Marine
Bride!
10-25-2010
This weekend was a family wedding. My niece married a fine young Marine. Everything was lovely and the bride and groom were perfect. But what made this a really great wedding for me, was that I got to see some family from my father's side of the tree, that I had not seen in a long time.
I have to give kudos to my youngest sister who is great about keeping in touch with everyone. It shows how much they think of her, that they would have driven so far, to come to her daughter's wedding. Not many of us take the time to keep those family connections strong.
My cousins are really neat people and so fun to be around - the only thing I regret is that my Dad was not there to enjoy it all. He would have loved every minute of it. From the rehearsal dinner, to the sword ceremony, where they slap the bride's behind with a sword and yell "Welcome to the Corp, Ma'am" To finally, the open bar at the reception, where no doubt he would have held court.
There is always a "hole" at family gatherings. He missed so much and this time was no different.
It was a wonderful wedding and a fantastic family reunion.
Miracles
Do Happen!
10-21-2010
I hope you are sitting down because what I am about to tell you is earth-shaking news. It is really quite unbelievable, and if you can't completely accept it as fact, I will understand.
Mother has an outfit for the wedding she likes!
And this miracle of miracles does not stop there. We accomplished the great feat in under a hour and fifteen minutes! I truly am not kidding you.
The day started out with driving to the mall and getting the parking place that was the closest to the mall door. Then we went in and things just got better and better. We perused the racks of clothes and hit pay dirt right away. We found a jacket that was perfect. That just left the bottom half and that turned out to be no problem. We hit the fitting rooms to make sure our sizing was correct and to try on a few other outfits just to make sure we had the right one.
Then, down the escalator to the shoe department, we went. In no time at all we found the cutest slip-ons with a rhinestone buckle. After the shoes were purchased, it took us under five minutes to find and buy a little black clutch purse with sequins on it. We left the store and treated ourselves to a leisurely lunch at Panera's.
Over lunch, where we incessantly congratulated and complimented each other, we decided we earned ourselves another treat...so our next stop was the nail salon for manis and pedis! We had a terrific day! I am still amazed that the words terrific and shopping can be in the same story. Miracles do happen!
My apologies to Annie Sullivan,
Nothing
to Wear!
10-19-2010
Today I am being the most daring, brave, kind, caring and excellent daughter. I will deserve a place in the hallowed halls that are reserved for war heroes, great explorers and Nobel Peace prize winners. Today I am taking my Mother shopping.
She needs an outfit for her granddaughter's wedding, and as now - she has nothing to wear. The wedding takes place in five days. It is my job to facilitate this operation and find her the perfect outfit for the wedding. I truly think coming up with a workable peace plan in the middle east would be easier task.
I remember a year ago when my own daughter got married and she had the same problem then. At that time she had just had back surgery and could not go shopping, so I went in her stead. I would go out and buy eight or so outfits and then bring them back to the house for her to try on. Many that I brought back would not even be taken off the hanger before she gave the execution order - "get rid of it." I would repack them, head back to the dreaded mall, where I would return them to the store. This scenario was repeated multiple times.
After many trips and many "executions", Mother finally settled on an outfit...an outfit that she already owned! We did finally purchase a new scarf for her to wear to the wedding last year. I am hoping praying that it goes smoother this year, although I hold little hope. Shopping has never been my forte. Added to that - my Mother also hates this dreaded chore, so the day does not hold a lot of promise. Nevertheless, I will attempt this colossal task of finding the perfect outfit for her with a smile on my face...it may be a fake smile, after all I am only human.
"Once more unto the breach..."
A
New Respect
For Pirates!
10-17-2010
I came up with a great idea! A fantastic, brilliant, fun idea for my family at Christmas. I am going to bury treasure and have a treasure hunt with maps and everything. The only bump in the road is the actual map.
Figuring out clues that are tricky, but at the same time solvable is harder than you think. I don't want it to be too easy and right now it is. My main problem is that if I give them all the same map and the same clues, that there will be one large group tromping through the woods behind my house all together.
I think the first clue, the one that tells the starting point has to have several different interpretations so they all don't ban together and hunt as a group.
I have figured out what the treasure is going to be...it is going to be what any self-respecting pirate would bury - gold coins! I am going to the bank tomorrow and ordering some $1 coins. I need to get them as soon as possible so I can go ahead and put in the ground. It is important that by Christmas time the ground looks undisturbed.
