Maternity Photo

Time is ticking away...just four weeks out from a most beautiful event to take place...

Bedroom Life

Today's writing prompt from Mama's Losin'It! is What do you remember most about your childhood bedroom.  Wow there is a lot to remember about my bedroom but first I have to narrow it down to which one I wish to talk about.  We moved several times.  Tap, tap, tap to my temple as I contemplate my answer.  The most important memory of all the rooms was that I shared it with my little sister.  I was the oldest, then Bro and then Sis.  I got the immense treat to share a room with my sister (I'm being tacky...more in a later post.)  I think I will share our last bedroom together.  

It was awesome and I don't think I have even one picture of it.  Wait...I do have a picture but it is after The Hubby and I redecorated Daddy's house...

do you see how small that room was.  The bed in this picture is a twin bed, we had a full size bed that we shared.  One time we had two twin beds and absolutely no room to move.  TINY!  Bro will say it was a palace, and it was to him.  He was stuck on the back porch room that used to be an outdoor patio.  When they enclosed it the damn roof leaked every, single time it rained, over his bed.  

My mother was a great supporter of letting you express yourself as a child.  She also did not clean our room for us, that was our job, which sometimes we didn't do.  What was amazing was we girls were allowed to paint the walls any color we wanted, and I mean we painted!  One wall was bright yellow, one neon orange, one bright green and one soft blue.  We also painted our huge desk the blue color and the shelves were painted the neon orange.  It was the 70's for goodness sake and I was a wannabe Hippy!  It was AWESOME!  Sadly for me I married a guy that believed that all walls should be Spanish White for resale value.  Drove me crazy, and the girls.  He was always prepared to sell even though we stayed in every house 10 years.  B's house has colorful walls and finally after 36 years of marriage I have color on my walls.  I wore him down!  

Those brightly colored walls were also covered with posters of Davy Jones, Peter Dolenz, David Cassidy, "Greg Brady", The Cowsills...I could go on.  I also had magazine art from Peter Max that I loved and lots of quotes.  It was such an awesome room and I loved it.  It expressed me!  

Thanks Mama's Losin' It, this was an awesome question.  I had fun walking down memory lane.

Doggie Down

Yesterday was a sick doggie day.  Poor little Clayton was up and down all night long on Monday night and of course so was I.  He kept having to go outside and do his business, over and over and the licking....EEK! It was horrible, plus throw in my inability to sleep sometimes and it makes for a sick little dog the next morning and a very grouchy me!  Of course i missed work out because I flat slept in but when up I immediately called the vet and got the little guy in.  Something was not right.  

I took him to the clinic and left him to be evaluated and wait for a phone call.  Back home I thought I could go back to sleep and try and catch up but that was not the case, and believe me I tried.  I ate a bit of lunch and then The Hubby told me the audio visual guy was coming to see if he could fix our IPOD jack that allow us to play music to play in any room we want.  It's broken.  So wait for him.  Then the back yard counter top guy showed up and one or our electrical employees to work on the stuff outside.  Then the driveway guy showed up to power wash and then seal the drive and front walk again.  Finally, the house was empty of workers while the outside ones were still hard at it.  I ran to my bed to snooze a bit.  I also canceled an appointment to take advantage of some snore time.  Thirty minutes into a very deep sleep I was pulled out of the deep from my cell phone ringing.  I grabbed it thinking it might be the vet but no.  It was a guy from our high school reunion committee trying to set up a meeting.  Gosh, I wanted to sleep.  I was having a hard time making sense of my world I was so sleepy.  Back to sleep I got an hour of sleep time when the phone rang again, junk phone call.  So up I got and waited to hear from the vet.  

She called to let me know that his white blood cells were high indicating an infection.  He was vomiting and had uncontrollable diarrhea but they gave him some anti-nausea medicine and an antibiotic shot.  They did some blood work to check his kidneys and liver.  She said that she would call back when the blood work was done, about 5.  Wait, wait, wait.  That is what I do best.  I finally called, several times to check up on him. 

The vet kept calling me Mom and was very nice, a little too nice, but nice.  5:30 the phone had not rung so of course I called, again and talked to her.  His blood work came out fine and they were going to send him home, the explosive stuff was over...thank goodness.  I picked him up just in time for dinner, which he was quite happy, an antibiotic and a special can of food.  Our little guy was very happy to be home and I hoped to goodness he would sleep.  

