Filling in

I just got back from Carrie's where I have been helping out while she recovers from knee surgery. She had surgery Tuesday morning, after I rolled in Monday night to take care of the little ones. I might mention that I left a daughter 9 months pregnant and hoping that she would make it until I got back. Luckily she did and the waiting game goes on.

Carrie, in the meantime, has had her surgery and is doing fine and I had a very busy and fun week helping to take care of Abby and Lily. I thought I might do a blog in the 10 hours a day format using pictures from all of the days that I was there.

As I mentioned I arrived Monday night and was given a most wonderful suite. It had beautiful gowns to wear, my own kitchen and lots of things to keep me busy. Sometimes it was the place to be for certain young ladies. I slept like a dream.

Tuesday morning I was up and at 'em with the girls while Carrie was at the hospital having her surgery. Pack Abby's lunch, get breakfast and then talk for a minute while they eat.

Thank goodness for frozen waffles.

Also thank goodness for already made PB & J sandwiches - pre-cut apples and caramel, already cut cheese sticks and packaged flavored water.

Now it is off to the bus stop and of course Lily is raring to go. I think she is forgetting something. But luckily Grandma remembered.

The bus stop is only a block away and we only had one day of rain when Lily couldn't go. She was not a happy camper.

It is back home for Lily and I and we chilled for a while, cleaned up and then it was off to Gymboree (on Tuesday only). Mommy came home in the meantime and we got her all settled and Matt and I started the icing (1/2 hour on, 1 hour off for days, except at nighttime).

Gymboree is a play skills active play center that Lily goes to once a week. Here she is practicing her skills. The lovely lady is Miss Wendy and she leads the class.


We went out for lunch (McDonalds, of course (it's all about the happy meal)). Then home we head for naptime.

Grandma too!
After school, of course, even in kindergarten there is homework. So I helped Abby with her homework. She is just so smart!!! I think she surely must be the smartest one in her class, says Grandma!!

10 things

HAPPY

I am always looking for things to blog about and I came across this list and thought it might make for some good material to write about.

• 10 things that make me happy are...
• 10 things that I value about life are...
• 10 things that I would love to have for my birthday are...
• 10 things that I believe in are...
• 10 lessons that I have learned so far in my life are...
• 10 things that make me laugh...
• 10 things that make me cry are...
• 10 ways that I can help someone else are...
• 10 accomplishments that I have done are...
• 10 places that I would like to visit are...
• 10 memories from the past 12 months are...
• 10 people that I would love to meet are...
• 10 things that I would like to carry with me at all times are...
• 10 expectations that I have of myself are...
• 10 things that I do well are...
• 10 things that I can improve on are...
• 10 things that I love about my family are...
• 10 beautiful things outside are...
• 10 things that I hope happen within the next year are...
• 10 good books that I have read are...
• 10 popular movie stars are...
• 10 popular music groups/artists are...
• 10 fun things to do are...
• 10 great daydreams are...
• 10 special people in my life are...
• 10 responsibilities that I have are...
• 10 things that I would like to do this summer are...
• 10 great movies are...
• 10 skills that I have are...

I am going to start out with number 1, because isn't being happy our ultimate goal in life? Upon reflection I guess that not everyone strives to be happy. Some people strive for money, status, fame, objects and other material things. I guess maybe I think happiness is about little things and I also think that if you seek happiness first, you can attain the other things in your life that you want easier and with much less stress.

10 things that make me happy:
1.) smiles from my grandchildren
2.) a walk in the snow in the evening
3.) my family
4.) sunshine on a spring day
5.) creating things, crafts, sewing
6.) reading
7.) chocolate
8.) trees - I love trees
9.) shopping
10.) a day off work

So my challenge to anyone who reads this is to consider what makes you happy, and then pick out one of the other choices and try it for yourself. I think I will try '10 things that make me laugh' next.

A fulfilling day

I had a very fulfilling and interesting experience this past Saturday. Leon and I have, through our church, volunteered to help staff the food pantry in our area. Leon has already been there a couple of Saturdays ago, but alas, I was too busy with shower business and working a ton.