I probably need to go to Hobby Lobby also and pick up a cheap treasure chest. If I can figure out the map - I think all that participate should have fun.
Yo Ho Ho...I need a bottle of Rum!
Miner
Miracle!
10-14-2010
Boy oh boy - do I love a happy ending!
All thirty-three Chilean miners are safely back with their loved ones today. What a feat! Kudos to the Chilean government for handling the job so well and letting us have a front row seat to watch the rescue effort.
I loved how they chanted Che Che Che Lay Lay Lay - when each miner rose from the ground. What a great moment for the entire country. I loved seeing their happy faces and the pride each had in their country.
After each one came out of the capsule - the shout of Che Che Che Lay Lay Lay went up. It never got tiring....at least to me.
Now here comes my cynical side. As many of you know I chat in a political chat room with my morning coffee most days. And I know for a fact - that if it had been American miners trapped and when each came up the shout of U S A was heard each time - it would have been poo-pawed by many of the non-Americans in the chat room I visit each day.
I will never quite understand this. I did not mind in the least that they chanted Chile, in fact it made me smile. Many foreigners seem to have a problem with the U S A chant. They can't stand the fact that we are proud to call America our home. It really bugs them.
Regardless where you live - I hope you are proud of your country and its heritage. I hope you stand up and say...I am from (Fill in the blank) and I love my country. If not...I just feel sorry for you.
But today we are all Chilean! So let's hear it!
Che Che Che Lay Lay Lay!
What's
for Dinner?
10-11-2010
Those are the three most dreaded words in the English language. I really don't mind cooking, but figuring out what to cook is the worst. And if "what's for dinner" is the most dreaded phrase, then going to the grocery store has to be the most dreaded chore.
Give me a toilet to scrub, a bill to pay, or a lawn to mow...anything other than a trip to the grocery store! Alas, the cupboard was bare and to be totally honest, I was jonesing for some Double-stuffed Oreos, so off the the store I went.
Of course my first stop was the cookie aisle. I looked up and down and could not find my Double-stuff Oreos. They had regulars ones, mint ones, and reduced-fat ones, but the double-stuffed were no where to be found. I finally ask the lady clerk and she was sure there were some in the back. My crisis was solved! She asked me if I had more shopping. I told I had just started so for her to take her time.
On I went with my shopping excursion. Fettuccini for tonight, potato soup for Tuesday, Wednesday is steak night and Grandma's rice bake for Thursday. Friday night we go back to pasta, spaghetti and meatballs are on the menu.
Of course there are other incidentals to pick up; toilet paper, soap, etc. I finally get to the check up counter and realized I left the grocery tote bags in the car. I park the cart, make a dash to the car and back and check out.
While the young man is bagging my groceries, he pulls one of the dog's leashes (that has been missing for about a month) out of one of the totes! If nothing else - "going green" at the grocery store save me the cost of a new leash. I have looked everywhere for that darn leash! I pay the cashier and head home.
While unloading the groceries it finally dawns on me - I never went back for the Double-stuffed Oreos!
Cookieless in Jax,
Extra
Cold!
10-10-2010
We finally did it! We got a refrigerator for the garage. It is one of those things that we have been saying we want for years and we finally took the actual step of buying one.
Yes, knowing that twenty-one people were going to be here for Christmas prodded us along, but it has been on our wish list for a long time. The Hubster and I went to hhgregg yesterday in the neighbors' borrowed truck and picked out a cheap one.
After the store guys loaded it in the truck we strapped it down and headed for home. About three-quarters of the way there we heard a "thunk." We saw nothing wrong out of the truck window so we slowed down some but kept right on going.
When we pulled in the driveway and got out to unload - there was no need to unstrap! The "thunk" we heard was the metal cincher on the straps hitting the bed floor. Not our finest hour.
With Michael's help we got the refrigerator unloaded and set up in the garage. It is a thing of beauty...at least to us. And it will be a lifesaver at Christmas!
Two guys and a truck have no worries form us,
One
Down, Forever to Go!
10-09-2010
Can you believe it has been a whole year since our Kiddo got married. Boy has the time flown by! We are trying to be good parents and in-laws by being interested but not nosy about their lives.
It is hard being so far away. I will admit that I envy Scott's parents. Not that I want them or the kids to stop doing anything they are doing - I just wish we were there also to share in some of the moments.
We would be there cheering on races, walking the walks, saving pop top tabs and helping out when they wanted a hand. Instead we just get to hear about the things going on.
