Loved This Day!

I absolutely loved this day - it started out kind of humid, but it turned beautiful!! There was a wonderful breeze coming in both our south and our west windows. My peonies are not too far from the west side of our house, so every breeze that came in smelled like peonies! The birds were chirping - in fact, they were almost annoying, they were so loud!! Speaking of annoying, there was a dog that barked ALL DAY LONG! I'm pretty sure I know which one it is - poor dog. There are 4 kids in the family, but everyone ignores the dog. I'm sure they just tie it outside and leave it out there until mom gets home from work. It didn't bother me too much, though, because I was able to take a nap despite his noise!

I had a massage today! You've got to love that! I had a massage and Dave got the first coat of paint on the bathroom walls!! He actually got 2 coats on the ceiling too! Tomorrow he's going to work, though, so he'll probably paint tomorrow night while I'm in Wellman at Allison's ballgame. In my defense, though, I did laundry and paid bills and reconciled banking accounts! So I didn't just sit around and eat bon-bons all day!

More later...

Memorial Day 2011

This morning I was able to hear bagpipes and the band from the cemetery through the open windows! That was pretty cool! Dave started removing wallpaper...it isn't coming off in large pieces like it's supposed to! I took off the electrical covers and he took down the mirrors and the lights on either side of the mirrors. We decided it was time to update our bathroom with new mirrors and lights. However, now that we've got the electricity shut off to the vanity lights, we found out that almost the entire upstairs is on one circuit!! AND, most of the wiring is the old paper and string wires - yep, we're going to have to call an electrician! We'll probably replace most of the wiring in the house - maybe a room or two at a time. This little painting project is turning into a big expense! I guess that happens when you own an old house!

While Dave was doing the wallpaper, I went outside and mowed! I liked being outside today...the wind was blowing and the sun was shining! Beautiful day outside!! We went out to Menards to look at lights and mirrors, but until we get an electrician's opinion, we can't decide what we're going to do for lights. I would like to have about 3 lights above the mirrors, but that's going to require holes in the wall and moving the wires! I guess we should have just been happy with the wallpaper!

I haven't felt very well today. I've had a stomach ache all day...I've even taken Pepto AND Rolaids...and I've eaten very little. Hope it's better tomorrow! More later...

Back home in Indiana!

We went back home to Indiana this weekend. They've had even more rain than we've had. Their farmers may not be even 50% done planting...it's really wet over there. It's so flat that the water just stays right where it falls. They've become the land of 10,000 lakes! We had a great time though. We even sat outside at the campground while it was raining. Suzy's retirement was fun, and it was really good to see the family! There seems to be a population explosion there!! Kevin & Katie have 3, Jennifer & Bart have 2, Joy (their cousin) & Seth have 3 and 1 due in July, Ashley & Ryan have 1 and 1 due in July, and Scott & Danielle have a new little guy! Lots of little ones!!

We got home about 2:30 today and I was so tired I took a nap...until 7:45!!! I hope I can sleep tonight! I got to watch the NASCAR race tonight - poor Junior. He ran out of gas with about a thousand feet to go! He was way ahead at the time. Mark got wrecked early, Jimmie blew his engine, and I don't know how Jeff finished. It wasn't a very good night for the Hendricks cars! :(

Dave decided if it was going to rain again, he was ready to pull wall paper off the bathroom walls tomorrow. So before my nap, we did our ceremonial ripping...it's not going to come off easily I'm afraid!

More later...

Thursday, May 26th

I woke up feeling great this morning for only having 4 hours of sleep! Dr. C has done wonders!! However, that was relatively short lived...it didn't take too long of being up and around for my back to start hurting again. I do, however, believe it's better than it was yesterday. I'm not sleeping much, unfortunately. I'm afraid I have restless leg syndrome. Just what I need! It's been getting progressively more annoying, so I'm starting to get a little PO'd! It's really hard to sleep when your legs are "dancing with the stars!!"

Bob, Ann, Dave and I went to the cemeteries today. Neither of the cemeteries had been mowed because they are really soggy! A friend of mine who's on Facebook said he'd had 7.25" of rain in Libertyville. The cemetery there felt like it too! Actually I thought Batavia's was soggier. We ended up with extra flowers this year...hmmmm, I hope we didn't forget anyone. I even walked up the hill to our great, great grandparents' grave. They're in a really old part of the cemetery, and no one else goes up there. I would do all of the great-grandparents and great,greats' if I could find them all! I like the historical aspect of decorating graves. Through the years we've acquired more graves to decorate - we do all of Mom's brothers & sisters as well as her parents and grand-parents. Then we do all of Dad's brothers & sisters (and cousins - we've lost 3 on this side of the family), as well as his parents and grand-parents too! Then I always go up the hill to do Grandma A's parents and grandparents.