But I had my first shift this past Saturday and enjoyed it very much. For obvious reasons, I don't have any pictures. I don't want to show any disrespect to anyone, whether they need the help of a food pantry or not. Leon had told me about the procedure and what to do, so I pretty much knew what to do when I arrived. It was a slow day, so I only had the opportunity to work with three clients. My job was to help them through the "store" and help them to select the amount of food for which they were qualified.

I would like to anonymously describe the clients. My first client was a single lady. For some reason, I did not expect singles. I truly thought that it would be all families. I guess that lesson learned is that hunger and tough times does not discriminate. Everyone is vulnerable.

My next client was a single mom. She had a 5 year old daughter, but the daughter was not with her. As we shopped our aisles, I noticed that she was bending very tentatively as though she was hurting. She was a young gal, surely not over the age of 30. As I helped her out to her car with her groceries, I mentioned that she looked as though she was hurting and she said that she had hurt her tailbone. I didn't question her anymore, but wonder if that is why she is struggling. As we approached her car (it was actually an SUV or van), she said that I could just put the groceries in the front seat. Her car looked very "lived in" and I couldn't help but wonder if the cliche was true. I was unable to see behind the front seat, but I actually had the impression that she didn't want me to. Oh an interesting little side note about this sweet girl, she actually brought back the grocery bag that was given to her the time before.

My last client was a Hispanic family of 4. Again the parents came without the children. I honestly don't know that they spoke English, because they communicated only with each other or with very simple nods or yes/no answers with me. Now that I think of it however, when I offered them another loaf of bread, she smiled, chose the cinnamon swirl bread and said "They like it". So I now smile when I think of two little boys eating cinnamon swirl bread.

I enjoyed my experience and yet I feel badly for those folks that just don't have the means to feed their families like they want to. All of these people were very grateful for what they received and I was happy to help them out. If you have the opportunity to support a food pantry, I hope that you will take advantage of the opportunity.

Our Littlest Guests

Well, this is the last post on the shower, but it has the cutest guests of all. We had our little great nephew from Florida and our two granddaughters from Indianapolis that helped us celebrate. It comes to light that Miss Abby wasn't sure that she wanted to attend the shower. She declared to Carrie and Matt that she thinks showers are boring, and thought that she might like to go with the guys to 'Dave and Busters'. Although I am sure the guys had fun as well, Abby finally decided to tough it out with the ladies.

Anyhow, I don't think they had such a tough time. I managed to snap a few pictures as they played and helped Lissy unwrap presents. And in the true childhood tradition, had a great deal of fun playing with the boxes.

The event - guests coming together

Introducing the GUEST OF HONOR and the hostess!!


On to the shower itself. Of course, I realize the pictures that I am missing, like the beautiful gifts, but I got the most important pictures--the guests themselves. Melissa got so many nice things from so many nice people. We are truly blessed with wonderful family and friends. I will just share with you. By the way - the next post will be "Little Guests" - so stay tuned.



I am missing pictures of a couple of people, my apologies for that!!

Shower preparations

Lissy's baby shower gave us an opportunity to be creative. It is always fun to plan something that requires some fun ways to decorate. As many of you know, Melissa is doing the nursery in cute owls. So Carrie and I decided to plan the shower in the same theme. We chose colors of brown and blue. I am now thinking of the things that I didn't take a picture of, but that is just par for the course, I guess. The main thing is the cute paper lanterns that we hung up.

But some cute things that Carrie did was to wrap water bottles in baby/owl paper. She also wrapped cans in the paper to use for flowers and the plastic silverware. The plates and cups were super cute - just classic baby boy blue and brown. Abby did the very special job of alternating blue and brown cups so that they were quite the striking decoration in themselves, which of course matched the punch of baby boy blue.

Of course the food is decorative in itself, with lots of yummy treats. I made special triple salted caramel cupcakes. They were really good, but I am not sure that I will do that again. They were filled with caramel filling and then frosted with caramel frosting. I am not even going to tell you how rich that frosting was, but the adventure was very time consuming. I was originally planning to make a spun sugar embellishment, but it turns out that was not meant to be; so a sprinkle of sparkly gold sugar completed the cupcakes. Oh yeah, and I actually purchased a cupcake stand to display them. Hopefully there will be an opportunity to use it again. I made Russian teacakes and lemon bars as well, but I didn't get a picture of them.

