girls" car due to different errands needing to be done. We went to Gourmet Yarn Company because I needed some new size 2 dpns. I totally love this store every time I go in! Margaret has rearranged a bit since I saw it last and has tons of fabulous new yarns. It was really hard to exercise self-control, but I did manage.

Then Sunday morning we went to church with Keith's parents. I will always have a special place in my heart for this church since it's the one we attended when we lived there. Just love it - the pastor, the music (a WONDERFUL bluegrass Christian band), the new building - good times.

After church we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and of course half the fun of Cracker Barrel is the shopping before you eat. I absolutely fell in love with this bag and told Keith it would be a great knit bag for me! He just smiled and kind of shook his head at me because he knows I'm really embracing this "becoming a grandma" thing. We finished eating and then went out and bought the bag. Isn't it adorable??? :)

Personality Type

I can't help it - I love this sort of thing!

You Are An ESFP

The Performer You are a natural performer and happiest when you're entertaining others. A great friend, you are generous, fun-loving and optimistic. You love to laugh - and you like almost all people equally. You accept life as it is, and you do your best to make each day fantastic. You would make a good actor, designer, or counselor.

What's Your Personality Type?

It Is Well With My Soul

Joe and I just returned from our evening walk. The walk itself was uneventful, but when I sat down to do some work I realized I was humming the refrain from It Is Well With My Soul. That made me smile.

If you know the rest of the lyrics to this song you might be wondering about now. This song talks about trials that come and overcoming hurdles. That is not what I mean at all. I am just so content with my life right now and the refrain is exactly how I feel - it is well with my soul.

If you've never heard the story behind this hymn I encourage you to click on the link above and read it. The song was written by Horatio G. Spafford after he suffered some terrible tragedies. I have always felt like this man's faith is a wonderful example to look to when times are bad. Every time we sing this song in church I cannot help but tear up and get chills on my arms. The Lord is so good and I pray that we all can have a faith this strong.

Stamping Fellas

The Stamping Bella folks have come out with a line of "fellas" for their "bellas". I love all these stamps and when I saw the fellas it first made me think of Ken for Barbie. I never had a Ken growing up because my Barbie dated my brother's Johnny Quest (a cowboy) and GI Joe (an army dude). Since she had enough trouble trying to decide between these two I was kind of glad that Ken never showed up in his flashy car to give her a run for her money.

But then the next thing that came to mind when reading about the fellas was my cousin and aunt. Last fall when my cousin and I set off on our Thelma and Louise adventure to Arkansas we really did have some fabulous times in spite of the reason we were there. One such moment was late one night out in the driveway. We had loaded up some things in the back of my cousin's truck and it was starting to rain. My uncle got a tarp for us and we were diligently getting everything covered. She handed me a rope, all coiled up and ready to use. I was instructed to hold on to the end and toss the big part over to the other side of the truck so we could get the tarp tied down. So I did. And that puppy just sailed on over to the other side, while I stood there holding a very short length of rope. Guess somebody had used the rope and wound that little part back on. So the three of us - me, my cousin and my aunt - stood there watching that thing take off into the sky while I held a piece of rope. My aunt very calmly said "If you two ever go camping you better bring along a fella." This sent us into gales of laughter.

I'm thinking I need to buy a "fella" so that I can make a card for my cousin and aunt, two of my absolute favorite people in the world. :)

Baby Shower Card

This is the little gift enclosure card I made for Loni's baby shower. I really need there to be more hours in my day so I can do this sort of thing more often! And let me just say that I really enjoyed working with the baby colors. Have I mentioned I'm going to be a grandma???

Stamps: Riveting by Stampin' Up


Last night while walking Joe I snapped this quick picture with my cell phone. I always forget just how old he is until I see pictures like this.

The rain and humidity has left our area, at least for a bit, making it so wonderful outside. This morning the cool breeze made me want to just throw my arms in the air and dance around. Unfortunately I was running a little behind schedule and there was no time for spontaneous dancing before work. :(

I noticed as I signed on to Blogger for this post that there was a link to learn about "mobile blogging". I will so not be clicking that link - I already feel like I walk around composing blog posts in my head and certainly don't need to be able to post from anywhere! That link just tickled me for some reason. :)

Tales From The Scales

OK, today is weigh in and I lost one whopping pound. I know I should be happier about that than what I am, but it really kind of bums me out.