Tomorrow we're leaving early in the morning for Indiana. Dave's sister is retiring from teaching and we want to be there for her party. Plus, Dave's family always get together for Memorial Day and Labor Day...they used to all of them camp, but now just Don and some cousins camp. We'll go out to the campgrounds though - have a glass of wine and enjoy the camp fire! We're coming back home on Sunday, so it'll be a quick trip. Unfortunately we're going to miss our church's celebration of our graduates. We have 3 girls graduating who have beautiful singing voices and they're all going to perform on Sunday. :(

Look what I found today. I love this picture!! Reminds me of my "other" life!

I also wanted to share a picture of Allison - she is always trying to fill in the hole on the pitching mound! It just cracks me up! She got rained out last night. Next game is June 1st in Wellman. We'll be traveling the back roads of eastern Iowa again!!

More later...

Wednesday, May 25th

Can you believe this month is almost gone already? Where did it go??? It's a rainy night in May - should still be April. The May flowers may drown after all of this rain!! We just had 2" last night - some of our friends to the north had 3.25" and some to the south had 5"!! I guess we were lucky...but we've got huge puddles still!

I went to see Dr. C today for my back. He worked my legs/hips so hard that I had a really hard time getting off the table. I'm sure it will feel better after a few times of this, but right now I hurt!! I go back again next week. Tonight Dave and I had fresh asparagus (from Cantril) and BLT's (bacon, lettuce and tomato - all from Cantril, too)! Great supper!!

Tomorrow afternoon, we're going to go decorate at the cemeteries, because Dave & I are planning to go back home to Indiana for the weekend. His sister, Suzy, is retiring and the family is having a little party for her. It'll be fun to see all of them again!

I'm watching American Idol tonight. It's jam-packed with stars! Speaking of stars, I watched the Oprah "Surprise" party - lots of stars there too. I was kind of disappointed in today's show. I know she "loves" all of us - we're what made her wealthy!!! I will miss her show though. I really wanted to go to one of the tapings, but I guess I can cross that off my list!

More later...

DWTS Finale

Another beautiful day in the 'hood! This morning I had "coffee" with my new best friend, Wendy! We neither one drank coffee, and we've been NEW best friends for about 3 years now! She is the accompanist for our church choir. She is a wonderful young woman with three beautiful and talented kids. I sometimes get to pick her youngest daughter up from HS where she's a 9th grader! Wendy and I solved the problems of the entire world in our 1.5 hour "coffee"! It was fun - hope we can do it again!

Here's another card for you. This card is also made entirely with SU products. Whoops - not quite. Kathy ran out of cardstock for the base of this card, so it's another paper. It's not nearly as heavy as SU, so it's not quite as nice. I do like the color combination of this brown with pink. This is called a twisted easel card. As you can see in the second picture, when the card is open, it is twisted and because it stands up on its own, it's an easel! I love this card. I really like the pleated ribbon technique along the side. I should use that embellishment more often!!

Pretty nice, huh?!!

I'm not writing much tonight. I've been watching the DWTS finale. It is really good tonight. They just announced the 3rd place couple - Chelsea & Mark. I figured they would win the trophy! See what I know!! Hines & Kim won. He is really a good dancer. I spent 4 of my 5 votes last night on him. I didn't dream that Kirstie had a chance, so I only used 1 vote on her. Maybe I should have voted all my votes for Kirstie. I really wanted Max to win one time.

More later...

Monday, May 23rd

It was another beautiful day today! I love this kind of weather. Any time I don't have to have either the furnace or the air conditioner running is perfect! Plus, the sun was shining brightly!!

I thought I'd show you a couple of the cards we made yesterday at stamping class. All products are from Stampin' Up! This first one is a type of easel card (in other words, it stands up like it's on an easel). It's made from a Sizzix die that SU sells. There are these two sizes of butterflies on the die as well as another larger one. I ordered this die...I'm into butterflies right now, did you notice? This is a small card - probably about 2.5x2.5 and could be used as a place card or a name tag also. I can also see two of these attached to a regular sized card. One of the ladies suggested using one of these AND one flat butterfly on a card front - cool!This card is also made out of all SU products. It was colored with SU watercolor pencils and then highlighted with SU blender pens. The blender pens from SU may be one of my top 2-3 products in my studio. I love the look they give to watercolor pencils! Kathy taught us how to make a perfect bow too. Unfortunately mine is a little un-perfect!
I really like this card. I think it's very pretty. Tomorow I'll post another couple of cards we made.