Fountain Time

Yesterday The Hubby came home as I was finishing up make myself presentable for the world to see!  He does this quite often now that our humble abode is so much closer to the office and a lot of the jobs the business is doing.  Also, he is so excited to finish the patio/driveway/etc. that he can hardly stay away.  Which means I NEVER have time, quiet time alone at the house anymore.  Anyway, back to my day.  I tried to paint a bit before I cleaned up but was just not in the mood with the power washer going on out front and the drill and saw out back as the concrete counter top guy was working.  Then The Hubby comes in and I just gave up.  I was all prepped and ready for the afternoon, planning on a visit with my Daddy when The Hubby wanted to go to Southwood Nursery to look at fountains.  Best laid plans, my best laid plans always seem to get mucked up as they did yesterday.  It was all good though as he was after a water feature that I have ALWAYS wanted in my back yard.  

We arrived at Southwood and entered to find this sweet little girl sacked out in a birdbath display.  I petted and she just stretched and splayed her paws in utter joy of her life.  What a precious sight.

Out the doors I saw these lovely sunflowers and just had to snap a picture.  I'm always on the hunt for flowers to paint! 

Towards the back we found the fountains and found this little beauty that we purchased with a bit of discussion of "NO BLUE."  For some reason he had the ugly blue ones in his head for color and I like blue but it was just not going to work for me.  I won, we won, to have this softly gurgling thing soothe away the tensions of the day!   

Week(end) Wrap-up

Last week was full of go-go-go.  Mostly go with the car to the end of the street.  This morning I can hear the crew cleaning up broken concrete debris and pulling up the forms from the new driveway.  There is still yellow tape in front of the drive so we still do not have the all clear to drive on the driveway!  WAH!  I'm getting tired of climbing the tiered yard to my car and front door, especially with piles of groceries!  Yes, I know it will end, soon!  The Hubby spent the weekend wiring more lights in the new patio and yesterday cleaned out his pretty garage.  He's very proud of it and likes it spic-n-span!  

Last week I had a wonderful lunch with my friend Christine for her birthday.  We usually always spend our birthday lunches at Wild Fork at Utica Square.  It has become a tradition for us.   

While waiting for her this pesky, but cute little squirrel guy was persistent on trying to come to my table and my purse sitting at the side.  I tried shooing and waving my white napkin but he would not be deterred.  I decided I would snap his picture and that seemed to work.  He was not happy with that and fled.  

Today I will get my (I don't do The Hubby's, he's on his own) laundry done and a bit more painting.  I'm excited because class will begin soon as will  my portrait class!   

Lots of noise outside yet again.  The clean up crew plus the lawn guys and hopefully today the power washer guy!  I look forward to having it quiet by my house again, someday!

Sunday Cooking

B and I planned for weeks now to do a cooking marathon to fill her freezer.  She wanted to get some meals stored in preparation for the arrival of the baby and I said I would help.  We decided to hit the grocery store early to beat the church crowd and came home with all of this. 

Her plan was chicken enchiladas, beef enchiladas, 3-way (our special recipe), breakfast burritos, and bathtub chicken.  She had recipes but we hardly used them and definitely didn't measure but we cooked and cooked!

breakfast burritos...

scrambled eggs, green onions, black beans, salsa, cheddar cheese and tortillas...

bathtub chicken - spaghetti, chicken, cheese, onion, green pepper, cream of mushroom soup, chicken broth...(I always used Velveeta cheese and red pimentos)

3-way:  ground beef, browned, tomato sauce, canned diced tomatoes, canned pinto beans, chilli seasoning - my kids grew up on the stuff

chicken and beef enchiladas -

chicken, enchilada sauce, cheese, green onion, tortilla, cream (brushed on inside of tortilla)

beef, enchilada sauce, cheese, green onion, tortilla

I know that is kind of a brief explanation of the ingredients but really it was that simple.  All of the stuff freezes and the casseroles you thaw and reheat at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  The 3-way you microwave thaw and re-heat or you can thaw and put in pan to reheat.  This picture shows the haul she made off with for her deep freeze.  Prepared she is for the birth!

Oh my aching feet!

Welcome to My World

Welcome to our world of construction and concrete!

Clayton says, "Come on in and stay awhile!"

