20 Things

Thank God for 20 things before you ask Him for anything. - Joyce Meyer's link that was shared on facebook today.

1. Matt

2. Rick

3. Ben

4. My parents

5. My In-laws

6. The extended Family that I had to learn from and with.

7. Kitty-Gato

8. Sophie Bubbles

9. Bologna and Cheese sammies

10. My December birthday

11. Birthday Snow

12. Cast-Iron skillets

13. The Friends that I have and will have. (Renae, Doreen, the Lauras, Jessica, Tracy, Elissa, Kayla)

14. Truth or Tradition

15. A car

16. A job

17. Chocolate

18. Naomi Webster

19. Grammas that taught me to pray.

20. Grampa Wille that taught me strength.

21. Lola Dad that taught me love.

22. Cold temperatures

23. Artsy-fartsy stuff

24. Warm fresh baked bread.

25. Gluten-free bread

uh-oh... how many... oh geez, I kept going - she only asked for 20 things!  

It was hard spending my Christmas gift money on myself. I could have paid a bill with it, but I do that every year. This year I decided to spend it on myself. It was really challenging! I am super picky and don't like too many of the options out there. However I did finally manage to find a few things......

I must be content with what I have!

Funny Puke In The Night...

Benny posts on facebook: Went to bed sick. Had a high fever and my stomach felt terrible. And of course the major head ache had to join in fun. But I'm better now

My Reply: yeah...he's all better now.....

he's up all at the wee hours and then in the morning he's all perky and I'm half dead. Matt was up all night, can't breathe. I get him all settled and breathing - then he's snoring, but at least he's sleeping.

Then back to Ben - puke warning.

Wake up Rick - screaming... "RICK!!!! You gotta puke bucket??!!!!" He's all dead to the world, but at the mere mention of puke, Rick is WIDE AWAKE!!! "Huh?!!!! NO!!, No bucket Mom!!! Sorry" and he collapses back onto the bed, again, dead to the world shortly thereafter.

I'm FLYIN' no... ZOOMING down the stairs looking for an empty ice cream bucket. They are all full of fricken christmas candy. I finally find one with pecans in it!!! YAY!!! DUMP go the pecans onto the counter! I scared the hell outta the cat, tripped over the damn living room table, scared the rats, go flyin' upstairs to give Ben the bucket.

Get back to Benny and he's laying down again like he's SLEEPING!!! I ain't having any of that!! WAKE UP!! Are you gonna puke??!!! No, not right now.... FINE!! here's your bucket honey. Put his hair in a pony so he doesn't puke in his hair and tell him: Call me if you need me.

Slept with one eye open, both ears full of SNORING and one foot on the floor.

He wakes up all kinda happy and perky and Matt and Rick are laughing at me....... I kinda wanted to smack the patients this morning!!!

Secret Santas Revealed

Secret Santa you're the one, 

who made my hunts so much fun.

Playin' the game, I'm so glad,
For Secret Santa, you I had.

So much fun with your game,
Secret Santa, I KNOW YOUR NAME!!

The Secret Santas revealed themselves this week.  All in good fun.

My last scavenger hunt took me all over the library! I was everywhere - both floors! It was crazy, but, it was great fun.  Once again, I found my last gift too early in the hunt, which made it all the crazier.  There were so many little things to look for that I can't photograph them all for my blog. However, this is what my Secret Santa did - she took up close (and personal hahaha) photos of objects in the library. I then had to try to figure out what each object was.  Then, I had to find them! 

It's one thing to KNOW what each object was - it was quite another to remember where I last saw them!

As with the previous hunts, there was one object that stumped me - it was a tiny corner of a sign that explained that our Christmas books have a check-out limit of two-weeks.  I finally figured it out - it was the last object I had to find and I wasn't going to give up.

I guessed my Secret Santa correctly - right away in the game. However, this year we were all so sneaky! We all tried to trip up one another and make everyone else believe that we WERE their Secret Santa - even though we WEREN'T.  Like I said, great fun!