We served meatballs, deviled eggs and fruit in addition to the cookies and cupcakes.

Friday night at Schmidts

We have had a very busy weekend, all revolving around the baby shower that Carrie gave for Lissy. We had such a good time and the activities extended way beyond the shower itself. One big joy is that our niece flew in from Jacksonville, Florida with our little great nephew for the weekend. Carrie and her family were here all weekend and many family members drove in for the day on Saturday. I have so many pictures to share that I am going to take several days and share them a bit at a time, one activity at a time.

On Friday night, we all went to Schmidts for dinner. Miranda did a year of study in Germany and so we thought this an apropos welcome for her. If you live in Columbus, you probably already know about Schmidts, but if not, it is a wildly popular family friendly German restaurant located in our German Village section of town. Anyhow, we all managed to get parking (which is a feat in itself) and on to the Schmidts buffet we went.

The buffet is full of German specialties, like sausages, sauerkraut and many other yummy things. Their famed speciality, Bahama Mama sausage is to die for. Another famed specialty is the Schmidts creme puff, which I was totally going to get, but just plain got too full.

Anyhow here are a few pictures to give you a feel for the fun that we had. I should have gotten a picture of the buffet, but I am only so brave, when it comes to taking pictures in public. Weird, I know, and I have no problem taking pictures of the family in public, but taking a picture of the buffet seemed crazy. I guess that is something that I need to work on.

February - Oh my gosh!!

Oh my goodness!! It is February - Presidents Day - Valentines Day. I have been very busy and haven't had a chance to post lately. I have had material, just haven't had the time. Work has been busy. I changed jobs in December and am now underwriting mortgages exclusively. I like it a lot and things are finally slowing down a little bit now, so I am trying to get back into my home routine again.

We were working 50 hour weeks for a while and it is just not as easy to do as when I was 30.

Anyhow, I am going to update my month of pleasures and then I will try and get my pictures uploaded and start posting again regularly.

In the meantime, a cute picture from Flickr of a heart of buttons.

Have a great Valentines Day!!! Is there absolutely nothing cuter than a heart!!

January - back to real life

Just a bit of what is going on.

It is January and what a busy month so far. I have changed positions at work and am now underwriting mortgages. I like it a lot, but we are so behind and therefore, the overtime is abundant and I have very little time for much more than work, sleep and just a bit of time at home.

I went to a baby shower yesterday for Chad and Lissy's baby boy. It was put on by friends and family of Claudia, Chad's mom. It was a lovely shower and everyone was very generous in getting Chad, Lissy and baby started on their new life together. Lots of darling outfits, toys and other important baby care items. I even won a prize on one of the games - a cute teacup candle.

In a couple of weeks I will be going to Chicago for a bit of training on my new position. It won't be long term, just a couple of days, but another thing 'cluttering' up the calendar.

After that, we will be going to Indianapolis for our little Lily's 2nd birthday. I can hardly believe it. She has grown into quite a little lady.

In a about a month, Carrie is giving a baby shower for Chad and Lissy's baby, which will include our family and friends. She is in Indianapolis, so we will have it at our home here in Columbus, in order to invite Lissy's friends.

Ultimately it is really good to be busy; I just don't always realize it at the time.

Anyone notice a resemblance?

I just really think that Lily looks like Dora. I decided to really look at them together to either confirm or bust my theory. Still trying to decide. Thoughts????

Bad hair day

We recently returned home after spending the holiday with Carrie, Matt, Lissy and the girls. Of course, we have to board our dog, Finn while we are gone. When we picked him up on Sunday afternoon, it was very clear that he needed a bath. This is actually not unusual when he goes to the "resort". Anyhow Leon gave him a bath. Once we got him all dried off, his hair was, how do I say it, temperamental! I tried everything I could think off to try and get it to lay down and it just wasn't happening.

I love Finn, but this was not his best look.

