Photos

Here is the Thanksgiving dress that I made for my granddaughter.

Here is a photo of my kids and their significant others at a Christmas party that my daughter and son-in-law had in Dallas. Oldest son on left with his gf, youngest son and his gf, and daughter and son-in-law. They are all such good-looking and sweet kids!

My Poor Posting

Yes, my posting has been poor. It just seems like I have been so busy, and really not had alot to say. Hmm... yeah, when has that stopped me? Well, if you will look below this post, I posted about redoing my son's bathroom. After I finish this project, I also am going to be having my mother a luncheon with 5-7 of her friends. This is also one of her after Christmas gifts. It is really hard to buy for her because she lives in a small apartment, so she definitely does not need any home decor. She only has so much closet space, so no new clothes for her. I did get her a charm for her Pandora bracelet. I also got her a gift card for a pedicure, and I got her a very pretty card table tablecloth with matching napkins that I purchased at the estate sale that I worked. So, after I redo the bathroom, it will be time to plan the luncheon. I also am doing another gift for my sister and my nieces. You see, I failed to mention that I got a relapse of that bronchitis about 10 days before Christmas. I was sick in the bed for 5 days with horrific coughing. I am realizing that when I am around dust, mold, or such to wear a mask!! Anyway, I have lots to do!!! I did get some towels monogrammed and my granddaughter's stocking made and monogrammed before Christmas. I also made her a cute monogrammed Christmas dress. I will post a photo on it later. I think I need to go back to work to earn some money for some of the things I want to do. My computer screen has gone out, and I am presently using my computer by being plugged into a flat-screen TV. So, at some time I will need a new computer. I am really wanting to get a Mac. I am so tired of these sorry computers that don't last very long!! Also, I want to buy a serger. Since it seems like I am doing more clothing construction, a serger would be a cool tool to have.. again- more money!! Okay, I gotta get going- gotta go get started on that bathroom!!!!

After Christmas Gift

Are you intrigued by this title of after Christmas gift. Well... I am about to give my oldest son his after Christmas gift. I got a few things for him under the tree, but I asked him about this gift beforehand.. would he be disappointed without more under the Christmas tree or did he want what I had to offer? He took my offer. He has a house that was built in I would say the early 60s. I think it has the original beaded board wainscoting in the bathroom. The wallpaper may have been more recent. Anyway... he is getting a bathroom make-over. I helped him strip some of the wallpaper, and then we hit a standstill. So, I got a contractor to come and texture the walls over the wallpaper- it worked great because the wallpaper was stuck on it so well. The contractor put up some more of the molding above the wainscoting that we tore up when removing the wallpaper. He also took down an old medicine cabinet and repaired some of the sheetrock in the tub area. This is a Hollywoood bath- two separate rooms that each have a commode and sink, and then an additional area with only a tub/shower combination. So here is my plan:
1. Spray paint the light fixtures and a mirror frame a hammered silver.
2. Use Paso to clean all the beaded board paneling.
3. Use oil base primer on the beaded board.
4. Paint the beaded board oil-based white paint with an eggshell finish.
4. Prime the sheetrock above the beaded board.
5. Paint the sheetrock a golden color.
6. Paint the cabinets hanging on the walls the same white color.
7. Paso the cabinets that holds the sinks.
8. Use a darker stain gel on those cabinets.
9. Varnish those cabinets.
10. Hang the mirrors.
11. Hang some kind of artwork or maybe even cover a canvas with some fabric and hang that.
12. New shower curtain and probably some new towels.-he might have to pay for these.
13. I forgot to mention I will have to paint the baseboards too.

So, what do you think? Pretty good gift, huh? It is going to take me at least all this week, and maybe some of next week to get it done. I am excited to see how it is going to turn out. And of course I will have to post some photos later. Right now the beaded board is a really ugly stain.
I think I spent more on him and of course my labor is free. I would say this is a great gift. Now if someone will give me the gift of redoing my flowerbeds. Maybe I can get some help on that.

Ugh

Ugh.. I am sitting here today with congestion and sore throat. I am one of those people who seldom will take a pill or go to the doctor. However, I knew when I started this coughing and had nasty stuff coming out of my lungs that if I did not go, then I would be sick next week for Thanksgiving. So yesterday I went to the doctor, and he gave me Singular and a Z pack. Last night I experienced achyness and chills. I cannot imagine how bad I was going to get if I had not started on the drugs. I have had alot in my mind that I wanted to blog about, and I should do it now since I am pretty much lying around. I have to charge the battery on my camera, and then I will post a few more blogs of what has been going on here. The temperatures have been cool here in the east Texas piney woods. I just love these kind of days. So today I am going to try to get my pepper jelly made and also saute' onions and peppers for the chili that my husband is making. He is already browning the meat at our camphouse. I would have preferred to have cooked them together, but I guess he did not know that. Now, if I can just get myself up off this sofa..

I Love Chickens

So you probably do not know this about me, but I love chickens. That is plural.. meaning live ones. Yes, I love to eat chicken, but I love to raise chickens. It has been many years since we have had any chickens to raise.. I had some chicks when my chicks were still here growing up. So today I went outside since it was such a nice cool day and began the task of cleaning up around my chicken pen. We thought about moving the location to raise our chickens, but I have been waiting on dh a long time to start this project. I am thinking if I depend on him for this pen, it just "ain't" gonna happen. The reason we wanted to move the pen is because it is about 40 feet into the woods, and we have a hard time with varmits- oppossum, raccoons, and ...yikes.. snakes. But I am going to get it sealed up good and take a chance that my pen will be safe and secure. So today here is what I got done- I cleared some of the trail by chopping some small trees down along with lots of thorny vines. I got a ladder and got the pine straw off the wire roof and also off the tin roof that covers the coop. I raked alot of the pine straw that is in the pen. When I finished for the day, I had scratches with blood running down my legs, lots of mosquito bites, Blisters on my hands, and sweat that soon made me cold. I guess I worked about 3 hours. Dang.. I am in poor shape. So I will have to put this project on hold for a few days because I am helping someone with an estate sale. They have everything all tagged. I just have to put a "Sold" tag on an item when a customer says they want it and put their name on that item. This is a very big sale. They have a Baker dining room hutch priced at $7,200. I think it will be fun as well as seeing lots of people. But back to the chickens.. the reason I like raising them is I love yard eggs! If you have ever eaten a fresh egg, you know the difference in taste from the eggs you buy at the grocery store. I will keep you updated on the chicken pen and hopefully have some photos to share.