Also funny for this year, there seemed to be a common theme of scavenger hunts and poop! Go figure. I got snowman poop and crazy items, like prunes, to help a person poop.  Another one got a t-shirt that said, "I pooped today."  There was also a pooping reindeer, bathroom sprays, toilet paper and rhymes with poop in them! I wasn't the only one who wrote poetry; And, I wasn't the only one that sent messages, via taped to the break room door, to my Secret Santa asking for help or taunting messages.  Great minds do think alike!

Some of my gifts and trinkets were GLUTEN-FREE yummies on the last day - to be shared with everyone; pictures of snowflakes, a snowman and snowball throwing girl inside my locker, jingle bells (which I wear while at work in the 'quiet' library) and artsy-fartsy pens and papers!  Loved it all!

My Toes Are Stepping In....

SNOW!!! Did you think I was going to say, "Poop!!!" ?? Ha Ha - you are very funny! Either that or you have stepped into some poo yourself and know that squishy feeling between your toes!

However, it was not poo that I stepped in, it was snow. Birthday snow to be exact! The best kind of snow there is!  It was soft, quiet, cold and wonderful!  It was also VERY QUICKLY over and done with, as I really wanted to get back on to the door mat as soon as possible!

It was in the middle of the night when I shot these photos.  I flipped on the twinkle lights - which really are NOT Christmas lights for us, since we keep them up all year long.  Anyway, I flipped on the twinkle lights and set my flash so I could get the falling flakes.  I could HEAR them falling, but my tired-sleepy-in-the-middle-of-the-night eyes couldn't really FOCUS yet. However, I knew the flash would pick up the falling flakes.  Also, as cold as my feet were, I wasn't going to run about the backyard - barefooted - to get a better feel of the snow falling.  My Mum would yell at me!

All my playful whining about not having any birthday snow was all for naught -- THERE IS ALWAYS SNOW ON MY BIRTHDAY!

One of my Favorite songs.

Birthday Snow

Snowing... not YET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm a tiny, tad bit upset!!!!!!

Only 4 days to go!

It must now snow!!

Snow before my birthday, it must, must, MUST!!

Or my entire birthday will be a bust, bust, BUST!!

I cannot have a brown and dreary day of birth!

Pretty white snow fills me with mirth!

Even in Berkeley, God made it snow;

My Momma took pictures of my face all aglow.

This December Baby, happy is not!

For without snow on the ground, her temper is hot!

Flakes, be they small,

Flakes, be they big,

Flakes keep this girl doing a happy jig!!

Bring on the flakes!

Let me get my scoop.

My happiness while shoveling will throw you for a loop!

Candles out, I will blow;

But, only if he makes it snow.

Eat birthday cake, I will not,

Unless it snows quite a lot!

Well ... cake I will eat, even for a little,

snowflakes of white, on the ground all a glitter.

Come on snow! You know you love it here!

On the ground around my house, you have nothing to fear!

Fall down fast!

Let the winds blow!!

This December Baby is not happy without snow.

Secret Santa Strikes Again....

Tonight my Secret Santa riddled me again.  This time the clues were a little harder! I actually had to ask the Boss Man if he had any ideas!

The first riddle was on my locker: "To begin this week's journey  you must travel North and there you will Sea, that I intend to send you round and round to discover what your Secret Santa gift will be.

So, in our library there is a mural on the NORTH wall of an underwater sea scene.  I'm looking over there - nothing.  I look under the globes in that area - nothing. I look and look. My co-workers look and they are also stumped.  I give up. My shift was about to start. I figure I'd try again during my break.  However, during my break I couldn't make any headway, so I wrote a poem to my Secret Santa asking for help:  Dear Secret Santa, Much to my chagrin, another clue you must give me, so I can re-begin. North I look, but all I Sea, are underwater creatures and toys for puppetry. Round and round I looked, and dizzy I became; Another clue you must give, so I can play the game! Oh Dear Secret Santa, what is your name?

