Life Back On Track

Finally have a chance to blog this evening.  It's been a busy couple of weeks.  Sadly Af and Nick went back to their life in LA Friday and we took the opportunity to run off to the cabin.  It had been a month since we had been there and we were certainly missing it.  

My babies are just beautiful...Love them so very much.....

A weird thing happened a week before Christmas.  A friend sent me a text saying she left a gift on our front porch.  It was about 10 in the morning and I was going to be home about noon.  I looked on our cameras and saw it sitting in the corner.  We have lots of packages delivered and never, ever have problems.  Anyway, I went home at noon and went to the porch to get the gift to find it gone.  CRAP!  I called The Hubby and told him and he had our tech guy go back on our cameras and see that a "fill-in" lady postal worker was the culprit.  Yes, I know people leave gifts for their postal people but our guy is named Brian and I had just met him a few weeks before.  On camera she rifled the package several times, and I mean several.  She even took stuff out of the bag and looked at it, picked it up and walked to the edge of the porch a couple of times then put it down, walk to the mail truck and drive off.  A bit later on the camera she walked up the side yard and on the porch yet again and again checked out the contents of the bag, picking it up again and again, but this time she walked off with the bag.  

Maybe I can believe that she thought it was for "Brian" but folks, the bag had a high heel on the front, a bracelet inside, dishcloth and this girly ornament hanging on it.  NO WAY! 

We tried to file a complaint but that is easier said than done.  Then I decided to write this note and left it the next day.  It was accusatory for sure but after our break-in last spring I felt violated yet again.  

Later that morning I watched the camera and saw her come on the porch and leave the gift and tape the note back where I left it.  I was so anxious to get home and see the gift.  The bag had truly been woman-handled and the stuff was crammed in it.  She wrote a response on the back saying she didn't need to steal it and that she "thought" it was for our regular carrier, (yeah right).  I'm sorry but she stole the gift and got caught RED-HANDED!  

Painting has been put on the back burner because of the holidays and because a couple days after Af and Nick arrived she came down with a nasty head cold and two days later B and I both came down with it.  The guys not a hint of a cold.  How weird is that.  We're all still trying to fight it off but today I finally headed to the studio.  

These are what I'm working on...

A friend took this photo and wanted to see if I could paint it... 

There's a lot still to do on it but I like it so far.

Then a friend posted this on Facebook and I jumped at the chance to paint it.  She was thrilled I wanted to so we'll see how it goes.

A bit more to go but it feels so good to hold a brush and mix paint.

Almost forgot this little guy.  The day Af and Nick flew in I had to get Clayton into the vet.  He was not well and I feared a urinary tract infection.  Unfortunately, our vet was out sick and they told me I was going to have to find another vet.  YIKES!  It was Friday and the weekend before New Year's, I had to get him looked at.  I was lucky enough to get him into B's vet that is closer and he determined that it might be arthritis.  Really, well okay.  He sent chewable pills home and we started that.  Within a couple of days it was a whole new dog but I can really tell that he has some catches in his get-a-long.  

Happy New Year everyone

Comment Verification

A friend commented the other day that she could not comment on my blog because of the comment verification problem so I took it off.  It has been a couple of weeks and the spam I am getting is horrendous.  I have put it back to save my email account the workout.  Really, it was getting silly and I know it is probably the automated stuff.  I love email, snail mail anything and it was tiring to hear, "You've Got Mail," and find junk stuff.  So sorry for the inconvenience but it has to be for a bit.  For the one who had the problem, lets try again and see if it works, if not I may consider undoing again as I love to hear from you.

Ettiquette 101

I have a question for you.  Do you write thank you notes?  Do you send out graduation invites, wedding announcements, birth announcements, birthday cards, etc?  Do you expect them?  I've written about writing letters before as I love to write and continue to write to friends and my pen pal for nearly 40 years.  Somewhere in my upbringing I learned from my grandmother the importance and proper way of these things.  Granny taught me how to set a proper table and how to iron your pillow cases and sheets.  I was taught manners; no elbows on the table, napkin in your lap, you know all the right things.  Somehow a close member of my family did not embrace those lessons.  This family member has NEVER sent a thank you note or birthday card out in their life and now I find out that they are not going to send out graduation notices for the graduating senior in their family.  Let me tell you something, I send birthday cards to their children every year, with cash included, and one year when I had not gotten around to it I received a phone call wondering where it was, with the money!  What in the world happened here.  We were raised together.  I don't understand, and you know I am very, very tempted NOT to send a congratulatory card and "money" to the senior but that would not be fair to the child.  I questioned why and the family member just said they didn't want to but and the announcements were too expensive.  I think it is sheer laziness and not showing the proper stuff to the child.  For goodness sake you can make your own and at least send them to immediate family.  Am I missing this or are all of these lessons not important anymore!

Pen Pals

First snow pic's:

While reading my many blog friends from Google Reader I had a thought.  It is that my bloggy friends are my pen pals.  Most don't live close but we communicate via the written word still.  Did I ever tell you that I have a pen pal.  I have had this pen pal since 1972, yes that is 39 years.  OH MY GOSH!  I had not realized that.  Najam was originally from Pakistan but has lived in Canada for probably 20+ years now.  He is married with two beautiful grown daughters.  We don't necessarily write often anymore but we are Facebook friends and keep in contact there.  I love to write letters and keep in contact with many people with written, hand written letters.  My friends may not write back but that is okay, I really don't mind.  I think the written letter or note is very special and appreciated.  I don't expect a letter back but love it when they do arrive.  Actually, I love mail, whether it is the clunk from the mailman dropping mail through the slot or "You've Got Mail", I love mail.  When I was a child (amazing where this ramble has gone) I remember saving the box tops off of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes cereal for a Tony The Tiger spoon.  Momma helped me put my collection and I think a quarter, as we taped it to a piece of paper, into an envelope and send it off.  I checked that mailbox every single day waiting and wondering when the spoon would arrive.  When it finally came I was beyond excited.  It came in a box and was the most special thing I owned.  I don't know what happened to that spoon.  Ever since that time I have waited in anticipation for the mail to arrive, even if it is bills.  I wait for a card or letter or note from someone and sometimes it happens, out of the blue.  My day is complete. 

One time after a harrowing legal thing I wrote a note of thanks to the lawyer who helped us save our business and our sanity.  About 6 months later we had a company Christmas party and invited him to the BBQ lunch.  He arrived and gave me a huge bear hug and then produced out of his inside jacket pocket a well handled envelope, the thank you note I had written.  He said he had never received a thank you note for his work.  He carried that note with him every day.  See you can make a difference in a persons life with just a quick note. 

Do you write letters?  Do you or have you ever had a pen pal?  Do you ever just write notes for no reason?