Sewing and Repurposing

So lately I have been trying to do more sewing. I have sewed for a long time, and you would think that I would be better than what I am. But the truth is.. I am just not all that great at it. Well, maybe some people would think I was good, but compared to people that sew, I am just below average. I have made many quilts over the years. I have made long curtains, valances, pillows, and some clothes. When my daughter was young, I smocked several dresses for her. I will show you photos later because I kept them all. But I have recently been making jumpers for my granddaughter monogrammed with her intials or her name. I have done several wedding and graduation gifts with monograms. But lately I have become interested in making clothes. I found this great book with this fantastic designer. I have not made items from her book yet. Her name is Kay Whitt, and her book is Sew Serendipity. I love all these funky fabrics and the designer of the fabrics that I really love is Amy Butler. I also bought a book by this designer for making all kinds of bags. And I love the designer Izy and Ivy. I am including a jumper that I made from her pattern. I got the blue jeans for the jumper at Goodwill. I also repurposed a jacket for my granddaughter that came from a thrift shop. I wish I had taken a photo of the jacket before I redid it. Let me describe what it did look like. It had small embroidered flowers on the collar as well as at the top of the embroidered stems. There was pale pink ribbon and eyelet on the waistband and sleeve cuffs. Then there was little bows running down the button tab. So I made the Macy flower that Izy and Ivy designed and I sewed fabric on the waistband and cuffs. How do you like it?

Happy Fall

Wow! Don't you absolutely love this time of year? I love the coolness in the air, the beautiful color of the leaves changing, and just the smells of nature. I found out that I also loving going to Galveston in the fall. I was down there this weekend, and it was the most gorgeous visit I have ever had. I walked on the Seawall two days- 5 miles on Saturday and 6 miles on Sunday. I ate boiled shrimp and also had a fish taco. Since my husband fries up catfish better than any restaurant, I am going to get him to fry some and then I am going to make my own corn tortillas and instead of lettuce, use the shredded cabbage. It will be even more delicious than the one I had at Shrimp and Stuff (my favorite restaurant on the island). After my walk one day, I got in the pool and swam laps. The pool is heated and it was not too cold outside nor too hot- just perfect!

It has been awhile since I posted because I have just been really busy. I will have to post later for y'all the jacket that I repurposed for my granddaughter. And also show you the ironing board that I made. I had visited a local quilt shop and seen this 24" by 60" pressing table. It is just that- a table! So wonderful to do all my quilting projects on. I have also been busy making my youngest son a T-shirt quilt. I need one more shirt on the front. It is not just any shirt- it is when he played baseball for Angelina College. I have several extra shirts that are going on the back, but I need this special one for the front. You see the vinyl letter shirts (which is the one that I have) just are not as pretty as the screen printed ones. I told him to get me a screeen printed one. If he doesn't, I guess I will use the one I have.

My exercise of late has been mainly walking. And I have had such pain in my feet. But today, I am actually walking around with no pain. It is not my plantar fascitis, but rather pain on top of my foot. I am wondering if it is arthritis. And also wondering if my diet is contributing to this. Or is it not hurting today because of a weather change. I don't know. But I sure hope it will go away!!

So, I am leaving you with a photo of my little granddaughter taken at the Dallas Arboretum in the pumpkin patch. She is finally getting some hair. Isn't she the sweetest thing? My daughter told her when taking her photo, " Be sweet to the pumpkin." And that is the shot she got!! So I will try to post more often, but with the holiday season on us, you know how busy we can get.

Robert Aaron Smith

I dedicate this post to a man larger than life. As his son stated, " he was like 10 people all rolled up into one, and 9 of them you really loved and admired." What he meant was.. most of Robert Aaron was quite admirable. I told my husband tonight one thing that I most remember about "Dr. Smith" was when you talked to him you had his full attention. He stared you right in the face and listened intently to what you had to say. He was my very first boss as a dental hygienist. I came to work for him when I was 20 years old. He was 34.. of course he might as well have been 60 to me. He was old as far as I was concerned. What a great dentist and boss he was. He was kind, fair, patient.. everything you want in a boss. However, he did have his problems- he tried many times to quit smoking. Our office manager would even lay a pack of cigarettes on his desk after several days of misery for him, but mostly for us!! He also had a problem with his drinking which plaqued him long after I worked for him. His family stuck by him though and he was able to lick this problem. The first time that I met Dr. Smith he came with one of my dad's friends to our house. I was a gangley 14-year old girl and he was 28. Even though he was old to me then, he was not too old for me to think he was the handsomest man I had ever seen. I did not know that six years later I would be working for him. I saw Dr. Smith about a year ago. He had to be housed in a nursing home because his needs became greater than what his wife could do to take care of him. This fantastic dentist developed Parkinson's Disease. But Dr. Smith continued to fight this fight just like he did on the football field, the basketball court or the baseball diamond in his high school and college years. My life was enriched by having known him. My heart is sad that he is gone, but I am also happy to know that he is no longer trapped in that frail body, but instead walking.. or should I say running on the streets of gold! I love you, Dr. Smith!!

Beach Condo for Sale

Okay, I finally got the photos of my family's beach condo uploaded on a blog. You can find it via this blog or just go directly to that blog which is http://www.galvestoncondo-dee.blogspot.com/. It is bitter-sweet to list this condo. My parents bought this condo back in the fall of 1993. At that time my father's health was somewhat altered. He had had angioplasty. This was back in the day when they were not putting the stints in (at least not in this east Texas town), but rather just using the balloon to open the artery up. When they told me they had bought a beach condo I thought they were crazy. I mean that was over 150 miles away, my father was still working.. I just thought they would never get to enjoy it enought. Boy was I wrong!! Over time my father had to have more heart surgeries.. eventually he went into congestive heart failure. But through it all, if he could, he still wanted to go and spend time here at the condo. When he went for the last time, he was unable to even walk out on the beach. However, he was able to sit on that balcony and take in the smells of the gulf, watch the seagulls as well as the people having fun, feel the ocean breeze and listen to waves rolling in. Ahhhh.. can you just feel your senses being awakened right now as I tell you this. My father passed away about 1 1/2 years after they bought this. Before he died, they probably were able to stay there 10 or 12 days of each month. They certainly used this condo. They had many friends meet them down there. Galveston is such a fun place with many delicious restaurants. They had their favorites of course. And most everyone that visited also loved to go shopping on the Strand. Now Galveston has Schlitterbahn. And don't forget Moody Gardens. There are tours of old houses in Galveston. Check out all the points of interest in Galveston. But of course the biggest draw for us is the ocean. My maternal grandfather was a sea captain, so my mother just has had this in her blood to be near the ocean. I think she is the one that has loved Galveston more than anyone. But you see, now my mother is 83 years old. She still loves to go, but it is of course not very often. She does not drive out of town so she must depend on someone to take her. I have been responsible for caring for this investment for about 15 years now. My family does love it, but with everyone so busy, we are unable to go as much as before. We have rented it off and on over the course of the last 15 years. So, if anyone has any questions, you can contact me on this blog or the other blog. I know that God has just the right person that will love this condo as much as what we have.