The kids are great about sharing. The Hillster is fantastic about sharing the small things. The text messages I get from her make my day and make being so far away tolerable.
One day when Hugh retires, we will get back home. Until then it will be text messages, emails, photos, and plane trips. Seeing them twice a year is a whole lot better than not at all!
And they all lived happily ever after,
Belly
Up to the Bar!
10-07-2010
The barstools I ordered arrived yesterday. Boy was the company quick on sending them. I figured with "free shipping" it would take a couple of weeks for them to arrive. I only ordered them last Sunday and got them on Wednesday! That is a fast turn around.
As you can see from the picture, they are black with a natural wood finished top. They match the table and look great in the kitchen. But best of all, there are four of them!
Of course they did not come assembled, that was my job. So I sat on the floor of my bedroom and listened to mindless TV, while putting them together. The first one was a challenge, but the other three went pretty smoothly.
After that job was done, I decided to take the pups outside to play. My neighbor was outside and so I went down and talked to her. She immediately noticed my lip. The very same lip, that my darling husband said he could not see any swelling. This my friends is the difference between men and women. Where as my husband said he saw nothing, my neighbor thought my lip looked like Angelina Jolie's! Men...you got to love them but never ask them how something looks.
Sitting pretty....with "luscious" lips!
Birthday
Wishes
10-06-2010
Today is my Mother's birthday! So let me first say...Happy Birthday Mother! I hope you have a wonderful day today. But here is something I learned from old pictures, the "actual day" the birthday is celebrated is not really that important.
Look carefully at the pictures above. I found these three pictures while scanning the family photos. It seems that Mommy Dearest was killing three birds with one stone or in this case...one birthday cake. I am the one in the green. Notice when it was my "birthday" there are only two candles on the cake. Then when my sister (in the pink) takes center place, voalá, another candle appears. One more is added when my brother takes the place of honor.
Just in case you think we were all born on the same day - let me disabuse you of that idea straight away. Granted we were all born in either February or March, but thirty-nine days separate my sister's birth date from mine. My brother's fall somewhere in-between. Seems like my Mother baked one cake and called it good! Was she smart or what?
I can't attest to her baking skills (look closely at the cake in the bottom picture - the top layer is off center and hanging over the bottom layer) - but I can tell you she was a great mother. Look at how happy we were. It did not matter that we were sharing the cake or the day - we were all smiles and very excited no matter who was was in front of the cake. She was doing something right!
So l wish her the happiness and the joy that she brought to us!
Have a great day Mother!
Unexpected
Dip!
10-05-2010
The second coat of black paint went on the table and chairs this morning. If I never paint another spindle it will be too soon! The second coat went much faster, but it was still a bugger.
While I waited for them to dry, I started prepping the cushions of the chairs to be reupholstered. The manufacturer stapled a thick piece of card stock on the bottom side of the cushions to hide the stapled material. It took forever to remove all the staples.
I was on my last one when Michael came home. When I finished it, I asked him to help me bring in the table from the garage. The easiest way to get it to the kitchen is through the lanai. French doors open up directly to the kitchen so maneuvering is simple...or so I thought.
The picture pretty much tells the rest of the story! I just didn't see the pool and my foot went over the edge and hit the second step. With my downward motion the table also started falling...right into my face! Fortunately for me Michael was on the other end. With super human strength he kept the table from going into the pool. Standing chest high in water, with my mouth bleeding and my arms above my head holding on to the table, I tried desperately to help him - we were able to get the table back on solid ground.
The good news is the table is A-OK and looks fantastic in my kitchen. The bad news is I have a fat lip.
Gobsmacked...literally!
Face
Lift
10-04-2010
It's been six years since I started this blog. At that time I took a caricature that had been drawn of me and made a "head" that I could manipulate for the different photos. Well with that many years having gone by I thought it was time to get a new face.
I took a photo from my daughter's wedding this past year and tweaked it in Photoshop to make it look like a drawing. Here is the result. Six years later and I look as young as ever. Isn't Photoshop a wonderful thing?
I will still be using pin-ups from yesteryear to enhance the blogs, even though some (i.e. my Mother) think they are too risqué. I think they make the blog fun and entertaining. I am always looking forward to "what body" will I put on my head today.
It is becoming more and more dificult to find just the right picture, but I am up for the challenge! So in the immortal words of Billy Crystal doing Fernando Lamas...
"Darhling....I look mahvelous!"