Christmas Day

We had a wonderful Christmas at Carrie and Matt's house. This was the first time that Carrie and Matt have hosted Christmas and it was wonderful. We drove over to Indianapolis on Christmas morning. Unfortunately Matt had a touch of something and so was not feeling up to snuff, but we managed to party around him and he entered in when he felt well enough. The girls were appropriately spoiled and we all had way to much to eat. All in all, a good Christmas. The only negative, other than Matt not feeling well, was that Chad had to work. We missed him. I had a special exchange gift just for him, but maybe I can re-gift it next year. Long story!

Abby got a game that is a bit like Twister that we all had fun with. It was called Hullabaloo and players had to stand or do other things as directed by the game on little plastic shapes on the floor. For example you might have to sit on a shape or hop to a shape, etc. Little Lily didn't have a clue how to play, but to watch her mimic everyone was hilarious. Especially when the direction was to put your nose on a shape (unfortunately I didn't catch that one on film).

Family photos

My husband is such a wonderful, creative person and is always doing wonderful things for me. The latest thing that he did (I did ask him for it) was to make me a photo rail. He did a wonderful job and I have all kinds of ideas for it.

As soon as he put it up, I filled it with family pictures. One of the additional things that I wanted to do was put our grandbabies first pictures up, which I finally got accomplished this past weekend.
My goal was to hang them with blue and pink ribbon as befits the individual child. Of course, as you all know, we have just two granddaughters at the moment. But in this season of preparation and waiting, we also are waiting for our new little grandson. Oh how excited I am! Well, I decided that he needed to be up there as well, so I hung up a picture of him as he is right this moment. Of course I will replace when he makes his entrance into the world, but what a fun way to have him here right now.


I have more ideas that I will share once I get them done. It will definitely be after Christmas.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!

Well, it is that time of year and we got our first real snow this past weekend. Yes, I am the freak that loves snow and winter. It is just so darn beautiful and peaceful.

Now what I need is a beautiful woods behind my house so that my pictures of the snow have a background, but alas, I live in a subdivision.

Joy to all!!!

Max decided

Remember when I posted my snowman quilt and the fact that I could not decide where to put it or how to display it. Well, I am still struggling with that, but I really wanted to be able to see it, so I took it out and threw it over the couch (quite fashionably, of course) so I could decide whether to leave it there or think of someplace else.

I often will see a beautiful afghan thrown over a couch or chair in a magazine and it looks so homey, so, I thought perhaps I could mimic this design idea. Of course the bad part is that then, no one can sit there, as my husband so willingly pointed out.

Anyhow, I left it there anyhow, since there are only two of us and continued on with my day. I looked back later and there was Max sound asleep. It seems that he made the decision for me and I must admit that he looks quite cute and at home there. I think I will leave it there at least for now.

Shoe sense

I have some shoes that I bought just a year or two ago. However, one of them squeaks and it is very annoying at work, when I walk around with a squeaky shoe. I have had them too long to return them and they are fine shoes. Nothing fancy, just good work type shoes. They are comfortable and go with most all of my clothes. The only problem is that one of them squeaks.

Okay, so here is the point! Back in the "old days", we took our shoes to the shoe shop if they needed a new sole, or if they needed a seam sewed, etc. ,(or if they squeaked). I haven't heard of a shoe shop, since I lived in my little home town many years ago. Is there such a thing now? Or have we become so materialistic that now we just go out and buy a new pair. I guess that is what I do now, but I also think it is a bit of a shame. I guess that shoe shops are just one of those things that have gone by the wayside in our progressively modern and consumer driven society.

I remember the shoe shop from my home town. It was a little narrow shop on Main Street. I remember walking in to drop off some shoes and seeing the rows of shoes waiting to be picked up or waiting to be fixed. Used shoes, comfortable shoes, brown, black, white and red shoes. Men's shoes, women's shoes, but rarely childrens shoes - (they get outgrown before they wear out). The smell of leather is still a memory. This particular shop was run by an italian man and the shop was dusty and dark, but he was a pro at what he did. The prices were reasonable and it was like getting a new pair of shoes. He could fix all kinds of shoes with all sorts of damage. Ahhh... those were the days!!!

Unfortunately none of this helps me now. My shoe still squeaks. Anyone have any suggestions??