Finally, I mention it to my boss and he asked me the obvious questions, "Do we have books on the North Sea?" (not here) "Did you look under those two globes?" (nothing under them)  Then, he mentioned that we also have one more globe in the library! I didn't know we had ANOTHER globe, so off I go, in search of my next clue.  Sure enough - taped on the North Sea was my next clue.

"My hope is not for you to feel you have been schooled, but rather to have some fun, if only just a little. Please do tell me Am I Tyra, driving you crazy with my riddle?" (italics and underscore mine to show you.)  It takes a bit. I'm a homeSCHOOL mom, so I look in the homeschool section - nothing. The clue was on the globe by the SCHOOL yearbooks, so I look up my yearbook - nothing.  We have lots of little decorative things out right now, as well as a display of tiny or LITTLE buildings for those tiny village displays. So, I look for a LITTLE school in those areas - nothing.  Yup, I was going round and round!!  It turns out that a co-worker realized that the type was different for 'Am I Ty' in my riddle is the name of the LITTLE SCHOOL, named AMITY (in our district)! We happen to have a huge quilt display from AMITY SCHOOL hanging upstairs, so off I go in search of my clue.  Yup! There it was, safely pinned to back, non-damaging to the quilt I might add!!!

"Somehow I feel as though you are dragon your feet, your gift awaits you. You want it, do you not? Shall I light a fire under you to make you move?  Must I tell if you are cold or if you are hot? Come on now my friend, I beg of you to give this all that you have got!"  Again, to the Children's section I go!  There is a dragon paper machie there.  Yup, under the dragon's butt was my next clue!

"Well now, you silly goose, surely you didn't think that that was the last clue? To put it simply as I can, that would not, could not be true. Please tell me you are not thinking of sitting down? It is clear as black and white that this game is not through. Only a few riddles for you to solve and a gift will be given unto you."  Off to the Children's section!! There's a stuffed goose there!!

"It would be a cardinal sin for you to quit now. I know that you have red that this is something I will not allow."  I have NEVER seen a cardinal in the trees in the Children's section! NEVER!! I even just put up and re-adjusted some decorations in those tree branches!! I think the cardinals were JUST RECENTLY added...  Anyway, one of my co-workers said, HEY!!! There's a cardinal on that branch! - we look - nothing.  Hmmm... so we look in the other trees, sure enough!! There's another cardinal on the shelf, by the tree, in the Children's section!

"My creativity is running low and it is time to rein you in my deer. I will hang around a little longer and share a tiny bit more Christmas cheer, and before I put a cap on all of our fun, one last clue will, for you, appear."  You guessed it, I'm in the Children's section and there is a capped reindeer hanging around!

"Don't delphin to this one too deeply. Sometimes it is okay for the pun to be so easy to sea. The porpoise for these riddles is to reveal to you gift number three."  Once again, the north wall of the Children's section is a painted mural of an underwater sea scene, complete with dolphins.  We looked everywhere at the first clue, but we look again. I'm a bit short, so a taller co-worker helps me out -  nothing. A patron made a HUGE stuffed dolphin and then gave it to us. We can't keep him out all the time though because he is so big that the kids like to sit on him and jump on him, etc.  So, we keep him by us in the back. He's a great conversationalist! I asked him what he thought of all of this Secret Santa stuff - much to my delight, he raised his head to talk with me and revealed my gift!! Such a sneaky helper that guy!

Secret Santa gift  hidden under dolphin.

 

The tag on the bag says, "Passing Through Once Again to Odor You to Have a Very Merry Christmas."

So, I wrote a new note to my Secret Santa: 

Dear Secret Santa, 

Much to my chagrin,

Help was really needed,

Before I could begin.

Your first clue so hard, the wrong North I did look.