Prime
Time
10-03-2010
Today was primer day. The table and chairs, which had a blue oil-stain tint to them, are now covered in lovely primer grey. This was not a fun job and tomorrow when I start painting with black will also be a challenge.
The chairs have so many spindles on them that it made it very tedious work. My hope is that using a good primer will make the next layer of paint cover adequately so that I don't have to do two coats....but I am not holding my breath on that one.
I will never understand why I can't seem to paint without it getting all over me. Your would think that a seemingly intelligent woman would be able to apply paint to only the object she was painting. No so with me! By the time I finished priming the table and chairs it was up and down my arms, my hand were covered, and my legs had a new set of grey freckles.
The house is coming together nicely since I began the changes. I have order four new barstools for the kitchen. I went with back-less stools so they could be shoved under the counter overhang and out of the way. We have existed for years with only two stools it will be so nice to have four. The kitchen seems to be the gathering place always when we have company so it will be nice to have the extra seats.
Primed and ready!
Back
to Earth....tones
10-02-2010
Back in 2002, when we moved to Charlotte, I made window coverings for our newly built house. I used muted jewel-tone colors...wine, green and blue. I took all those window coverings when we moved and reused them in our current house.
They worked great and everything was fine until I bought new couches a few weeks ago. That started the ball rolling downhill and as you know, it picks up speed as it goes along. I decided the old cornice boards needed recovering and I wanted to get away from the jewel tones. I bought new material (see picture) and went to work.
Of course it did not stop there. The old area rug no longer went with the decor...alas a new one had to be bought. The the gold frames around two pictures were old school, so those were painted black. New candlesticks for the mantle were needed too! Also, I finally hung the pictures that my daughter and new son gave me for Mother's Day. They look great!
That took care of the family room...however it is opened to the kitchen...so more changes were "required." I have taken the material I used for the cornice boards in the family room and made panels for the kitchen window. The cornice board in there will be coved in a black accent material. Now the problem becomes the table and chairs!
The table currently has a natural finished wood top and the legs are stained blue. The chairs are also stained blue. So the next big job is to get rid of the blue and paint the legs and the chairs black. Fun, fun, fun.
The old couches are looking pretty good to me right now!
MOB
Memories
10-01-2010
My niece is getting married this month and it brings back memories of my daughter's wedding last October. It is hard to believe it has been a year!
My "Mother-of-the-Bride" experience was unlike many that I have heard about. Mine was great! The horror stories about demanding brides, uncooperative grooms, irritating in-laws, and disasters around every corner - just did not hold true.
I was blessed with a daughter that understood the word - budget! She was the antithesis of a demanding bride. Gracious, agreeable, pleasant and sweet are just a few adjectives that describe her during the entire planning process and the wedding day. Oh what the heck - I will just say it - she was the perfect daughter-bride!
My new son has unique sense of humor and a transmittable calm that helped make everything go smoothly. He jumped in with both feet and handled many details that would send some grooms running for the hills. But the best part of him - is that he loves my daughter and it shows!
You've heard all the horror stories of "in-laws" butting in, doing this or that, of generally causing the mother-of-the-bride to go off the deep end - once again I got lucky! My new son's parents are absolutely wonderful and utterly charming people. I can't begin to tell you how much help they were the day of the wedding. My daughter married into a really nice family!
All the memories of that day are just good ones. It was a happy day!
Back in the Saddle Again!
9-28-2010
I met with a potential client today and he talked about his blog...it got me thinking about my own woefully forgotten and neglected blog! So here I go again!
So much has happen in the past year and a half. I am just going to hit the highlights and then move on. The Hubster got a new position at work and really seems to be enjoying it.
My Mother - the Pegster - decided the sunshine state was just too hot and moved back to Colorado. She really missed her church and friends. She lasted a little over a year with us!
A week before Mother moved out, my nephew, Michael moved in! The revolving door really needs to get uninstalled one of these days, but for now we are happy to have Mike with us.
Michael is staying here while going to school. He works full-time and goes to school three nights a week. He is not perfect (we are working on that) but, he is fun to have around. He makes us laugh. I have corrupted him into becoming a Survivor junkie. He returned the favor and got me hooked on the x-box game Fable.
The big news is the whole fam-damily is coming here for Christmas! Twenty-one people! They are coming in from Colorado, Kansas, Texas and South Carolina. It going to be a madhouse - and I will love every second of it!
Here's hoping I stay on the "horse" longer than I did last time!