Blogging Ideas

You know sometimes I just run out of blogging ideas. Especially when my life is pretty ho-hum..nothing extraordinary.... not exciting.. actually pretty boring. However, I like boring. My former boss, a dentist, when he looked at a patient's teeth and nothing was going on that needed treatment would say, "You're boring," and he finished examining them. So, I like boring. But today I went on a 5 mile walk.. yes.. 5 miles.. I did the same thing yesterday. And while I was on my walk which lasted longer than an hour, I had lots of thinking time. I wish I had had a pen and paper or recorder because I had lots of ideas for my blog. I guess it is going to be one of those things though where you know when you forget something you went after in the bedroom, and you had walked back in the kitchen, and you were thinking... what did I want in the bedroom, and you have to go back in the kitchen to remember.. well, I guess when I go down that country road again I will remember some of my blogging ideas. I did remember one, and I will post it with a separate title.

TK Sisters- 35+ Years Later

So my company came this weekend. Since I recently connected with these gals a year ago last June and October for the first time, we have gotten together several times. "C" lives in Austin, and I stayed with her back in May when I attended a wedding of a friend's daughter. (Did I mention that my dh does not like to go to weddings. I have to tell him when he simply HAS to go to one.) Well, C came to my hometown because she has an aunt that is a nursing home and so we were able to make it a get-together weekend when she came to visit her aunt and uncle. And my friend "S" lives about an hour's drive away, so we called her and she came too. These two gals are so much fun. They continually make me laugh, and I thank God so much that he brought them into my life 35+ years ago. Our weekend started with us having lunch at the local tearoom. They loved the food.. especially the desserts. We then went to our hunting camp for our tour to see what they thought about our larger TK group staying there maybe in January. The next day C downloaded some of my old photos for FB. We loaded up after having breakfast and headed to Palestine which is near my S's lakehouse. We finally made it to the lake where we could get a little sun and enjoy the water since the Texas temperatures are still soaring into the 100s. My friend S cooked us a great dinner of ham, macaroni and cheese, and the absolute best potato salad I have ever had! And she easily whipped up a coconut pie and a custard pie. The next day we went to her mom's house for lunch. Now I know where she gets her cooking ability from. I felt like it was Thanksgiving lunch with the spread we had. All of S's family there- mother, brother, sister-in-law, nieces, nephew, their spouses and children. What a wonderful bunch of people. And the food- omg... hamburgers, macaroni and cheese, fried okra, squash, peas, cornbread, French fries, cantaloupe and then there were about 3 desserts that I passed up. I got home later that day and my dsons cooked dinner for their dad on his birthday.. can you believe it has been a whole year since we had his 60th birthday party? Time slow down. And my granddaughter turned 18 months old on Friday. So I am leaving you with a few photos. One of the photos has my friends C, S, and another friend M along with me in 1973 and again the three of us last Friday. There is one of us at Galveston in 1973, and the latest of my little granddaughter. Needless to say... I am tired... I stayed up too late, and of course how could I help it??? I ate too much!!!

Company Coming

Well when I mentioned not liking yardwork, I forgot to also mention what I dislike most.. fire ants and poison ivy and SNAKES!!!! So yesterday when I was pulling the weeds I only was plaqued by one. I did pull some poison ivy up. I did not get bit by any ants, and I saw no snakes. So it turned out to be not so bad. I got out there early and got the flowerbeds cleaned out and started on pulling the weeds around the sidewalk. And after going into town to have lunch with my mother and a friend I stopped by Lowe's and got some flowers to plant. That bed looks pretty good.. not great, but decent. Maybe I can get a photo later.

So today I am changing sheets on the bed, making sure the bathrooms are clean, going over my wood floor good and cooking some lasagne for tonight. Today I am treating them to lunch at the local tearoom. We are only staying here one night and then going back to one of their houses because she lives on a lake. We enjoy getting on floats and relaxing with no one else to bother us. So tomorrow I will get up and cook breakfast- not sure what to have yet- maybe an egg casserole, maybe French toast, or maybe these delicious whole grain pancakes with some turkey bacon.

I have much more to say about some of my health issues that may be of interest to some of you that might have the same problem. I will post that when I have more time. Right now I have lots to do!!

Nike + and Yard Work

Okay, so are you familiar with Nike +(Plus)? Well, you can either wear an armband or you can attach to your ipod to register how far you run/walk? The sensor is in your shoe. I got one for my Ipod about 2 years ago, and I did like it when I was running then because it audibly told me my pace and how far I had run. But I seldom wear my Ipod. I just think that a continuous blaring of music in my ears will cause hearing damage and I certainly don't need any help with that. My paternal grandmother and my mother both had/have serious hearing loss. So a few weeks ago I bought me the armband. Now I really like it..however, you MUST remember to start it after a pause, and you must make sure your sensor is attached. I have experienced both of these problems. I thought one day when I had accidentally ended my walk that I had started a new walk- no I did not which caused me to lose 2 miles. I have a new pair of shoes that does not have the slot for the sensor to fit into. Now these are the shoes I wanted to wear, and you can do this if you have a lacelid for the sensor to fit into. I have ordered one of these. But yesterday I ran/walked on the treadmill so I just stuck the sensor in my laces. This was great, working fine. Then I looked at it and my time had not changed... ugh.. what was the matter? I looked and saw that my sensor was not on my shoe. Anyway.. I found it in my exercise/sewing room. I reattached it, but I still lost about 1/2 mile with it off. You may wonder.. well, what is the big deal? Well, the big deal is that I have entered a couple of challenges, and I would prefer to be up somewhere besides the bottom. So, I have the lacelids ordered ( a couple to spare if I lose one).

It is now almost 8:30 a.m. and I really should have been outside at daylight. I have to do some yardwork- pulling weeds in a flower bed and out of the cracks of my sidewalk. I DO NOT like yardwork. And here in this east Texas piney woods town the temperatures get up very fast. We have had triple digit temperatures for quite awhile now. And the humidity here is terrible. I don't mind sweat, but I don't like it running down my eyes and my nose. I don't like getting bit by mosquitoes. I don't like the stooping over. And soon the sun will be bearing down on me. So, I gotta get out there. I am having company this weekend, and I sure want the place to look a little nicer.

Unomes in Sugarland

Well, you have heard me talk about my unomes.. these are a group of my high school friends. We all began getting together 6 years ago when we were turning the big five-o. We started out with 15 of us. We have lost one who passed away, we have a couple that fell by the wayside, and two that keep in contact but due to other responsibilites with raisin' kids or taking care of elderly parents they are unable to presently join us. So this time we got the 10 together that have pretty much tried to be at every event. We were so happy to welcome back two that had missed two or more times. Hopefully this group is here to stay. We meet twice a year- usually January or February and then again in one of the hot months like July, August, or September. Last February we met at our camphouse- yes, can you believe that was six months ago? So this time we met at one of our members' homes in Sugarland. (those not familiar- a suburb of Houston). We always have a great time just talking, sipping on margaritas and lying in the pool when one is available. My friend had a big house with lots of bedrooms and bathrooms, and a fantastic pool with outdoor living area. One of our members who lost her husband a few years ago prepared a fantastic meal of homemade lasagne as a labor of love. We all agreed that is was absolutely the very best lasagne we had ever tasted. We had red wine, French bread, salad, and cheesecake to go along with this delicious meal. I did not know until a few days beforehand if I was going or not. It was great that my friends encouraged me to come, and I began feeling better each day closer to our departure. I am so glad that I attended. So I am leaving you with a few photos. My friend that prepared the meal also gave us the pearl bracelets and so we decided to take a photo of all our hands. Just as each hand looks so different, so do we.. and we all have our own distinct personalities with various talents and gifts.. well most of us.. I am still looking for mine. We have such a history with one another- one I have known since kindergarten even! The others I have known from when I was in 6th grade on until 9th grade. So you do the math! I am so blessed to have these women in my life!