All I could sea,

Were underwater creatures and toys for puppetry.

Help from several friends, did I need.

Then I took off with amazing speed.

Paranoid I now be,

Wondering if poop and stink is how you remember me!

So much fun to play your game,

Oh, Secret Santa, what is your name?

Okay, here's where the gamer gets tricky!! At 6:15-6:30 I happened to take my break.  I go into my locker, get my chips and eat.  Nothing spectacular in my locker, just my junk and the Christmas presents that I'm hiding there so my kids can't find them.  When I leave for the night, I go into my locker to put my name tag there and lo' and behold is a gift bag from my Secret Santa!!

Gifts that were mysteriously placed in my locker WHILE I was at work!!

I don't know if you can see it all, but there is a scarf - I wear scarves all the time!  Chocolate, gel pens for the artsy in my fartsy and a unique bird cage on a necklace.  I love unique jewelry. Tonight I happened to be wearing another necklace with a Silver bird cage. This bronzy one will work out WONDERFULLY with my collection of unique necklaces!  Love it!  I added a handwritten note to my last Secret Santa poem saying that I LOVE the necklace!

I have had one person in mind the whole time, but during this game, no one is to be trusted!!!

Another Pet Rat Dies

11-16-11

Rick & Baby Mojo

Awww... Sleepy baby.

Good Boy, eat your veggie.

Check-in out his new tube house!

Baby Moj' and Momma!!

We think Little Moj' died from a twisted intestine.  He was quite the acrobatic rattie.  He would greet you by doing back flips!  Such a sweetheart, all full of energy. He was happy just sitting on your shoulder, peeking out from under your hair.

He'd gt real still while watching the cat, but when the other ratties were out and visiting, he wanted to get out and play, play, play! Such a sweetheart. 

We were only able to enjoy him for 16 days! That hardly seems fair.  Watching him die was painful. It would be painful watching any pet die. It would be painful watching anything die.  He died while being held.

Secret Santa

At the Library where I work, we play a game during the month of December called Secret Santa.  Tiny gifts, nothing expensive. Just something fun.  Always a secret until the end, unless you catch someone in the act!! hahaha! Then the fun begins!  Sometimes we need a little help from the others so we can try to confuse all the players.

I can't say who I have and I won't print here who I think has me -- they all can read my blog!!

At first I received a BIG green Incredible Hulk PEEP in a can. It's so funny!  His face is all smushed up!  Attached to the bottom of the can was a bag of 'coal'. Chocolate to be exact and it tasted good too! I also received some gel pens that are supposed to smell like cookies! I haven't tried them yet tho'.

Tonight was too much fun.  Here is a photo journal of tonight's events.

It all started out with a clue.

The clues led to book titles.  This one said  Happy Birthday inside it as part of the story. So, I thought I was all done. My birthday IS coming up, you know!!

Then, I realized that there were more book titles and more clues!

I thought it was going to end on this cute little note. Nope.

This is the gift that, I think, I found too early! hahaha on my Secret Santa!!



It all ended with some unique SNOWMAN POOP!

Very funny co-workers that I have!

Happens to be my favorite brand of beans!!

hahahaha!

December!

It's December! It's December! It's December! It's December!

I love December!!!

Cold

Ice

Snow

Me

Music

Quiet

Cuddling

Books

Cocoa

Blankets

Scarves

Sweaters

Wool Socks

Cookies

Warm Mugs

Crisp Air

Hoar Frost

Hiking

Bells

Twinkle Lights

Love

Love Love Love

16th

It's That Kind of a Night

What kind of night did you think I meant?  I mean that it's a coco and warm brownie kind of a night. Maybe with a tiny shot of rum in the coco to relax the muscles and make me drowsy.

Heck! I don't need the rum! I'm tired and have a Valerian capsul that will make me sleep pretty good until at least 4 or 5 in the morning.

The warm coco will hit the spot though!

