Sick Kiddo

Last night I received a call from LA, from Afton.  She is sick.  Fever, chills and the probability of a UTI and kidney stones.  Poor baby.  I am so far away from my baby but I know that she has Nick and a plethora of friends to be there for her.  That is what happens when you are thousands of miles away from family, you have pseudo family.  Apparently when I hung up with her, her friends were in route to rescue, and Nick was not far behind coming from a gig.  By the time they got their her fever was 102.3 and she was convulsing.  They rushed her to the ER where I got more texts from her.  She was better and the fever was going down, convulsing probably from the high fever.  All night I didn't receive a text or phone call so I was not too worried.  They would call!  Finally, I see on Facebook that she is home having been given antibiotics for the UTI and the probability that she has passed the stone.  Poor baby!  She was so scared away from family, from home and not being this sick, ever.  Well, I say that but when she was a wee one she had UTI's, a lot, as did I and my mother, so this does not a surprise to me at all.  I'm just glad she is home, with Nick, and her kitties and has a fabulous array of great friends to care for her in my absence.

Ice, Ice Baby

The sky is falling, the sky is falling.  That is what the weather people were screaming yesterday.  Yes we did get some ice and areas to the north of here did too, it but it's not as bad as we had some years ago that devastated Tulsa (I think '07).  I did hear in the middle of the night the familiar sound of transformers buzzing as they go out.  Gosh, such a scary sound.  

The next year was the best year in business for us.  We do electrical stuff and the work was constant for the year.  Plus our generator installation side really took off and is still a huge part of our work.  Generator baby!

(from the '07)

Last night as the temperatures began to plummet I told The Hubby that we were going to go off the diet a bit and have beans and cornbread for dinner on Saturday.  Perfect chilly weather for it.  Speaking of the diet, I am down yet another pound, that would be 26 pounds.  It may be a slow process but at least I lost a pound during the holidays!

Yesterday we took our employees out to a Christmas lunch to Olive Garden.  In the past we have done a rib place but last year the service SUCKED!  The Hubby decided OG and it was a great decision.  One of our guys, when he found out where we were going, was like a kid he was so happy.  He had NEVER eaten at OG before.  Really?!  

It was a nice lunch and we were glad to do it.  I was very good there, as I did have pasta and a half a piece of bread but I only ate half the pasta dish.  It will be my lunch today.  Really, as long as I stay on he moderation side I can eat out and anything I want.  This no bread, pasta, potatoes or rice thing has been awesome for me.  We don't miss it and eat tons of veggies.  

Random 5 Friday

I'm trying something new here from A Rural Journal, it's a Random 5 Friday. 

1.  I like routine.  I was not like that in my early years yet here I am approaching my 58th year and I am a routine person.  Does that come with age?  I think it kind of does for all of us.  It's just how things roll.  I am up the same time.  I have breakfast the same time.  I do the same things every morning the SAME!  The evening rituals are the same way too.  Not sure how I feel about this.  Hated it when my mother started doing it.

2.  I love books, I mean I LOVE books!  I love to own books.  When we were children my mother made sure we all had library cards and we were constant visitors to the library.  I could sit in there for hours and look at books.  Even though I love the library what is even better is to OWN books.  Oh gosh I hated it when Borders went out of business.  I would walk in the door to their tables of new releases and my arms would be full of books.  I could not walk out of that store without spending a couple hundred dollars on books.  The smell, the sound, the feel of the paper...I LOVE owning books as is evident by the piles that are in various places in my house.  Have I read all of them...not yet!

3.   I always wanted to be a writer, a fiction writer.  I found a few years ago that I am not very good at writing, or at least fiction.  Probably because I use "I" a lot!!!  It happens a lot when you write a blog as you usually are writing a lot about yourself.  I may not be a fiction writer but I am a writer!  I am a blog writer and I think I'm okay at it.  (My girls are fantastic writers.)  