Graduation

Ahhhh.... the day has come where my dh and I can say, "ahhhh...." Well, we can breathe easy for the moment because we now have finally come to the time where we are finished with the financial burden of paying for college. Our youngest child graduated last Friday from Texas A&M. He began his college career at McLennan Community College (MCC) in Waco where he played baseball. He then transferred to Angelina College where he continued to play ball for three semesters. We were so proud of him when he was accepted into the Mays Business School at A&M. It has been a tough road for him with lots of hard work to keep his grades up especially this last summer session where he took 6 hours to finish. He is uncertain right now on his next career move as he continues to go to interviews. This ds has been gifted by God with the way he can relate to people of all ages and kinds. Most likely he will be in business where he is out selling for a company. We are so proud of this great accomplishment, but most of all we are so proud of the man he has become. We continue to pray for him as he moves out into this next phase. Congratulations dear son! We love you!

My Two Weeks with the Granddaughter

On the way with Poppa to pick tomatoes from the garden

Getting all hot and sweaty with Grammy at the zoo.

Playing in the water hose with Poppa.

I got to have my little granddaughter for two weeks. Well, here is how this played out. My daughter is a teacher in the Dallas area. She teaches technology, and this summer she had to attend two weeks of classes at UT Tyler to prepare for a technology class she will be teaching this school year. She was to stay in a dorm. Of course her husband works too, so someone had to take care of their child. So, my dd came with dgd on Sunday. My dd left for Tyler on Monday. I had dgd all week. We actually went and stayed in a hotel in Tyler that Wednesday with dd so mother and daughter could see each other. Then dd came to our house on Friday and stayed until Sunday when she went back to Tyler. Once again the responsibilty of dgd was mine until the next Friday when I took her back to meet up with her momma again who was very anxious to see her daddy again. We had a good week, but let me tell you.... whew.. was I ever tired. One reason of course was because my thyroid had me slowed down. Another reason was.. I am 56 years old! And then lastly.. I am just not used to taking care of someone every minute. I just don't know how these grandparents that are raising their grandchildren are doing it. This just goes against nature. No wonder grandparents have a hard time doing any discipline. It is like "of course... do whatever you want.. I am too tired to argue with you." I had a great time with this little toot. I left you with a few photos.

Dang

Dang.. just when I thought I was going to get better by switching back to my Armour thyroid, I find out that they have redone the formula. Why mess with something that has worked for so many years? Well, my guess is PROFIT!! That's right, it is more profitable to put these cheaper fillers and binders that the previous way that the Armour had been manufactured. Ugh!! So many people are complaining about now having problems taking Armour. Well.. what is a person to do? Right now I am still on the Armour, and I figure I will continue on for a few months and check my TSH reading then. I am also planning now on seeing a specialist- an endocrinologist. I used to see one for probably about 20 years when I first began this journey of hypothyroidism.. Well enough about that.. am I beating a dead horse or what??? I have added to my regiment of accountability. I have not joined Nike+.. as in Nike Plus. I got a sensor in my shoe and a wrist band that records my distance, my speed, how long, how many calories I burn for each walk. I plug it into my computer, and I have a record of this. My neighbor who is the queen of walking talked me into this. Back when I first began my new life of fitness seven years ago, we were walking six and seven miles a day. She has always been an avid walker, and I have been a hit and miss walker while I was doing my weight lifting. She has told me about several of her friends on this that do challenges. So I am going to give it all I can and do well on these challenges.

However; it is sooooooooo hot right now. We walked Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. We start out anywhere between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. The temperature is still close to 100, and the heat index is close to 110. I just came in from outside at 9:30 a.m., and the heat inside my garage and attic is horrific!! I am trying to get it straight as dh is staying on my butt about it. I want to get out and finish my painting. It seems like there is just never enough hours in the day. Or never enough energy to get it done fast. Okay, my break time is over. Back to work!

Back to Walking

I am back to walking. Yes, I am determined whether I feel bad or not.. I am going to push through. I walked about 3 miles on Sunday, and I walked 4.25 miles yesterday. The heat was horrific.. even going at 7:30. We decided that if we want to get finished by dark, we must go no later than this time. Yesterday the temperature was 102, but the heat index was 109. Afterward we drank lots and lots of water because we sweated tons! I am hoping that more physical activity will reduce the stress hormone cortisol in my body and also help relieve me of these symptoms I am having. I am planning on starting back to riding my bike soon. One day at a time.. one day at a time.

More about Meds

Well, thankfully I did get my physician to put me back on the Armour thyroid. However, he prescribed something different for my anxiety. After googling it and reading what previous patients of this drug had to say.. I had to say "FORGET IT!!" My physician, who I trust very much, did not want to put me on the Xanax because it can become addicting. He only prescribes it for patients experiencing a temporary anxious state like a death in the family. But this other medication was one that would have to build up in your body and then you would have to wean yourself off of. I wanted him to know that yes, I respect his judgment since he is my doctor, but I also take a proactive role in my health. I would rather deal with the symptoms I am having with the hypothyroidism than add new symptoms as a result of a side effect to a drug. I am just so hoping that soon my hormone levels will be back to normal and along with that I will be too! I have decided to continue on with my life despite the uncomfortable feelings I am having. I am back to walking, and doing my push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. I am soon to be back with my weight lifting. I am back charting my food intake on www.myfitnesspal.com.. I like this site as well as www.sparkpeople.com. One of my good friends is doing the MFP, so I have a buddy on this site.

Somehow on my last post, I had several photos of my granddaughter. And then they disappeared. I have no idea what I did wrong. I also want to post some photos of all the canning that I have been doing. I have canned Rotel tomatoes, whole tomatoes, salsa.. lots of salsa!!.. squash pickles, dill pickles, blackberry jam, peach jam, and a pickled vegetable medley of peppers, onions, cauliflower, and carrots.

The temperatures here in this east Texas town have been very high. I think today was probably our hottest day.. at least it felt like it walking across the Walmart parking lot. Well, I do intend to try to get back to blogging. I decided instead of giving you all a password to read my blog, I will just moderate the comments. I am still getting the Chinese writing on this.. why, I do not know.. I am not posting their comments.. why do they continue to keep doing this? Does anyone know what that means?