Thursday and Friday, after a week of no driveway Thursday morning started like this...

then this arrived...

and began it's job of releasing that wonderful CONCRETE! 

Worker bees started the process of smoothing and raking and grabbing and shoveling... 

Hopefully I will have the DONE pictures but today it is RAINING!!!!

Fortune Cookie Friday

We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled.  The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.  Ray Bradbury

This may not be a fortune cookie saying, but I like it and Choose to use it because I like it.  How beautiful is this saying.  Have a great weekend to one and all and let some beautiful stuff out!

Addicted

I am addicted.  Yes, sadly I am addicted to buying books.  I thought getting my Kindle my addiction would slow down, I was wrong.  When the two local Border Bookstores closed down I just knew that would be the end of the addiction, I was so very, very wrong.  I seem to be buying more actual books and e-books on Amazon.  I don't know if I will ever be able to read all that I am buying.  

I love, love, love books.  I love real books but I love my Kindle too.  It's a scary addiction.  I'm reading as fast as I can but they publish so many books every, single day that I'm afraid I will miss out on something good.

I'm going to try,TRY very hard to stop, or at least stop unless I need to get one for my book club.  I can't borrow or check out at the library because I don't like to give them back.  I know it's a sickness.  I'm addicted to paper and words that are printed on it.  

One good thing is I actually took a huge pile to a used book store and sold them and I still have a pile in the garage that I'm offering to my book club members and the ones left will go to Goodwill.  That's good isn't it.  Maybe the addiction isn't too bad...

Birthday Week

Yes we are ALL getting older!  This week several of my loved friends and family are doing the birthday thing.

Monday was my dearest oldest best friend Sharon's birthday!  Happy Birthday my friend.  It has been so many years since I've been able to tell her that.  I had remembered the day for many years and always knew it was in August but for the life of me this year I could not remember the exact day, but now, it is permanently on the calendar, never to be forgotten again!

Friday is my other sweet bestie's birthday!  Hopefully we will be able to do lunch as is our usual thing to do.  She has been very busy with her oldest, her son and his wife in town from Saudi Arabia.  They were teachers there and now are doing, well, something else I can't remember.  Christine has three kiddos and is very happy when all her chicks are in town at once, which is the case now.  Happy Birthday my friend!!!

Finally, tomorrow is The Hubby's big day.  I just love this photo...yum!  He will be 57 years old and I love growing old with him.  Oh yes, he can drive me a bit CRAZY but I love the crazy.  We've been doing this thing called marriage for 36 years now and I can't wait for the next 30+ years!  

Happy Birthday my love...

Bullying

I had a thought last night as the news was going on and on about the upcoming presidential election.  They were talking about the back and forth of "He said.....well he said.....and he said...."  You know the garbage that goes on and suddenly it made me think that it was a form of bullying.  Do you see it?  It's a grown up kind of bullying and name calling.  Do we ever grow up and get away from our youth?  Why can't we play nice on the playground and quit the name calling and verbal shoving that is going on.  Every four years, no wait every year it goes on and on.  We are trying to teach our children not to bully, not to shove, not to be mean to other people, yet here we are everyday on the television a reminder that we are not doing what we preach.  How will we ever change?  How will we ever make an impression on our children to be better people when we NEVER change.  I don't care if it's the name of the game in politics, STOP IT!

Stepping down from the soapbox.

Week Past and Present

Yesterday I was able to do a lot of painting and finished this lovely little piece.  I put it on Facebook and got a ton of comments and likes and withing 2 minutes an interest in buying it.  WOW!  Talk about boosting my painting ego.  It's not even dry!  

The weekend was nice with The Hubby and I running off to the cabin for one night.  Not much going on there as school is about to start for a lot of kiddos and families are getting ready.  

Much needed rain also happened Saturday afternoon and last evening.  We needed the air to be cleaned as my allergies are driving me a bit crazy.  While The Hubby spent yesterday working on some of the wiring on the new patio and driveway (heat tape) I painted and then took some time in the garden.  I had forgotten that we bought a new electric tiller and it was still sitting in storage unused.  I was not about to use the thing with our backyard full of workers everyday this summer.  So yesterday I broke it out.  I also forgot about mosquito's!  There I was tilling away (which was AWESOME) and my mind was not thinking West Nile Virus.  I finished, put the thing away and went to sit with a cool glass if iced tea when my leg starting itching!  YIKES!!!!!  My legs were covered with at least ten mosquito bites.  GOOD GRIEF!  Luckily, when my body gets a mosquito bite it lasts about an hour and then totally goes away.  Let's just hope none of the dang things was "ONE OF THOSE" mosquito's.  