It's fun and I've been doing in nearly 8 years now, here!  Did you know I print off every blog post I write.  I keep them in three-ring binders and dated.  One of these days my girls (they already to) or granddaughter or great-grandkiddos will read them and understand me more.  I recently found a site that I printed 2012 in a hardbound book!  There you go, I'm a writer and I am hardbound!

(This random 5 thing is kind of tough!)

4.  I hate winter.  Did I tell you that already!  I HATE WINTER!  It's just not pretty and it is dang cold.  It's hard on people financially and physically.  At least the physical for me.  I get chilled and I will not really get warm until spring.  I have to work very hard to not get depressed and eat myself into oblivion.  Snow is pretty, as long as I don't have to get out in it.  I get through the winter knowing that spring is just a few months away and I will see green again!

5.  I am a crafter at heart.  I crochet, I knit (a bit), I love little counted cross-stitch ornaments and oh yeah, I'm an artist.  I love that I have found my creative side.  It's always been there but this oil painting thing has give me a whole new dimension to ME!  I may never sell stuff for thousands of dollars but I do sell and that has done more for my confidence than you can imagine.  I think we grow as human beings until the day we die, and I don't me physically, I mean mentally.  We become more well-rounded, at least I have.  I hope to be an inspiration to my girls and granddaughter!  

Reflection of a Drilling

Reflecting, that is what I am doing right now, this morning.  Listening to our daughter's beautiful music before getting ready to go to the dentist for my 6 month cleaning.  I remember being so scared when I was a child of the dentist.  I used to absolutely white-knuckle the arm of the chair, much like I used to do when flying.  What brought about this fear I ask myself.  Momma took we three kid for our regular check ups and it wasn't really scary.  Mother made sure we had our teeth taken care of.  Unfortunately we had horrible teeth, like my father and his side of the family.  Momma wanted to make sure they weren't so bad that we were spitting out teeth that were rotten, like my Daddy and one of his sisters.  My aunt had such bad teeth that she had dentures before she was in her 20's.  That is BAD!  But I guess back then they didn't know that much about mouth care.  Back to the white knuckling thing.  When you are child the scary thing about the dentist are the smells and the sound of that dang drill.  It can really give a sense of unease.  

I have spent a lot of time in that chair with nearly every tooth in the back, up and down filled with various kinds of fillings, be it gold, silver or even porcelain crowns.  Cross my fingers I never have to have a root canal!  Of we three siblings the worst, crooked teeth, were mine.  I had fangs and an overlapping mess, plus a horrible cross-bite going on.  My parents could not afford braces in the day but my maternal grandparents were there to help.  They paid $1,000 to have my teeth straightened.  For three long years I was in two different kinds of retainers that the dentist tweeked and tightened every 4-6 weeks.  It also took that 3 years to pay the entire $1,000 off for my parents and grandparents but they knew that I was in dire need of the treatment.  I have to tell you though that first night, with those things in my mouth, I have never EVER had a headache that bad in my life.  I was in horrible pain.  I was then supposed to take the things (upper and lowers) out to brush my teeth but I could not get them back in and had to walk to the dentist at lunch time from school to have him put it back.  Braces were relatively new in my school so I was kind of an oddity then.  One doofus insisted on calling me snaggle-tooth for a good part of my 7th grade.  Don't know what happened to him to this day.  Having the retainers in the 7th grade was horrible for a girl who had absolutely NO self-esteem.  Plus I had just gotten over having the broken leg thing in 6th grade and out nearly 6 months of that school year plus we were then attending junior high.  Let's just say my 7th grade year, the only thing good to come out of that year was meeting my best friend then, Sharon.  In fact most of the junior high years (7-9) were a blur.  Junior high was mostly a horrible time for me as probably it is for most kiddos.  Let's see, hormones (periods), braces/retainers, teasers, boys, girls, friends...oh the list can go on.  I think those ages are the most important and the hardest on a kid.  It truly was for me.  