Right now I have my supper cooking outside in an electric roaster oven. You know the kind you put a big turkey in. I cooked dh a peach dessert out there, and I have a meatloaf cooking in it. If I cook inside the house, it just heats the house up and the air runs and runs. So.. it is either cook outside in that.. grill.. or go out to eat!!! See you tomorrow!

So Ya Thinking I Quit?

Yeah.. so are ya thinking I quit blogging? Well right now it looks that way. So much to say.. yet so much probably not interesting enough to put on a blog. Let me see.. where do I start? It has been one month since I last posted.

I have mentioned before about the problems I have had with my health. These continue.. in fact.. have escalated. It is not that I am in PAIN, but rather extreme discomfort. I had none of these symptoms until I switched from Armour thyroid to Synthroid thyroid. I think I have posted that my lab results continue to show that I am not getting enough thyroid hormone. But this is a process.. you start out low and gradually increase... So here I am 6 months later, and I have continued to decline- exercise? P90X? Are you kidding? My walking has even stopped. I can get my feelings hurt at the drop of a hat; I am out of energy; I get short-winded, I have joint pain, muscle aches, depression, axiousness, chest and back pain, and that terrible, terrible choking feeling. So today after being awake until 3:00 a.m., I took 1/2 of a Xanax.. and yes, I went to sleep. And this morning.. still feeling that choking pain.. I took another 1/2 Xanax. Well listen.. people that know me well, they know that I do not even take Advil unless I have an excruciating headache which might occur every two months. Taking pills is the last thing I do. So I am feeling somewhat better today. Of course all I have eaten is a few crackers. The doctor gave me Nexium a few weeks ago. After taking it for two weeks, I really cannot tell the difference. I emailed my doctor and asked if I can be switched back to the Armour, but ONLY should armour become unavailable again, I do not want to go through 6 months of this.

Private

I am about to make my blog private. I don't know who you are that is sending me these messages in another language, but I cannot read them. I don't know if you are trying to hack into my accounts on my computer or what. I am asking you first to quit. So you guys that want to continue to read my blog, please contact me either by email or FB because you know who I am , and I will figure out how to let you view my blog with a password.

My New Ride

Two of my friends have been wanting me to get a scooter. I had looked at them about a year ago, but a new one was just more than what I wanted to pay. So, you can imagine my excitement when I happened to pass a used dealer of motorcycles on Monday. This just happened to be a fairly good deal. It is a 2005 Honda Metropolitan II with only 630 miles on it. I figured even if I get tired of it soon, I can resell it for close to what I paid for it. The only thing that I did not realize when I bought it was that since it is not a Metropolitan, but a Metropolitan II, it will not go as fast. They quit making the Met II's in 2005. This model will only top 27 mph whereas a Met I will top at about 42. I have found that my comfortable speed is about 22-25 mph. So this is not really bothering me. I can also have something removed off of it and it will then be able to go about 33 mph. One of my friends just happened by where I bought this scooter and talked with the owner who works on motorcycles. If I find out that it is not too expensive to do this, I may go ahead and have that done. Otherwise, I am quite content with riding the back roads of east Texas on my new ride.."The Blue Thunder."

The Beach

I had to post this photo of my granddaughter on the balcony of the beach condo. I love her mad look. I don't think she is a morning person.

Still Seem To Be Busy

It seems like I still seem to be busy. But you are never too busy for exercise. So what in the world is wrong with me. Well, for one thing.. lately different circumstances have resulted in me getting little sleep. Last night some unforeseen events occurred with a friend causing me to be out late and not getting in bed before 1:30 a.m. Needless to say, I was tired when I got up this morning. I just did not feel like exercising. Okay, Dee... that is no excuse. If all people did not exercise because they did not feel like it, people would seldom do it. I should have just jumped in there an gotten to it. Instead I went about the task of preserving the harvest. My dh has a raised bed garden and we are getting squash like nobody's business. So today I "put up" 9 pints of squash pickles. They are delicious. Instead of slicing the squash like you do cucumbers, you cube the squash and slice the onions. They did have a good flavor and also a crunch.

I have for a few days done my squats, pushups, and situps. I want to do them 5x a day where I do 20 at a time. Instead, I usually have been doing about 25-30 and only doing them once. And my cardio has lacked lately as I have not walked since I was in Galveston last week. The country road where my neighbors walk is infested with horseflies right now. They seem to really love me. My legs have huge bites that look kinda like sores...not a pretty site. I am waiting for those horseflies to leave!!

Well, here is a positive note. I finally have figured out how to transfer the pattern from my Letterworks III monogram program from my computer to the little box with the reader writer to my sewing machine. I paid big bucks for that software, and I have been so frustrated that I could not figure it out. It is so terrible to get old and for technology to make you feel so dumb. I know that if I do this program over and over, it will become so easy. So I did one towel for a graduation gift. I plan to do a bath towel, a hand towel, and a washcloth for each of the three graduates on my list, and then I have two wedding gifts to do. I plan to do two bath towels, one hand towel, and two wash cloths for each couple. I am going to put the monogram of the bride and groom with his initial, the last name initial, and then her initial. I hope they will turn out good. I can end up not having to spend $50 for a wedding gift. And hopefully by the time I have done several of these, then my software will pay for itself. It has probably 100 fonts to choose from. And I am trying to save money, (not be cheap) because I don't have a job! Remember.. I am retired. I am still just not accomplishing everything I want to. Hmm.. maybe I need to go back to work and hire some of these things done... what do you think???

Okay, tomorrow... do some kind of cardio!!!

I Know, I Know, I Know

I know, I know, I know... I have been terrible about blogging. It just seems like I don't have much to say. I have been doing poorly with my exercise. I retired from work, and it looks like I just retired from exercise. One thing that having a regular job does is keep you on track. It keeps you on a schedule. When you no longer work, you can slow down. It is not hurry, hurry, hurry. I don't have to be anywhere at a certain time, and therefore, I sometimes just "lolly-gag" around. So I say to myself everyday that I am going to do my P90X or my Jackie Warner video. Now don't get me wrong. Sometimes I actually do the Jackie Warner video. But there is just no consistency right now. I recently took a visit to do more detailed work on the family condo. I had two friends go with me. One of them is a size 6 and she is that way because she has followed Weight Watchers for about 6-7 years. People will respond to her in astonishment when she says anything about WW. They look at this thin little lady and wonder why she goes. But she is quick to explain that she goes to "keep" the weight off. She is always counting her points. She knows what she can and cannot eat to keep in her point zone. Sometimes she overextends herself, but she is quick to recognize it. My other friend has lost over 20 lbs in three months by following http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ and so she counts calories. She also tries to burn half of the calories she consumes for the day- if she eats 1200 calories, she shoots to burn 600 by walking or riding her stationary bike. This could be why she has had such great success. But being with them made me so see how much weight loss is such a mental issue. These women are no different from me or you. They don't have a fast metabolism, it did not come easy, they don't have lots of time to spend in exercise or to study up on this. But.. they made this their goal- their challenge. They both feel such success when they win out over temptation to overeat or to sit down when they are tired and not exercise. There is no magic pill- it is simple- burn more calories than what you eat. And by keeping the food diary in the beginning you will soon have this pretty downpat in your mind. However, both agree that writing it down and keeping tabs on it is still important to them to stay on task. Being with them was such motivation for me. I called them my "diet trainers". I am posting a photo of us together last week.