Our Snow Baby

Our Finn loves the snow as much as I do. We make a great pair. We had our first noticeable snowfall this morning, so when I took Finn outside, he was so excited. He runs back and forth and just acts like a crazy dog. He loves to put his nose in the snow and then throw it up in the air. He is truly in his element. I can appreciate that.

Life is good!!

Fun at the zoo

We had everyone over a couple of months ago and decided to go to the zoo. We love the zoo and although we don't get there as often as we would like, we have a membership which just about pays for itself in one visit.

Anyhow, you know the photo ops that are set up throughout any large zoo. We decided to snap a picture of the girls at the Pepe the Penquin stop. Big sister Abby was in position and posing before we knew what was happening and of course Lily could not be left behind. She had a slight disadvantage being younger and less agile. But that didn't stop her. Here she is scrambling to get up with sissy.

Oh yes and here is mommy, afraid that she will fall and attempting to help her a bit.

I really hate to peel potatoes

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, with all the trimmings and everyone was able to be here. It was delightful!! Games and little ones, football, pumpkin pie and lots of noise. It all goes with the territory, I guess. Unfortunately I did not get pictures of the meal or the guests or the fun afterwards, but I did get this picture of the potato peeling duty. Who would have thought that potatoes would be more interesting than the people and other Thanksgiving delights. Well, really they are not more interesting, but I did realize why I really am not fond of peeling potatoes.

What easier task in the kitchen than peeling a potato. Not difficult at all, right? Similar in difficulty to washing a dish, oiling a pan, chopping an onion, making a sandwich and many many other things. All of these other things are things which I do routinely and don't even think about, but peeling potatoes is a job which I just really do not care for. I never even thought about it before this weekend. It was like one of those things that I am sort of aware of, but just have never articulated or taken the time to give much thought to why that is.

However as I was peeling potatoes this year, it became clear to me that this dislike comes of the nightly ritual of peeling potatoes in my childhood, many years ago. We never had rice or noodles or other starchy products. It was always potatoes and guess who got to peel them. Yep, me!!! We had potatoes every night and I peeled them every night. So although they are not difficult to do, there is a certain trigger that goes off each time we decide to have potatoes that comes from many years ago. I might mention that my dad, who raised me, was very particular about how I peeled the potatoes. So it really became a job that I did not look forward to. However one positive thing remains -----I just love mashed potatoes!!

I'm baaa-aaack - with snowmen quilt

Boy, has it been a long time since I blogged. I just spent a couple of days with my sister and we were talking about blogging. I decided I was really more involved with life when I was blogging- experiencing, taking pictures, cooking, on and on. So though I did get a bit burned out on it, I am now back. I think I got to a point where I didn't think anyone was reading it, so I just kind of lost interest. But here is what I say to that.... OH WELL!. I am doing this for me!!

Don't get me wrong, I know my family is reading and that is important to me. Please send me a comment if you are. But I am blogging for my own satisfaction and because it is just plain FUN!!

I have a project to share that I just finished. I started this quilt probably two years ago and got stuck on the snowmen. So I put it down and didn't finish it until... ta dum, drum roll please ... this fall. I love this pattern and it turned out pretty good. I'm pretty happy with it. The problem is that I don't know where to put it. I think it will be seasonal through at least January.

Dipping dots - I get it now!

Have you ever stopped at the dipping dots stand at some event, theme park or zoo that you have been to. I once tried dipping dots many years ago (like college days - many years ago). I was definitely not impressed. As you may know, I received a cup full of BB sized balls of ice cream. Anxious to try this new novelty (at the time, it was pretty new), I spooned them into my mouth. They were cold and they were sweet, but not creamy and not anything I thought I might try again. I was never tempted to get them again.

However, I heard someone say the other day, that they were going somewhere and wherever it was, they had the best dipping dots, ever. Now personally, I thought they were all the same, but at any rate, it got me thinking about my dipping dots experience. I realized that the dipping dots are everywhere and there must be something I was missing. The demand was there, so there were people buying and eating and liking this product.