Grandbabies

The conversation between Ben and I, went this way:

"I'll have to clean out that bottom medicine drawer before my little ones are here."

"What little ones do you mean, Mom?"

"Whatever little grandbabies you give me!"

"Geez, Mom, I'm not even 16 yet!"

"I know, I'm just anxious for them!"

"I just got over girls having germs."

"I know! That's why I'm so hopeful!"

"That's too much of a jump!!! OMG!!!"

17 months to 17 years

I find it just incredible that you are 17 years old.

I swear that not too long ago, your foot was as long as my thumb. 

Your tiny round head fit in the palm of my hand. 

We swayed to the music of Sting so you could fall asleep.

Our first home was a second story apartment.  It was cozy and warm.

You were tiny enough to sleep on our chest.  You slept that way alot with your Daddy.

You were sick alot until I finally took you out of daycare.

Daddy and I worked opposite of eachother from almost day 1.

We bought our house so you could have grass and a sandbox to play in.

You were so happy and small - you "sat" on the real estate SOLD sign under a big maple tree.  Benny was there too, but we didn't know that yet.

You fit inside the laundry basket -- with laundry still in it!

We were all yours for 17 months... and then we added baby brother to keep you company.

17 months to 17 years.

Time flies when having fun - and we certainly do have loads of fun!

Youth For Christ

I have prayed my way into being a Mentor Mom for the Teen Pregnancy program for Youth For Christ.

It means that I would help a young mom - ages 13-21 (give or take) get to the meetings. I also help support her in stressful new mommy situations. I can also encourage her spiritually.  Mostly, I am just her friend and someone to talk to.

These young ladies typically do not have good relationships at home, that's where YFC comes into play.

Prayerfully, I will meet up with "my girl" tonight and we can start working on a friendship.  I'm anxious-excited. Kind of like being the new kid on the block again!

Regardless, I have prayed for the young ladies that I could possibly be matched up with. So, even if I am not a good match for them, the good Lord already has a match for them.

*** UPDATE:  I am back from the meeting. I have to admit that it isn't what I thought it would be. It was not what I expected.  It seems that all of the girls have a support system already in place; some are married; some have more than one child and they planned for that; only a tiny handful of them needed a ride.

My girls - one probably won't come back. Her child is at an age where it didn't work out for him. Poor little sweetie.  The other girl liked it and may want to go back, but she has a really good support system - she really only needs me for the ride. Which is alright, I can still do that for her and be her friend.

You Are....

You are such a big help to me.

Both of you!

I needed to get so many things ready before I went in to work tonight.  I tend to get rushed a bit 'curt'. I may even hurt your feelings a bit.  However, there you are - helping me get everything done and accomplished.

Thank you so much for helping me!  You are a great pair - you two brothers! Helping us get ready to leave the house on time!

Love n' BIG hugs,
Mom

Waiting for Hubby To....

Matt arriving home after errands

with Sophie Baby!

I'm waiting for hubby to get home from work.  These last 15 minutes of the day, before he gets home, are the longest of my day!  I'm anxious. I'm excited. I'm impatient.  I'm also tired!

When he gets home, sometimes we all bombard him with our attention. It can be overwhelming.  The Leo-Kitty waits patiently by the side-door for him.  Sophie Bubbles greets him with whole-body tail wagging and whining.  We usually greet him all at the same time!  Sometimes the boys are at the door or in the dining room waiting.  Sometimes I'm at the door, unlocking it for him.  He can also find me in the recliner watching a good Doctor Who episode.  Sometimes there is a light on for him.

We can have ice water waiting ~~ or a cold beer!

It is the longest 15 min. of my day waiting to hear, "Honey, I'm home!"

I'm glad he likes to come home!

I Love It When...

 

I love it when it snows!