My days of lately have consisted of several doctor appointments for my mother. We have been to about four of them in the last two weeks along with a dental visit too. I have also been to the beach condo about 4 times in the last month. I did also manage to get is some fun times with friends and a kayak trip. I will post those photos later. I hope to get back into the habit of blogging as many of you have told me you have missed me.

Happy Mother's Day

I was in church this morning thinking about all the mothers who have come and gone. And I just started thinking about all the mothers I would like to wish a Happy Mother's Day.
1. To my mother
2. To my daughter
3. To my friends
4. To mothers who have had their own children.
5. To mothers who have adopted children.
6. To mothers who have lost children before they were born by miscarriage.
7. To mothers who gave their children up, but gave their children life.
8. To mothers who by poor choice have aborted their children- yes, you are still a mother, you can have forgiveness by God's grace, and one day meet your child in Heaven.
9. To those mothers who have "mothered" but never really been a mother.
10. To those mothers who no longer have children living here on earth.
May today be a day that we all thank God for the mothers in our lives.

Whirlwind

My life has recently been a whirlwind. Since the middle of April (the past two weeks), I have made the trip to Galveston from east Texas three times. We are three hours away. I have never made so many decisions so fast. Also, my usual credit card transactions are about 3-6 per month. I have made about 45 in the last two weeks. I have found it is just so much easier to put it on the credit card when I purchase an item because if it does not work, I can easily take something back. And boy, have I done that!! I have also discovered the store Marshall Home Goods. They have one on I45 on the way to Galveston. I had read in others' blogs about their visits to this store. The advice was if you see something you like, you better buy it then because it may not be there when you go back. So, that is what I have been doing. Then, if it does not work, I return it. I found many things that I later found in other more specialty stores in Galveston that were about 1/3 the price. No kidding- comforters, lamps, art work. I have made some really good deals and I think some good choices. Of course I have also made some bad decisions- nothing that I cannot live with, but nevertheless, I would have done things different if I had the chance.
So I have not been faithful with my exercising or walking. I have not done terrible with my eating, but not done great either. I have not put myself in guilt mode either. I can only do what I can do. I am trying to get this task done and I must pace myself on getting it all taken care of. I tend to go full force and sometimes I am too driven and too focused to try to finish something. I still have a few more things to do at the condo- get window shade for guest bedroom and then make valance to cover the top of the shade. You see the window has two inch blinds, but there is a stairwell right outside that window. They have two 36 inch long flourescent lights there. I am going to try to get these reduced to a smaller light. This is absolute overkill, and it lights up that room like a full moon. We had a darkening shade in that bedroom before my furniture went into storage, but somehow it disappeared. So, this is a must. I also need to get some high stools for the patio. And a new DVD player. Otherwise, the condo is a go- ready for guests.
I did manage to get some fun in while I was there this last trip. There were lots of hometown people visiting Seascape. I went to dinner with friends one night. I also laid out by the pool and read and got some sun on Saturday. My son and his new girlfriend whom I had never met in person came and stayed the day and night with me. We had a lovely dinner together and I enjoyed getting to meet this girl/woman. She lives in Houston, but is actually from my hometown. Her mom and dad both went to high school with me. I meant to get a photo of us at dinner. Rats!!!
So I got the condo all cleaned, with all the linens washed and on the beds, and fresh towels out so that it was all ready for guests. It was almost 7:30 p.m., and I made the decision to leave and come on home. This is not typical of me, but I left Galveston at 8:00 p.m. and drove in to my driveway at 11:00 p.m. And of course I had to get on FB and read my emails before I went to bed. So I had a late night, but it was nice to wake up and already be at home. The drive was really not bad at all. I had my cell phone all charged up, so I was able to talk to several people on my way home. The time actually went fast.
So today I must find the lining material for this valance I am making in my son's bedroom. I am mounting it on a board, and I have never done this before. I plan to do the same thing at the condo, so I need to practice with this one first. If I cannot find that lining material, I will have to go to Hobby Lobby this morning.
Before I leave this post, I would also like to mention a book I have been reading. This book is not what you would call a Christian book.. I would say it might be a little "new age". But you can substitute what the author calls "Spirit" to "Holy Spirit", and it works well for me. This is not a new book, it is an old book, but I am really enjoying it. It is called "Simple Abundance" (yes, I know this should be underlined, but I do not know how to do it, will someone tell me how.) and is about living life with purpose- not just letting life take you here and there, but you living the life you want to live. Sometimes we just don't appreciate the simple things in life. We take for granted the senses we have been blessed to have. We just need to live life thinking more about what we see, smell, feel, and hear, and taste. We find also we can do without some things in our lives. I got this book from the library, but I went ahead and ordered it off of half.com. Check it out from the library and tell me what you think about it.
Okay, got to get going.. have a great day!

Think I Quit

Did you think I quit my blog? Actually things around my house have been very busy. And there have been issues that have just kept me from getting on and writing. So.. gosh what can I say about the past month. Well one of the biggest has been this hypothyroidism of mine. I had my thyroid removed when I was 15 years old, so do the math... I have been on thyroid medication for over 40 years. I have taken Synthroid, the generic Synthroid, and Armour. The past five years I have been on Armour because it is both T3 and T4 hormone and it worked very well with me. However, the past year has been difficult for pharmacies to get Armour. I think it is a marketing scheme by drug companies.. only my opinon. So... my doctor had to switch me to synthroid.. only I was taking the generic. I have been on Synthroid before and when I took it, I took 150 mg. But my doctor was reluctant to start me on such a high dose because if it was too high, I could have a heart attack. So he wanted to start me on 50. I begged and pleaded until he agreed to 100. I knew this would not be enough, but I complied with his wishes. You have to wait a few months to have it checked because it takes awhile for this to show a proper reading. I knew it was not enough- weight gain, loss of energy, feelings of anxiety and depression, loss of concentration.. and mainly no zest for life. So, exercise has been quite a chore for me. I have mainly been doing walking. Now let me give you a condensed version of how the TSH works. I hope I get this all right.. you have a little organ called the hypothalamus in your brain- it tells all these other organs like the thyroid gland, the ovaries, etc to produce hormones. Well, if the hypothalamus is producing a high number of TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), it is saying to the thyroid..give me more thyroid, this is not enough, and you would be considered HYPO thyroid. And if you have a very low number like a negative, then your brain would be saying, " this is too much, don't produce anymore." This would be you were HYPERTHYROID. When you have your thyroid gland removed, you are immediately hypothyroid and you have to take thyroid medication because your body cannot produce it. And if your TSH is a high number, then you are not getting enough.. hence, increase the dosage. The normal lab results for TSH should be .5 to 5.0. And most women operate best when it is 1.0 or 2.0. So you want to know what mine was???? 45!!!!! Yes, no wonder I have felt so out of sorts. So hopefully I will be getting my new dosage- so far the doctor has not called it in, and it will take a few weeks to a couple of months to get me back on track. I hope that was not too boring. But I hope this is also for anyone who thinks that they need an antidepressant when maybe it is not that, but rather thyroid medication that they need. You will have the same symptoms.