Granny Fail

ME

I am a granny fail.  Last night we were to keep Rio overnight and everything seemed to be going great until bedtime.  I think the bad stuff started earlier in the day at the office.  I was trying to put her down for her nap and usually it is no problem.  I pick her up pat a few times and then she is asleep.  Yesterday she wanted her momma and cried and cried and sobbed and sobbed until Briana had to come in and take over.   

Rio and Vera

So then they brought her over about dinner time and as it turned out we went next door for a holiday drink with the neighbors and I took her over to show off.  She was so sweet and sat in my lap for about 20 minutes eating cheese and being adorable.  I left before The Hubby to feed her and get her ready for bed.  Dinner was a great success with squash, cottage cheese and dried pears.  She did a lot of walking around and around the house and every time she got close to her bedroom with the sound machine on and lights low she would cry.  I had an inkling that something was not right with that.  I then began the routine for bedtime.  We brushed her teeth, changed the diaper, lotioned, pajamas and read her little "Good Night Moon" book.  Bottle and sound machine on but WOW, nothing to do with closing the eyes.  She started to nod off until Clayton pushed open the door and cried to get on the bed where we were sitting.  RATS!  Then it was on, the crying and sobbing and screaming and squirming.  I spent 15 minutes with that and was wrung out.  I could not stand for her to be so upset, my heart was breaking.  She was so upset with the crying and she was doing the hiccuping thing.  We went into the living room and I sent a text to Briana that I didn't think it was going to work.  She said she would come get her but I should persist, that eventually she would give it up.  I guess I just am not tough enough anymore.  I could not stand to see the usually happy Rio so upset.  The Hubby said, "Why did you do that.  Just let her cry!" Oh gosh, I just have lost my confidence in childcare but I think it's a combination of things.  I didn't want to have Rio not like being at Granny's and not like her room.  (I have got to clean out the guest room - paintings to the ceiling.)  I caved and had to be rescued.  I think too I don't want to rock the routine that B&B have set up for Rio but maybe I need to do Granny rules at Granny's house.  This has got to be fixed as we are going to try this again on New Year's Eve and there is no calling to be rescued.  It is definitely an all-nighter as they are having a huge party.  I need to get the easy flow of getting her down again.  I don't want to be a Granny Failure.  

Selfie

All dressed up for workout this morning and with a little slipping and sliding I headed back into the garage and hit the bike instead.  I'm at least staying the same weight during this holiday season but being stuck inside away from party stuff it has been easy.  Last night was our bank Christmas party and I dolled up with the hair and dress.  Unfortunately I forgot to get a snapshot.  I wore a dress that I had from last Christmas and boy did it fit MUCH better.  Not tight at all and I didn't look like a stuffed sausage.  Felt quite pretty!

This morning the hair still has some pretty so I just brushed, fluffed and sprayed!  Too much washing can do make my hair weirdly dry yet oily.  Can't explain it.   

A Splash of Paint

During this extended time spent inside from the snow I got busy this weekend and finished "Little Pimmy".  She was Bri's sweet kitty that passed this year.  Bri had this awesome closeup picture of her and I just HAD to paint it.  I think it turned out really well.  Of course, the painting will go to Bri, if she wants it.  I'm quite pleased and it was fun to paint.

Time spent inside has given me the time to paint. Then I shopped a bit online and played gin on ClubPogo to pass more time.  While perusing the Internet I sipped a bit of hot tea out of one of my many, MANY tea cups that seem to keep being left to me.  I have so many of these little jewels I decided to start using them instead of letting them sit in a closed cabinet gathering dust.  Isn't this one lovely.  I have them from my greatgranny, granny, mother, grandmother and mother-in-law, I HAVE TONS!

I forgot to post this one.  While Afton was home I wanted to go see my painting at the Philbrook Festival of Trees.  I was so excited to see it hanging on the walls.  As far as I know it is still unsold as are most of the paintings, gingerbread houses and trees, for a fundraiser, not good.  Of course, it has been a couple of weeks since I was there and there is still a week to go!  Keep your fingers crossed.  It was fun to take Rio to Philbrook for the very first time of her life.  My granny took us when we were children once and in her stack of old pictures there was one of the front of Philbrook, either before it was a museum or just as it was turned into one.  