This week I will be spending a bit of time at the office while B does some of her "other" job things.  I don't mind at all and will be there a LOT this fall when our little girl arrives.  In just a few short weeks we will be holding that sweet little bundle and I can hardly stand the wait.  I just got an email from the other lovely in California with her airline flight info, timed, HOPEFULLY for the arrival of said wee one.  She is coming in two days before the due date.  

Tomorrow the new driveway should be poured so we, I plan on being able to drive into my garage but the weeks end.  At least the porta-potty is gone and I'm quite happy about that.  I'm hoping to be able to have the rest of the outdoor furniture delivered next week!  (Need to talk to The Hubby about that.)

Okay, I guess that's all the chit-chat I'm-a doing here for now.  Later gators, until I write again...tomorrow!

Carla

What's all that wet stuff?

Remember the Bambi movie?  "What's all that white stuff," Bambi says.  His mother replies, "Winter has come."  Well, today it is RAIN!  Rain has finally come to our area of the state and we couldn't be happier.  It has drizzled off and on all day on Saturday and was a welcome sight.  

We flew off to the cabin Friday afternoon to check on things and take some hunting stuff in preparation for the hunting season.  We only stayed overnight as he needed to get back for some stuff needing done at the house.

Back home I had forgotten we are now parking in the neighbors driveway for a few days as I look at a dirt driveway.  The Hubby is getting it ready for the concrete pour on Tuesday, heat tape, etc.  I can't wait!  

While he piddled around working I decided to sit on the new COVERED patio on a few of the new Pier1 chairs I purchased and tables.  I fixed myself a cup of tea, read the paper and my Kindle and enjoyed listening to the drizzle of rain.  The chairs are just some of the outdoor furniture we have purchased and more is on its way when the drive is complete.  Don't you love the table!  I bought three of them with the Pier1 chairs for accent and color!  Can't wait to have it all complete and share the snapshots with everyone!   

The Real Me

No Makeup

I have been asked by many who know me, what I do to my skin to make it so great.  I am sure it is about 90% genes in my favor and that I still have my hormones raging (as of June, and I'm 56 years old) and so much oil in my skin you could drill!  The wrinkles are at a minimum but the age spots are there from my youth cooking the skin but it's not bad, even if I say so myself.  

The picture above is fresh out of the shower with absolutely nothing on.  See the shine and that is freshly cleaned...the oil never stops, but it is my friend I guess.

I am a Mary Kay user and have been for many, many years, even selling it at one time, so I am a fan, but I do have other things I use to help the "cause."

Step 1:  Wash.  I've used a multitude of cleansers from Mary Kay TimeWise 3-In-1 Cleanser to now I'm using

 

Odwant Dermalogic Glycolic Acid Soap that I found on Amazon.  It has made a difference in the size of my volcano pores.  

Step 2:  The extra mascara that doesn't come off after washing I use is Mary Kay Oil Free Eye Makeup Remover.  It is awesome and has been #1 for some time now.  

Step 3:  Next comes one of my favorites.  Mary Kay Indulge Soothing Eye Gel with Calming Influence Botanical Blend.  It soothes and takes puffiness out of the eye area.  You leave it on and kind of helps the tightening, for me.  I use it all around the eye area, lid and all, every single day, twice a day.  

Step 4:   I use Skinceuticals C E Ferulic serum that I purchase from the dermatologist, or Amazon.  This stuff is not cheap but is great for the anti-aging and protection from the sun.   

 

Step 5:  Back to the eyes.  I use Mary Kay TimeWise Firming Eye Cream.

 

Step 6:  Again Mary Kay Day Solution with sunscreen, SPF 30.  

Step 7:  Another one of my FAVORITES and I think the best for my eyes.  TimeWise Age-Fighting Eye Cream.

  

I adore this stuff and slather it under and around the sides of my eye area and let soak in.  It feels like silk.   TIP:  When working around the eye area, only pat and only use the ring finger of the hand.  That finger has the least strength and won't do as much damage.  NEVER...EVER...pull or tug the skin around the eye.   