My family owns a beach condo. It has been under construction since Hurricane Ike ( 09-08). I spent my first night in it last Friday night. So I have been trying to make many decisions about what is needed and how to get it ready to rent. This has been a very stressful series of events- making these decisions and hoping you are making the right ones. Not to mention the expense and loss of revenue that has caused. I think my family will try to use it as much as we can, and hopefully as the market gets better in Galveston, we can sell soon.

When I returned yesterday my husband had to give me some terrible news. One of his work associates that is about 58 died in his sleep. This man was a friend and well respected man of my husband's company. And it was a big wakeup call to my husband. I hope he will get on the bandwagon of healthy eating and exercise.

My little granddaughter is walking and she is such a doll. I am so glad that I have Skype so I can see her regularly. My youngest son just got his Aggie ring. This is a really big deal for anyone who graduates from Texas A&M. He will graduate in August, we are so excited. My mother is happy in her independent living retirement home. What a great relief for me that she is so happy. And... with my mother's hearing problem, I had to take care of lining up all repairmen (plumbers, electricians, AC man, sprinkler man) because she cannot communicate over the phone. It was like I had an extra house. I am free from that. My husband has a grat garden planted. We even have lettuce that came back from last fall. I have a kitchen herb garden. The only trip I have planned right now is a wedding in Austin and my unome friends will be meeting in Sugarland (by Houston). The office where I just retired has called me to work a day in May. That sounds good to me. So, I will soon be going back to Galveston to get that taken care of and then I hope to make a trip up to Dallas to visit my little granddaughter. And I sure hope that I am soon feeling more myself so I can do some exercise-maybe get back started on my P90X.

Ohhhh.....Oooooo (as in boo)

Oh gosh... ohhhh....oooooo...woke up this morning not feeling good. I found in my pantry a quart of venison we had canned a few seasons back. When I looked at it, I told Dh that I thought maybe it would be bad to eat because it had too much head space.. about 2 inches. And this is where bacteria has a chance to grow. He told me to smell of it before I warmed it up. Well, that is what I did, and it smelled okay. It tasted very good. This morning I woke up with nausea and he woke up with the runs. I asked him if he was burping, and he said he had "hot burps." Sorry, that almost makes you sick to read it. So.... here I am lying in bed wondering if I am about to have more serious effects from this tainted meat. I did go get a big gulp of Pepto Bismol. So far, my only symptom is the nausea, but my stomach is doing lots of gurgling. And I am not hungry at all!!!! So let my experience be a reminder to you. If you are in doubt.. throw it out!!!

And here I was thinking about starting my P90X back today. Last week I think I said I walked 4-5 times. This week I have made it about 3 so far.... 3 -4.5 miles each time. I know that is not going to get me where I want to go, but it is better than nothing. It is not that I dislike any kind of exercise, but it just seems like I am always wanting to spend my time doing something else. I have been cleaning and restaining my kitchen cabinets. Now I have only cleaned and stained two doors and I have two more down that I have cleaned. I have a huge kitchen with lots of cabinets. I don't know if I will do all of them are not. But the lower ones below the kitchen sink looked terrible. This is just a huge job. I think I will just do this one wall of lower cabinets right now and start back at another time. I also want to make a couple of cute little dresses for my granddaughter and get out in my yard. I am not very good at posting photos of things. Maybe I will try to do that today since I am lounging here feeling bad.

And I am so terrible at being consistent with my food journaling. I know that that is the true road to successful eating. You keep that diary and you are so aware of mindless eating as well as keeping yourself accountable. Especially if you have to add it all up at the end of the day. From my experience, this is my opinion.. there is nothing magic. You must either cut your calorie intake or work and expend more energy to burn more calories. It is simple math- you must create a calorie deficit. Of course, if you are weight training alot, you need to have plenty of protein, and if you are doing hard cardio, you need plenty of carbs to have the energy. And you must not skip meals and go below 1200 calories or you will lower your metabolism too much. But eating balanced meals with fat, carbs, and protein-nutritious food that will keep your hunger satisfied is important. I love http://www.sparkpeople.com/ I would go back to it, but a friend has suggested that I try http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ So, I did. She has been doing it. In 10 days she lost 5 lbs. She eats around 1200 calories a day and she is also keeping her exercise journal. So she is going to be my accountability partner. Some of you might want to try this. I am telling you.. if you do it.. it will work. You can make it like a game.. adding and subtracting. You add the calories by the food you eat and you get to subtract by your physical activity-they do it for you. One of the problems that I do encounter with this is if I eat a casserole.. that is kinda hard to figure. I just try to do it this way-ex. chicken and rice- I figure how much chicken I had- 2 oz, rice- 1/2 c, cheese-.5 oz, cr of mushroom soup-2T. You know try to do it that way. Okay, I am on my way to get my camera and see if I can get some photos downloaded.

Springtime?

So just a couple of days ago at the so-called end of winter it was in the 80's here in the deep east Texas pineywoods. Actually this past week the walking weather was perfect..not too hot... not too cold..not too still...not too windy! I mean absolutely perfect. So that is what I did-walked and walked. I think I ended up going 4 days this week. I might have even gone 5. I know for sure I went 3 miles on two days and 5 miles on two days. So I know I got in at least 16 miles. I did not make any of my workout videos. My dh is now convinced that he needs to do P90X because some of his friends are having so much success with it. What does that mean? Was I a failure at it? I did it for 70 days. I worked hard on it even though it took me longer... about 120 days or so to do the 70 days. Is that why I held no credibility with him? I worked hard... sweating, hurting, pushing play, pushing pause, plugging along, but finishing each session. I was so diligent those 70 days. No, I did not do 90 days in 90 days. But I have to say that I was still not a failure. Because I feel like doing any exercise makes me a winner. And I will just say just because I have not been so focused on my execise routine the last few months does not mean that I ever gave it up. So anyone reading this... keep going. Jump in where you are. Dh says he is going to begin using my DVD's. I hope he does. I hope he beats me at it. I hope he does not give up. I hope he makes it the entire 90 days. I hope he feels what I felt when I was doing it. Maybe I will get started back with it. I had been thinking about it anyway. I go back and forth with my eating. My biggest problem is still the fiber- not enough fruits and vegetables. I am going to continue to work on that.. along with drinking plenty of water. Tonight I did get lots of fiber though but it was in the form of whole grains. I had eaten breakfast out with a friend yesterday and we had the multi-grain pancakes. I wanted to duplicate these for my husband, so I went to www.allrecipes.com I found a recipe that resembled these. I did make some alterations. I used my freshly milled whole wheat, I used yogurt instead of buttermilk because I did not have any bm, I used brown sugar instead of white, and I used applesauce instead of oil. In this recipe it also calls for oatmeal and walnuts. I ground both of those in my food processor. OMG.. they were absolutely delicious. I had one great big one without any butter and a small amount of syrup. DH had three with lots of butter and syrup. What an inexpensive and healthy meal despite the high carbohydrates. It made so much batter, I think I will cook some in the morning and then freeze them for a quick breakfast or snack. Oh.. but back to the weather.. yesterday was the first day of spring.. and today the temperature was in the 30's with snow! Yes, snowing today in east Texas. No walking for me today. I have enjoyed the day staying warm and eating pancakes!