11/2011

I love it when it snows. When I was 6 years old, we lived in Berkeley. On this particular day of memory, it was my birthday. I remember praying and praying for it to snow and Blessings upon Blessings, the Good Lord made it snow that day.  I even have the photo to prove it.  My Momma took the picture of me. I was smiling the biggest smile ever.  Mom was on the phone with Gramma Wille who was in Wisconsin.

So, here I am today, back in Wisconsin. It's November 9th, 2011 and it snowed. Not just a little poor showing of snow either! It snowed big, huge soft flakes that stick to every eyelash, limb, wire and blade of grass.  It was completely wonderful.

I was and remain wonderfully happy.

Enuf Mopey Me

I choose HAPPY!

So, I updated my music selections. I know it IS a bit early for Christmas, sorry Wal-Mart, but I like Christmas music. It makes me happy.

My Mom played lots of Christmas music and she encouraged my desire to listen to it!  We were without a lot of things, but Mom tried her hardest to make Christmas nice and cozy.

Thanks Mom!  I hope you enjoy my music picks.

Endo shite

Flare-ups
Headaches
Body aches
Pain
Depression
Anger

I'm just pissed at my body today.  It isn't even hurting near my ovaries!

But that's the thing with endo.  The body can get endo tissue within the muscle wall, inside the abdominal cavity, on the organs, on nerve endings, on the stomach, the lungs and even worse -- I won't go there. Too much to think about.

Falling in Love... sort of

These are not the rats we saw today, but this photo is so cute, I had to post it.  I found it thru google images from a blog called away from bams.

The one son #1 fell in love with looks more like this one.

He was more of a brown hooded cutie.  Very tiny and able to be away from Momma Rat about mid-month.

So, son #1 is going to get a rat baby! Good thing I like rats!

It snowed in Wisconsin ~

I am supremely happy!

Night Snow in Wisconsin

2010

Full of Joy

November is one of my very favorite months.

There is still a touch of autumn. We can still enjoy wonderful temperatures. Scarves, long-sleeved t-shirts and God's colors are still around.

The great (low) humidity levels mean GREAT curls! The sky is a wonderful clear blue that we can't see during summer.

November is not nearly as busy as September & October. November is a wonderful way to wind down the summer months and begin to relax. November is a great reprieve before the holiday rush.  My Mom would call it my "Putzy-down-time".  She is so right.  November is the beginning of my time to putter around the house. The gardens are done. The canning is done.  My wool socks come out of hiding and the blanket throws are refluffed and tossed on the couch and chairs. 

I can snuggle down deep into the corners with my Sophie girl curled in the crooks of my knees. Her nose buried under the blanket trying to stay warm.  Leo Kitty comes a pattering around, looking for a warm snuggle and a cozy spot to hide.

November is pie month at our house. More pies are baked in November than at any other time in our family.  Would you like a slice of pie and a cuppa warm creamy something?  We often enjoy that together as a family.  One pie lasting only a day in our house.

I am content and full of joy.

Halloween 2011

The one time we can dress goofy!

10/31/11

Scared Witchy Me with Old Hag

Not really practicing for the part,

Just posing!

All of us.

An "Interactive Photo Shoot"

10/31/11



My Mum FINALLY figured out how to post!!

Yay Mum!! Way to go!

Finally, I'm done with the tomatos

We put up another 8 quarts of stewed tomatos!  Finally, we are done!  I have to say though... it was Benny that did the last 16 quarts for me. I did the chopping, but he did the processing and caning!

Way to go, Benny!  Thank you for being such a great help to me!

Knitting



Me & Sophie and the scarf I knitted
10/2011



Sorry for the less than perfect and blurry photo, however, that is me in the knitted scarf that I had just finished.  The ends have approximately 5" of fringe on them.  I'm 5'6" on a good day... when I put that scarf around the back of my neck and not looped, it hangs on the floor by 2" on each side.  It took me about 6 hours to make.  I don't know if that is slow or not -- it is my first ever knitted project.