Oh, and in January I have another opportunity for a quick art show for a weekend.  Will give details soon.

Gift Giving, Or Not

Here we are still snowed in and it looks to continue for several more days.  Yesterday was a very busy day and I didn't leave the house.  I painted, wrapped presents and finished my shopping, except for one gift card.  I just wait for the mail person to drop the rest in my mail basket.

Speaking of gift cards, I was in a bit of a quandary with what to do with my niece.  You see, after the Thanksgiving debacle of the missing money and soggy pills I am very reluctant to give her anything for Christmas.  Several years ago we all agreed that we would only buy for the kiddos and she is still considered one of the kiddos.  Well, I bought gift cards for my other niece and her hubby and then for the nephew but I just didn't want to give anything to the niece.  In fact, I didn't even want her at our Christmas brunch at Daddy's but The Hubby made me see differently.  First I must say my mother-in-law told us not to make a deal out of the missing money, to let the situation lie.  Then yesterday The Hubby, after voicing my concerns about Christmas morning, told me that since we have no proof (right) that the money was taken by the niece or her husband we can't exclude her.  He said the best approach is that when us ladies come in we should put our purses in the center of the room, in front of the television and keep an eagle eye on said niece.  Enjoy the food and Christmas morning with Daddy and be done with it.  That still leaves me thinking about the gift thing, but I have decided to get her a grocery store gift card.  So that is the one card I have to buy, very reluctantly.  

Such a sad situation for sure and I so hope she can make something of her life and better herself, but it's not looking good for her.  

Ramble

Trying to find something to spill my guts about but just can't think of what to write so it's going to be a ramble today.  Hang on, let's GO.......

Well, well, well, it is snowing!  Winter is here.  It's very pretty but of course it is not my favorite time of year.  I am staying safe and warm INSIDE!  It is time to wrap presents, bake, paint, read, yes all the things I need to catch up on.  I think my Christmas shopping is close to being done and I have not once hit the mall!  I am an online shopper and quite content with that.  This time of year I would very happy if I didn't have to leave the house until March!  But, of course that is not possible in my life so venture out I will do, eventually!  The snow is giving The Hubby a chance to finally turn on the snowmelt in the driveway he installed a couple of years ago!

Watched most of The Sound of Music last night with Carrie Underwood.  What do people think of her replacing Julie Andrews on Facebook!  Oh, it was not to kind at all watching some of the feeds.  Honestly, I didn't like it very much either.  Although I am a fan of her singing this was not her venue for sure and her acting, well, I will be kind and tell her to stick with singing.  It was an event and that is all I will say.  

All the news is non-news since yesterday.  We're getting a blow-by-blow of snowflakes falling and absolutely NO NEWS.  I know it's all about the safety of everyone on the roads but it's not like a tornado going through.  SNOW, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW.....

Leaf Play

Thanksgiving is now done and so we rush into Christmas.  Afton is heading home, her home in LA and her love Nick this morning and it is truly sad to see her go.  Saying that I know she is looking forward to being at HER home with her Nick.  The visit has been awesome, especially her getting to spend time with her niece, our granddaughter, Rio.  They had a wonderful time yesterday at Woodward Park.

Rio LOVED playing in the leaves. 

My BEAUTIFUL girls... 

The innocence of a child. 

Now we plan for Christmas.  My tree is up (thank you family) and a good part of my Christmas is bought.  Just need to finish up and bake a bit and I will be READY!  

HO-HO-HO

Happy Thanksgiving, Not Really

It's over and all that's left is turkey pieces and sweet potatoes.  I may never want to eat again!  My stomach is so full I feel like I'm going to POP!  The day started with me up early to get the turkey out of the brine, rinsed, seasoned and tossed into the oven.  I was on my game yesterday and The Hubby said he didn't know what I did but I should do it again, as he carved.  It was the best turkey I've ever cooked.  