Who Am I ?

Sometimes I just wonder who I am. I want to be so many people. I love going back in time and living life the old-fashioned way. I read others' blogs about how they are living like our grandparents did and sometimes I think that is me... that is what I want to do. Where I know where all my food comes from.. butchering your own meat, growing your own vegetables, making your own soap and clothes, being so self-efficient. Now I know some of you reading this are thinking, "you've got to be kidding." But what I am saying is.. just knowing that your own hands did most of this work. That you were involved from the beginning of making whatever. That should this whole world go into utter chaos, you would be able not only to survive but thrive. And then... I love our modern conveniences.. I love air conditioning and central heating... a washing machine and a dryer, a dishwasher, television, internet, a comfortable automobile. I love beautiful textiles and how they are made into gorgeous furniture,draperies, and bedding. I love the primitive look and the antique look, but I love the coastal living and the "pottery barn" decor. I have friends that have traveled the world and I have friends that seldom leave the county and all of them are intelligent and know things the others don't know. I love to save money and see ways that I can cut back more and more.. it is like a game. But I also like to go and spend money too. I love to exercise and sweat and know that I am doing my body good, but I like to be lazy on a rainy day and cuddle up under a homemade quilt and read a book. I love to read blogs about what other people are cooking, sewing, and making and view all their photographs as they go about it. I love to be around people and talk and listen, and I also love to be alone in my own thoughts. So gosh.. who am I?

Last Week and My Birthday

Last week included about two workouts. I am really trying to think if I did two or three. I did the Jackie workout on Monday and then again on Thursday. I went on a two hour bike ride on Friday. Actually, we did not go that far.. it was a slow ride so my quads did not bother me.. but oh my gosh.. my butt!! Sitting on a thin bicycle seat for two hours when you haven't done it in over a year is sooooooo painful. It hurt me while I was doing it, and it is still bothering me now. I think you just have to get your rear-end used to sitting on a seat. The more you do it, the less it hurts. So Saturday was my birthday, and I got treated all week long- lunches, breakfast and dinner. Well, actually I cooked my own meal on my birthday- The Pioneer Woman Cooks chicken fried steak. Her cookbook is so good. Certainly not lowfat, but so good. And the chicken friend steak is the best! My dh, oldest ds, and a longtime friend joined us for dinner. And since I am on Facebook, I probably had close to 100 birthday greetings. I got several cards from friends and family members. My daughter even got my dh to get me a gift this year. Well, I pressured her into doing that. But I got a Pandora bracelet and dd gave me my first charm for it. My mother gave me a gift certificate to get another charm to go on it. All in all, I had a great birthday.

On a sad note... a young girl who graduated with my youngest ds was tragically killed in a four wheeler accident. I am so sorry for this family. For her.. she is now with the Lord. But for those left behind she has left a big hole in their life. You know death is one thing you are not going to bypass. At some time it will happen to all of us. I hope you are all prepared. You don't have to guess. You can know without a doubt that you are not going to miss Heaven. If you feel like this is a bunch of hogwash.. this Jesus stuff... then just say " I don't know what I think, so Jesus if you are real... then reveal yourself to me.. because I do want to believe you are real." He doesn't want anyone to perish. When he reveals Himself to you, repent, tell him you are a sinner and want him to come into your heart and save you.. and mean it. You don't have to give anything up to be saved... He will do that work once you begin to follow Him. Let me tell you friend... it is quite a ride!!!

Tired Today

I was just plain tired today. I was out last night for Ladies' Game Night. I did not have time to get my dishes cleaned up after making the snack I was taking. So this morning I had the dishes to clean up. I unloaded the dishwasher and then settled down to read my emails while I had a couple of cups of coffee. I should have done my Jackie video this morning but like I said, I was tired. I made a few phone calls, hemmed a dress I am making for my gd. I was reading on the internet about different recipes and then got in the kitchen and diced up alot of vegetables for a chicken pop pie, only it was a ham popped pie because I am trying to clean my freezer out. I started reading on a book, The Secret Life of Bees. So all day today was not exactly productive. I also instead of putting the homemade piecrust on the pop-pie, I used crescent rolls. It was still good. I am about a third of the way through the book. But tomorrow, I need to be more productive.

New Rooster Lamp

One of my friends was going to get rid of this lamp in an estate sale. I asked to purchase it, and she gave it to me. I love it. I have a 25 watt bulb in it so I use it as a night light in the kitchen.

New photos

Okay, here are some new photos of my efforts. Well actually I made the log cabin quilt a long time ago. And then I did not have the time to quilt it. I did the piecing and I hired someone to hand quilt it for me. It was actually two twin quilts. When my mother moved to her new place she got rid of her king size bed and replaced it with a queen. I got the two log cabin quilts and I pinned the borders underneath. I whip-stitched them together, and you cannot tell unless you get within a foot to look that they are not really one king size quilt. I made the Euro-shams from some fabric I got on sale. It was not expensive, but boy... those Euro pillow forms were...over $20 a piece. I have four old cabin prints above the bed, but not in this photo... don't know if I just did not have them up yet or what.

The photo with all the birdhouses is the appliqued shower curtain that took me FOREVER to finish. But I kept on it and finally finished it. This bathroom is my "primitive" room. Most of my house is French country or early American or country. The rod for this shower curtain is supposed to be a huge limb. I went to floral places and nursery places looking for this. I also looked in the woods. I had no luck finding what I needed, but I wanted to hurry up and get this up since it had taken me so long to do it. I got a closet pole that I had and I stained it brown and put it up. I like the way it looks.

I am also including the bib that I made for my granddaughter's first birthday. I had a photo of this.. actually it was an order blank from years ago... when my kids were babies. I never ordered the bib, but I kept the photo. I looked at it and made my own pattern. My daughter used cupcakes for the party theme; hence, the cupcake fabric which I found adorable.

Other photos show our camphouse and the antique quilts on the bed. My sister-in-laws (dh's sisters-one living, one deceased) gave my kids these quilts. I had them stored in a closet, and I really needed the room. Also, they get very little light where they are, so I decided to make use of them. My kids love to go to 669, so they can enjoy them out there until they have a place for them. I have included photos of our camp- two bedrooms and a loft. I show the house except for one of the bedrooms. I will post it later.

I am also including photos of my granddaughter's first birthday.