The plus side is that I've kept up with my walking and I'm up to 58 miles since April 1st! And last night Keith and I took Joe for a walk again and I just love doing that. We talked and talked and talked. Made me feel like those grandma and grandpa couples that just always love each other......then I remembered that we almost ARE grandma and grandpa! :)

I've also gotten back on track drinking my water. I did so good with this for so long and somehow let it slide. I know that getting back in this habit will also really help.

(The picture of Joe has nothing at all to do with this post, but since I prefer to do posts with pictures I just pulled out a Joe picture. The pretty tile is in James and Loni's kitchen.)

And I started back using SparkPeople again yesterday. I know I blogged about it long ago, but as a reminder this site allows you to track all the food you eat and exercise you do. Every time I've lost any decent amount of weight I've used this site as it helps you see what you really eat. It's easy to fool yourself into thinking you didn't eat much when you rely on memory. When you type it in and see what it converts to as calories and all the different grams there is really no arguing.

I also think I've finally decided what to do with Lynne's room through all of this. I think we might move the treadmill in there. This morning I had thought about walking, but I didn't want to wake Keith up. In the other room I should be able to walk without bothering him. The down side to that is that Joe won't get any exercise that way. But maybe with a little thought and training I could teach him to walk on the treadmill ala The Jetsons!

Saturday Sky

It just boggles the mind to think about all the rain we've had lately. This weekend was supposed to be clear and beautiful and really for the most part it was.

On the way back to James and Loni's house from the shower a brief rainstorm popped up again though. I heard on the news tonight that this brief shower produced another inch of rain!

It really has been a "feast or famine" type of situation with the rain lately....

Loni's Baby Shower

Today was such a special day - Lynne' and I got to attend my grandbaby's first baby shower! The shower was at Loni's parents' house and was given by her three sisters.

One of the cutest games was blindfolding the pregnant one (aka Loni!) and handing her a diaper bag with 10 baby items. She had to pick up the items one by one and guess what they were. We all had a piece of paper and had to write down our guess of how many items she would get correct. Bless her heart, she got all ten of them correct and not a single person there had enough faith in her to guess ten! The closest was a cousin who had guessed eight.

And it was just so fun to watch Loni open all the gifts. There were so many adorable outfits that you couldn't possibly pick a favorite. Loni and I were talking after the shower about how fun it will be for quite some time when she gets Brooklyn dressed each day. And how difficult it will be to choose an outfit from the many cute things she has!

I really enjoyed being a part of my daughter-in-law's family today at her shower. Two of her sisters already have daughters (one just turned a year old and the other is three weeks old) and a cousin has a daughter 18 months old. It really was funny watching the two older babies running around and having fun together. Even more fun was watching and listening to the four sisters getting together and picking on each other!

"Sisters sprout from the same garden, but blossom and grow in their own way." - unknown

Little Bit O' Knittin'

Last night was KnitnNosh - my second time with this group of ladies. Just love them! Several of them have become sort of my "grandma mentors" and are giving me all kinds of advice on the finer points of being a grandma. It really is fun that they are sharing in my excitement. :)

The picture, taken with the cell phone, is a dishcloth I made for the hostess (you can't tell, but it's PINK!). When we were there two weeks ago she was showing us all her pattern books for dishcloths and then mentioned that not only had she never knit one, she had never used one! I got to work and finished this in time to gift it to her last night. Not sure she'll actually use it, but she was very gracious about the gift. :)

There were several new ladies there last night from their book club. Book club - my heavens I have looked for a book club for years and years down here! I did attend a meeting of a club one night at Barnes and Noble, only for the management to announce that the club would be disbanding after that meeting. Oh well. So now I'm eagerly mulling this over as well. Reading was really my first hobby and still remains something I love to do. I will add though that I just got back from my lunch break, having gone out with some people here at work. We were talking about whether or not knitted projects actually get finished or not and I just casually mentioned that finishing isn't really a big deal to me. Then I said that what I love most of all is getting together with people and visiting, so I added that I think my favorite hobby is talking. Let's just say that amidst the laughter that followed there was not a single person that argued that point. ;)

One of the new ladies of the group last night was talking about her volunteer work for the USO. Somebody else mentioned that they didn't know there was even still a USO and lo and behold there's quite a group right here in the DFW area. She asked for donations of new children's books and explained the program. As military personnel prepare to leave for overseas they have a place where they can get a book and read it aloud for their children. The USO records this and sends a DVD and the book to the child so that when they miss their dad (or mom) they can sit down and read a book with them! I love this idea so much, so my next visit to Barnes and Noble will include some children's books.