The morning was going well until I saw on Facebook that a friend of our lost his fight with cancer.  Mr. Charles Faudree lost his very long battle with cancer Thanksgiving morning.  He was a world renowned interior designer and one of the most fun loving free spirits you could ever know.  I was lucky enough to know him and love him.

He even was able to come to one of my birthday parties and shake a leg a few years ago.  I am very sad.  What a joy he was.

The day went on with family coming to visit and eat and I THOUGHT all was well.  Remember when I had written a bit on the trials and tribulations on my niece and her drug/stealing issues!  Well, she and her "new husband" were in attendance and I thought during most of the afternoon that he looked, well, a bit on the stoned side.  I probably was not too off.  Anyway, after most had left Afton was looking in her purse and found that it had been opened and one of her pill bottles disturbed, in fact some of the pills were even wet.  That spurred the mother-in-law to check her purse that was on my bed along with the niece's purse.  Lo and behold she had three $20 bills in her coin purse and they were gone.  I am very disappointed with my niece and her hubby.  How could they steal.  Bri caught her in the bedroom several times thinking she was in her own purse, never thinking she was rifling a purse not her own.  That girl and her husband are not allowed at my house anymore!!!!!  I sent a text to my sister, trying to not be accusatory but told her what had happened and to check her purse.  Her response, "I did not have any money." That was ALL!  Good grief, it is your child but she has wiped her hands free of that child for good as we all will now.  My girls are so mad that she took advantage of their MiMi they are blowing steam out the top of their heads.  

Happy Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Good morning to one and all...and a very, VERY 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

This and That

Turkey day is fast approaching and I can't seem to get my mind off of it.  I think it's because I love, LOVE to have family home and to FEED them!  Probably the most important reason this year is that our sweet Afton will be here!  She flies in tomorrow night and I CAN NOT WAIT to see her!  

Today, I had to go into the office and do a bit of work then fly off to Daddy's to set up his Medical Alert button.  That took a bit since I had the wires crossed, but it is done!  

Then to the store for dinner, gas in the car and HOME!  I feel better driving around because The Hubby got me a couple of new front tires.  One of them had a slow leak and when they took it off it had a slit deep inside!  Kind of scary!

Home to wait for The Hubby to come home and have a nice dinner of salmon and spinach.  

Tomorrow will be another whirlwind of running as I have to go the office yet again to type an invoice.  I have to get my house in order for company on Thursday so it will be back home to work on that and wait for the delivery of my new red leather loveseat.   We still have the HUGE leather chairs in the dining room that need to taken to storage yet they still SIT.  I have to have them gone no later than Wednesday!  Nag, nag, nag!

Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to go to my art class!

Toodles all.

Fabulous Fashionistas

This film was posted on my daughter's Facebook page.  It is called Fabulous Fashionistas and I am in love with the wonderful women it shows.  It is about 50 minutes long but will be the best 50 minutes you ever spent.  Please enjoy!

The Alliday Show

Tis the season to be extremely busy!

Thanksgiving is rolling ahead fast and furious and our house will be full of family soon to eat, eat, eat and just love each other.  Afton is coming home and I could not be happier to see her.  It has been several months.  She will be here to celebrate Thanksgiving and to help with Briana's 

The Alliday Show 

That is a full family affair with all of us pitching in to make it great.  It's the 4th year for the event and Briana is getting better and better at getting it fine tuned and running smoothly.  There will be some amazing crafters there so you will have to come by to shop for Christmas presents!!!!!  I will have some note cards in Bri's booth and will man her space while helping to manage little Rio!  Afton will also do a bit of SINGING around and have CD's for you to buy.  So come on down:  

Doors open 9 am -5 pm...I believe there will be a goodie bags for the first 50 in the door!

The Holidays!