Step 8:  Off of the Mary Kay kick, the youngest daughter started me on Aveeno's Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer with SPF 30.   Again I love the silkiness of it on my skin.

Okay now I think I've covered it all.  Keep in mind the hands too.  Whatever I put on my face I put on my hands too.  Your face and hands are the parts of your body that are always in the elements.  They both need protection, and don't forget the ears.  Even though I have oily skin it is important to keep it moisturized too, the right kind.  My grandmother used Ponds and Dove soap for her skin and her skin was just like velvet.  No matter what you use, use something.

Friday And All Is A Wall Of Concrete

Good morning everyone this beautiful Friday morning.  My life is nothing but concrete lately, and I mean that literally!  The back outdoor kitchen/patio is very close to done.  I won't have any more pic's until it is done.  The stain guy is finished and will pull up the protecting paper and then that darned electrician (The Hubby) will finish his work.  The outdoor furniture is ready to be delivered and I'm pretty darn excited about that, but...The Hubby has now decided that the driveway needs to be replaced.  So while I was at the office yesterday he texted me and said, "They've started the demolition."  WHAT!  I went home and was forced to park in the street and then at the neighbors as they are out of town (thank goodness.)  It's a big dirt pile in our front yard and will be for at least a week as The Hubby is going to put in snowmelt under the drive.  That means no shoveling ice and snow!  YEAH!  That being said it also means a longer time to get the thing done so I will be lugging groceries up through the yard and through the front door.  Will this madness called construction ever end.  Yes, it will eventually.  On a good note the orange, seemingly permanent fixture, called the Porta-Potty is GONE!  It went bye-bye Wednesday just before my new book club members arrived!  Another WHEW!  

Last night we went to a friends 25th Anniversary celebration of being in business.  It was at the new Central Park facility on 6th.  Fun to see a lot of people we knew and a blast from the past.  A guy I went to grade school through high school with, plus I picked up another book club member!  

Have a great weekend everyone!

Book Club

I was needing a group so I started a group.  I belonged to a book club a few years ago but it fell apart after about a year and a half.  I've been reading tons the past couple of years and decided that I wanted to be able to discuss what I was reading.  I compiled a few friends from my email list and began the process.  Some of these friends did not know each other and so a new group of friends would be formed.  We planned on getting together last month but as you know my house was NOT ready to accept people over, so, a month later, we met at my house last night.  There were only six in attendance as some were preparing for school starting the next day from elementary to college moving in day.  Next month we will have more.  

It was a busy day here at my house in preparation of company.  My cleaning crew was here at 9:30, the window-covering-lady and the brother-in-law were here at 10, the concrete guy to check out the backyard and the prospect of the new driveway and then the concrete-stain-spraying guy, the fence-bidding-guy and The Hubby...all at once.  OH MY GOODNESS!  It was crazy here.  What a crazy day.  Finally, they were all gone, it was quiet and my house smelled awesome and looked GREAT!  I was ready, wait I still had to go to Papa Murphy's for pizza, Whole Foods for veggies, and Lambrusco's for dill dip.  Off and running I was going.  

Home again, a quick bite of lunch and more quiet time in front of the easel.  I had time to think about how I wanted the evening to go.  I've never done something like this and I was apparently a bit nervous as my tummy began to start tumbling a bit.  

They arrived, we ate and discussed Fifty Shades of Grey.  A rousing discussion was great fun.  Some had not read it but that didn't hamper the talk.  What a fun evening and we quickly set up the next one with excitement.  Some of the ladies knew each other and some didn't and we all have the love of reading, a great start.  It was actually a bit hard to find a book we had not all read for the next read.  We did find Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and will have about 4 weeks to get it read and the discussion to begin!

Pause

Pause...I'm hosting our new book club tonight...busy getting ready...more to come...

Relaxing

Friday night was a quiet night in town.  I enjoyed a mango martini from a kit a friend got me for my birthday and it was YUMMY!

Clayton decided he wanted to enjoy his evening on a high perch, the back of the couch. 

Yesterday afternoon we sat outside enjoying the much cooler temperatures.  I watched as Clayton meandered around the yard and then decided he wanted to go high again.

See in the picture below how high he really decided to go.  That is one brave doggie.