Fast forward to yesterday when Leon and I went to the zoo to see the new polar bear exhibition. Side note - It was very cool and I can't wait to go back again. It was very busy, though, so maybe again in the fall. While we were there, however, we passed a dipping dots stand. With the thought of that comment in my mind, I decided to try it again, so I stepped up and ordered a small "birthday cake" flavored dipping dots cup.

I spooned the little dots into my mouth and really worked on savoring the taste, trying to figure out what the heck the draw was. I held them in my mouth and the longer they were there, the more flavor there was. It just sneaks up on you!!!! You have to be patient and not just scarf them down, or you lose the experience and more importantly, the flavor. I made them last as long as possible, so that they had a chance to soften and the flavor to come out.

The end result was that they aren't half bad. I still prefer real ice cream, but I get the attraction now. The other negative was that they were a bit pricey. My little 1/2 cup serving was $3.95, although I did make it last longer. However, an ice cream cone lasts me longer for the money. So ultimately, I am not a dipping dots lover, but I appreciate now the novelty and fun for others. They have several flavors, which is great too.

So if, like me, you don't think you like them, it might be worth another try - but be patient and take the time to let the flavor unfreeze and come out.

Stacks of books

I had to go to the library yesterday, or put another way, I got to go to the library yesterday. I had some overdue books that needed to be returned and I was picking up some books for Leon. Now in this day and age, when you can renew books online, there is really no excuse for having overdue books and worse yet, overdue fines. I have no valid excuse, but I do have a reason. I joined the many people, including my daughter, who have bought an e-reader (specifically, a NOOK). I was so excited with my new purchase, that those old musty books (tic) fell by the wayside; and before I knew it, I had a week and a half of fines racked up. AARRGGHH!!!! I immediately renewed online and finally went to the library yesterday to return my books.

Back to my new purchase, I really do love it. It is easy to use, light, doesn't get hot, you can read it outside in the sun and the selection of books is endless. When I go somewhere I can take all of my books with me, not just one or two. On the downside, you do have to pay for the books that you download, although there are free ones. The whole technology revolution has turned me into quite the e-toy addict. I did wait til the price went down, for what it is worth and they do continue to provide updates to current owners - my rationalizations!. But I am a reader - seems like the perfect fit for a reader.

So I told Leon that we could share it, which really is difficult to do, because we tend to read at the same time. I went to the library to get both of us books, so that we could share the nook and still have reading material.

The point of this blog is this. I STILL LOVE THE LIBRARY!!!. Once I go through the library doors and step into the stacks, I am just absolutely in my element. I can never give up going to the library and reading real books - they are too precious to me and although, I love my new nook, I love a good library book even better. I wander through the stacks, picking up a book here, a book there. I check random pages to see if it is a book I think I would like to read. No one rushes me, I can stay all day if I want. It's quiet and peaceful and I can sit and just reflect if I want. I hope that the libraries do not suffer from the explosion of e-readers. The readers are wonderful, but oh my, a library full of books is an institution that I hope NEVER goes away. The libraries are doing a good job of keeping up with technology - but remember to patronize your local library. My library card is one of the most important things in my wallet.

PS: A little side note. I am really into the author of the book shown above, right now. Mary Alice Monroe writes mostly about the barrier islands and includes the wildlife as well. She was the one that got me interested in the sea turtles in Swimming Lessons.

Fun Fact

Did you know???????


that Worcestershire Sauce has anchovies in it? Hhhhnmmmmm!!

Babysitting assignment completed. (Pshew!!)

Well, we had our first experience at dog sitting over the past week. Despite some unanticipated issues, we managed to return Nelson to his rightful owners fairly intact and unblemished. I did get sick during the week, which reduced my energy and the ability to fully execute my duties in a meaningful and conscientious manner. But all in all, he got good care (oh yeh, and I'm fine too).

The other thing was a little tif between Nelson and Finn. Okay, it was an all out teeth baring row, and SCARY, although it was brief and very typically dog-like. We gave them each a treat (Chew-eez) and Finn finished his first and thought he would be nice and go help Nelson with his. Naturally Nelson wasn't too keen on the idea and he let Finn know how he felt in no uncertain terms.

But they played and they played and they played the whole rest of the time.