I don't have much to share here lately because my life has been rush, rush, rush, except for yesterday.  Yesterday was a day of ME!  I went to workout, then quick shower in anticipation for the day.  I had my hair appointment, then a mani/pedi.  After that it was a quick drive to the rest of the day....a massage and facial.  Yes, it was my day yesterday!  

Last Sunday I finally got my pantry cleaned out.  It has been on my list of tasks to complete since last spring and was just getting worse and worse with crap falling off of the shelves.  Well, Sunday I'd had it!  Looky here at what I accomplished.  I got rid of expired foods and filled a huge box with pasta and rice stuff to give to B&B2 and little Rio.  I only kept some brown rice and whole wheat pasta, the rest was GONE!  Amazing how much brown sugar I have amassed, and I don't even bake but around Christmas time.  Hopefully, I will get to use that up this year.  

I'm looking forward to the holidays even though they seem to be RUSHING to us so fast.  Afton will be home soon to have a wonderful Thanksgiving with us and I am THRILLED!  Then we will jump right into Bri's The Alliday Show.  It is an all family thing with a job for us all!  I won't have a booth this year but will join with Bri's booth and have lots of my notecards (from my paintings.)  Before Af flies back to LA we will again meet with family for a nice evening of 3-way and setting up our Christmas tree and stuff.  I've done this the past few years, including the mother-in-law, brother-in-law and husband and since Af will be here I'm thrilled to have her be a part of the set up. Of course, B&B2 and Rio will be here, that should be interesting with a toddler but what fun!  

Moments of My Life

It's 4:52 a.m. on this crisp Saturday morning and yes I AM AWAKE!  Gosh, I guess sleeping in is never going to happen for me again.  My mind just wakes up and I'm up.  Oh well, it will be a day of painting for me, much like yesterday was.  I finished a couple of paintings, one a commission!

Her name is Rosie!

Yesterday was a monumental day for us with the construction of the new building.  See that open space...

now it is filled with CONCRETE!  Finally something to show for over a couple of years of planning and all the little stuff that you could not tell was construction.  By the end of the year we may be able to rent out part of the building and move our operations in the other part.   

The stone building is undergoing a lot of renovations inside too but I haven't really seen any of it.  The Hubby is doing it separately from the new building and it's a lot of demolition and stuff like new wiring and A/C units on the roof.  I'm just waiting and being patient for the second floor for my new art studio!  (Sigh!)

Kale and Red Wine

This morning is rough.  Rough because yesterday I fixed a fabulous veggie soup with lots of kale and chipotles in adobo sauce.  It was hot and spicy and very yummy.  The rough part is the add on of last night.  We went out to dinner with some of our neighbors to the local Platt College restaurant called Foundations.  Honestly, we've had better food there before but it was great fun to spend time laughing and visiting with the wonderful neighbors.  On top of the spicy soup filled with kale was a lot of red wine, in fact, I'm still a bit tipsy this morning.  That, along with the kale rich spicy soup, well, let's just say I'm not going too far away from the house this morning.  I had planned on staying in bed this morning as I don't have anywhere to go today but of course my bladder and Clayton's bladder was having none of that.  So up and moving (literally) I am this morning.  I think I will go back to bed in a bit.

SOLD

Remember this picture I took?  Well, I painted it...

and felt really good by what was happening on the canvas...

Yesterday in class I finished it and posted it on Facebook.  Well, the hits were plenty and within an hour it was sold.  It's not titled, or even dry but it is SOLD!  I may not have sold anything in my month long show but I sure can sell on Facebook!  YEAH!  Plus, it is going to a friends house.  She already owns 3 of my paintings.  Now that is a fan!

Think I'll call it 

"A VIEW"

Cuteness = Rio Rae

Nothing but cuteness this post.  This little darlin' has become a champion napper, most of the time.  She is sleeping nearly 3 hours every day and that makes work so much more possible.  After nap it snack time though and she loves her snack.  

Just look at those curls that are developing!

Time to play with Granddaddy! 

Just CUTE! 

Her second Halloween and this year she is:  Maggie Simpson!