Anybody else love Michael Buble'? That man has got such a beautiful voice! Especially nice with headphones on as I know he's singing just to me. ;)

Tales From The Scales

Ahhh....finally I think I might have found an online "accountability" group. The weight loss challenge begins today and runs through September 18th.

We are supposed to write about our weight history, challenges, goal, etc., so here goes - or at least here's what I'm willing to share: ;)

My goal for this challenge will be 20 pounds. This should be doable as it averages out to only five pounds a month, which is below the recommended two pounds a week.

My biggest challenge and what has gotten me to where I am today would have to be fast food. Yes, I know it's terrible for me and honestly I can trace it back to exactly when it all started many years ago. Very briefly, shortly after Lynne' was born she was hospitalized. She got out of the hospital and went to my mom and dad's to stay and that same week Keith was hospitalized for what would be a several month stay. Right then, trying to maintain a full-time job and be with him as much as I could, was when the fast food train started rolling. I had literally no time at all to do anything for myself, so I would grab food on the way from one thing to the next. And I haven't gotten off that train since. I'm fairly certain that's when the emotional eating began as well.

So, I'm going to lose the fast food urge! :)

I'm also going to continue the walking. And now is a good time to brag on myself for the walking! I joined the walking challenge at the Runagogo site (walk 100 miles between May 1 and July 31) and I have walked 45 miles so far! I am so impressed with myself, especially when I look back three years ago when I could barely walk without the use of a cane. WooHoo!

Well I really didn't realize I'd be this revealing, but that's ok. I won't turn this blog into a total weight loss blog, but I will report in every Tuesday for our weigh in. :)

Edited to add: When I just checked my blog to see if this posted I had to laugh when I saw the post underneath this one is about my fabulous lemon cake!!! LOL!

Lemon Bundt Cake

My plans for this afternoon and evening were really rather mundane. The usual weekend catch up on laundry, organize some things, etc.

In order to have the energy to get things done today, I decided to try a new cake recipe that my mom had given me, Miss Grace Lemon Bundt Cake. The three of us love bundt cakes as they usually aren't as sweet as regular cakes. And lemon cakes are great, especially when the weather gets warmer. This recipe has already been entered into MasterCook as we all loved it! Very moist, nice lemon flavor, not overly sweet icing. An aside - notice the groovy plate? We have a couple of these left and they always make me smile. They are from our very first set of dishes, so these few survivors are 27 years old. Does this make them, and me, an antique? :)

"If the people have no bread, let them eat cake." - attributed to Marie Antoinette

Arlington Quilt Show

Today I met a friend - and one of her friends - at the Arlington Quilt Show. The show was a smaller one (though once you go to the Houston Quilt Show I suppose they all look smaller!), but there was no shortage of beautiful quilts. This particular quilt was one of my favorites, especially the quilting.

After looking at all the quilts and visiting the vendor area, you really can't help but be motivated and ready to sew. And I was pretty good in the vendor area - I only bought one pattern! It was for Comfort of Psalms and contained the pattern and fat quarter of printed sayings. This wall hanging really appeals to me and I'd love to get it made and hanging in my entryway.

I also saw a "jelly roll" in one of the vendor booths for the first time. Mom had just been telling me about these and how cool the concept was, so I was able to recognize it when I saw it. Absolutely beautiful, but the problem I see is that since it is so pretty I wouldn't want to pull it apart! It really is pretty enough to just set on a shelf the way it is. :)

Pink and Green Tote Bag

This is the tote bag I recently completed for part of my Pink and Green Swap package. I had a blast making this and it reminded me how much I do enjoy sewing things like this. When it was complete and I was putting the package together it was a Shakespearian moment - "Parting is such sweet sorrow...." ;)

I am SO going to make another one for myself!