I used Lion Brand Yarn, Hometown USA. Super Bulky #6; Color Aspen Tweed.  The needles I used were size 10.5, but I made the loops big and loose. Loose enough so that I could actually fit my pinky into them.

I was originally looking for a lumpy, bumpy, bulky yarn, but Wal-Mart didn't have any, so I settled for this one.  I think it's great though.

In September, I had put out a sign-up sheet for a knitting group.  I wanted to know how to knit, but I didn't want to have to join a group that would cost money.  I also wanted to gather some ladies in an attempt to make some new friends.  I rounded up about 7 ladies and we all decided that we would gather in January - after the garden harvests and after the holidays.  They all assured me that they could teach me to knit and help anyone else that would need it.  I was all excited.  I just needed to find my needles and get some yarn.

Before that all happened, another woman came in and she signed up.  She happened to mention that her son did finger knitting. I asked her what that was and she showed me thru hand motions and no yarn.  Well, I know what a knitted piece looks like. I know how the yarn LOOKS once it is knitted together.  Thru her descriptions, I was able to figure out finger knitting.  But, I got bored with just a five stitch scarf and my hand was getting stiff and sore. I then decided to try it with the knitting needles.  Having absolutely no idea what I was doing, I ended up with a scarf over 10' long.  I think I did pretty good!  I wasn't quite sure how to finish it off once I ran out of yarn.  I tried a few things that I thought was right, but nothing was working.  I decided that I didn't want to wait until January to finish my scarf as it would end up unraveling.  So, I turned to the youtube videos and found one on, "How to finish off your knitted scarf."  Go figure!! The internet can be great!

So there I am, in all of my finished knitted glory!

Where I Work

Part of the back area

A view of both floors on the East side.

This shows the Teen Area

&

Part of the Non-Fiction Area

The other half of the East side

Part of the Children's Area

Do you see the twinkle lights in the tree branches?

Another part of the Children's Area

My Church

I Added a New Information Box For My Mum

Dear Mum,

Please look to the right side of my blog page...

There you will see a title that says: New Posts On My Other Pages

Do you see it over there? Just to the right and up a little tiny way... it should be level with the copyright information.

Okay, there you will see a date and the Page Name of my newest post on one of my other pages.

When you read that I wrote:  10/12 ~ Health Page, you will know that you can go to the peach colored box(es) (links) just under my big photo title/header that says "Health...."

Click on (for example) Health.... and you can read my latest entry.

Or maybe I updated a new recipe, you would then click on the peach colored box that says, Recipes.

To leave a comment you go towards the bottom of whatever entry you are reading; click on the word comments; and leave a comment in the comment box that will show up after you click the link.

Does that help you?

Love n' hugs,
your ever loving, helpful and favorite sassy daughter,
Tyra

Card Swaps

I joined another yahoo group today - It's called Crafter's Delight.  It's a hand-made greeting card group where we can do card swaps, among other types of swaps.

I'm excited. I hope it goes well. I used to host card swaps at my home all the time.  There'd be about 6 or so of us.  We'd all bring a card design to share and the supplies to make that card we designed.  We'd bring enough materials for everyone there. So, if we had 6 people, we'd have to bring enough supplies to make 6 of our cards.  At the end of the night, we'd have 6 cards to take home!  It was great fun.

Unfortunately, everyone has to grow up and move on with their schooling/jobs, etc. Most of my ladies can't do it anymore.  There are probably 2 or 3 that might be able to, but we are all in different family 'seasons' and it's challenging to get together.  Also, the economy the way it is makes it difficult to purchase supplies at times.

At anyrate, I'm looking forward to some card-swapping again. I hope it goes well.

Nasty Fat Globule

Glad I lost 23 of these monsters in the past year!!

Final Weigh-in

I have before and after pics....



Before
14 weeks ago



Before
14 weeks ago

I lost 11 pounds and 9 inches on my overall body.  I am proud of myself, but I lost second place by only .2 of a pound!!! I am very, extremely sad about that. I truly am disappointed.

  


After
14 weeks today

After pic
14 weeks today

Today, Matt was so nice to me. He knew I was disappointed yet he encouraged me to still go to Good-Will to look for something 'new'.  Before we left, we went through every piece of clothing in my closet - no small feat, let me tell you!!  We went through every piece and ended up with a yard-sized garbage bag of clothing that is too big for me now.  That was exciting and made me a little happier. 

I had tops that were size 24 women all the way to my 16's.  Most of the size 14 clothing fit loosely. I'm wearing a size 12 right now!  I had to toss several tops that were XXLG. Going through all of my clothes made me realize that I still have plenty of slacks for work. I didn't really need anything new.  Matt persisted in encouraging me and we went anyway.  I found a long-sleeved T-shirt, a brown sweater and a purple jacket-type top. Oh! and a pair of shoes. My closet is now nice and tidy.

Also, since today was the last day I had to weigh in, I decided that the first thing I wanted to eat was a frosted molasses cookie from Festival Foods. It was so yummy. Now, I know that I can't eat gluten without being in severe pain, but there is something about the ginger, dark molasses and other spices.  For some reason, eating those types of cookie do not hurt going through!  So, I ate one and enjoyed it tremendously! I'm a tiny bit gassy from it, but that's all.  For lunch.... I wasn't hungry!! Then for my break at work.... I wasn't hungry!! It figures. When I got home, still not hungry, but I'm determined... I made myself a gluten-free pizza with lots of onion and mushrooms and extra cheese!  The crust is a 9" corn tortilla.  I could only eat half of it though, so I'm saving the other half for breakfast.

I'm pleased with my progress. Since last year I've gone from 196# to 171#  I'd like to keep going.  Just a little at a time.  It's hard to keep the weight off because I'm essentially a lazy person, I don't like to sweat and I like to cook.

Tomorrow I'm making chicken veggie soup!

Don't Kick the Dog

A Ricky quote that made us laugh... and then pet Sophie.

"I sense a presence of stupidity in the room."

"Oh wait, it's just the dog."

LOL "awww... it's alright Sophie." pat pat pat

Ben the Wookie

Benny is my second son.

He rides shot-gun.

His hair is long and wavy.

He thinks his life is a bit crazy.

Like a Wookie, alot he can eat.

In arm wrestling, he can't be beat.

We started to call him Chewbaca,

'cause his height made you say ahh-ahhh.

Then big brother started drivin',

second son never mindin',

that in the passenger seat he had to be

That's when we heard Ben say, "I call Chewy!"

Chewy for Chewbaca

Riding shotgun in the Falcon

Han Solo at the gears

Space jumpin' thru the years.

Glad your truck doesn't have hyper-speed

'cause as your Mother, I'd surely need,

The Force to bring you home,

Safe and sound and in one piece.

Becoming Yoda at the door,

Tellin' your brother, "Fast drivin' you'll do no more."

Fortunately, for your Mother Dear,

 Rick is your bro, the truck is slow

and Luke and Han Solo are nowhere near.

Pulling up the Garden

It's that time of year again. It's time to pull up the garden!  We had some really great tomato plants this year. Our favorite was the Black Cherry tomatos.  This our first year planting them.  What a wonderful surprise!  The vines were over 20' in diameter and the root systems were almost 1 foot down.  Some of them spread to over 5 feet in length!  Amazing.  We were able to put up 32 quarts of salsa, over 32 quarts of juice, 5 quarts of sauce, and about 12 quarts of stewed red and green tomatos. Wonderful! I am so thankful!

My gardens.... they can look a bit messy when we first pull everything up, but then it starts to look all tidy again.



Putting down some more dirt.



We still have carrots in the garden. I'll probably can them this coming week.  They grew to great proportions also!

Now it's time to decorate with autumn ~ although, I am already planning dimensions for next year's veggie patch...