Today I went to church to help make backpacks to put books in. I worked for 3 hours and there's still TONS to do. There are so many steps to making these bags that it is very time-consuming. We've got about 30-40 of the packs cut out, but by the time we got to time for sewing, we were all getting worn out and going home, one by one! I came home about 1:00 because Dave and I had made plans to go to Cantril to the Dutchman's Store. We went down to Cantril to get some groceries and just to be together. It was lots of fun!!

DWTS was great tonight. I'm afraid Kirstie is going to be the first one eliminated tomorrow night. She and Max have done a wonderful job, but she's just not as talented as Hines and Chelsea. I voted for Hines, but I'm pretty sure Chelsea will win. I think Hines is wonderful and because he's a professional football player and not an actress (who's 22), I think he deserves the trophy more! We'll know tomorrow! More later...

Wow!!

Our Worship in Music Sunday was spectacular!! We sang all of our songs with barely a mistake - it was so much fun! The only bad thing about it all was that sweat was dripping down my face the whole time! I sure wish we had ceiling fans in church! We cook up front while people on the outside aisles are freezing. That's where the air conditioning ducts are - silly people! They should move to the inside aisle where it's warmer - but then they wouldn't have the heat/cool to complain about! Remind me of this post when I'm several years older and have hopefully cooled down!!

I also went to stamping this afternoon. We made 5 cards - all of which are cool. I'll try to get some pictures taken so I can post them...hopefully tomorrow. Tomorrow, however, is a busy one. Our church has decided to undertake a mission of sewing small backpacks and putting books in them for children who can't afford books. Then to take this mission one step farther, we're also going to be reading to them starting June 1st. Most of these children come from non-English speaking homes, so we'll be helping them read AND we're going to sing Bible school songs, etc. Should be fun. We're doing an assembly-line sewing book bags tomorrow at church. So I'll be taking my Janome to church, along with some cutting boards, utensils, etc. I don't know how long we're going to work...just as long as my back holds up, probably!

More later...

Saturday May 21st

This morning started out kind of rainy and drizzly, so I figured Allison's games would be cancelled. I knew I didn't have to leave here until 9:30, so I took my time getting around this morning. I came downstairs at 9:28 ready to leave, but noticed I'd missed a call from Vicki on my cell phone. She called at 9:24 to tell me that the games had been moved up and the first one was starting soon. I called her back to confirm what she'd said (cause she was talking waaaay too fast!) and she said the game was starting right then. So, I took off for Mt. Pleasant! I didn't really know where the ball park was, so I called Dave who called his friend in Mt. P...he gave me two possible locations! I couldn't find the first street I was supposed to find, so I went to the second location and that's where they were playing!! I'm glad I missed the first turnoff or I'd have missed the whole game! As it was I got there for the last inning and got to see victory #1. I guess Allison pitched, but because the game started early, she didn't get any warm-up time, so she didn't do her usual bang-up job. Therefore, she was kind of down on herself by the time I got there.

We played back-to-back games and I only had time to go get the chairs out of the trunk of the car. Usually I sit on the bleachers, but they were wooden and were WET! Since I had two chairs in my trunk, I brought both of them so that Marilyn didn't have to sit on the wet wood either! We won game #2 also! After game #2, I noticed that Fairfield and Ottumwa were playing against each other. I knew several of the girls on the O-town team (or their parents anyway) and upon closer inspection of the Fairfield team, I noticed two Allison girls. These girls would be my cousin's grand-daughters or my 4th cousins (or 1st cousins 3 times removed!) That was fun to watch!

Our third game didn't happen until about 2:30. Allison pitched against O-town. She started out kind of slow...she had no speed on her pitches. She got rocked for 4 runs in the first inning, but our girls came back with 4 runs in the bottom of the first. She pitched a little better in the second inning, but because of poor fielding and stolen bases, they scored 3 more! Luckily, so did we in the bottom of the inning! There was a one-hour time limit on the games today so we had to play another inning just to break the tie. This time, Allison pitched pretty well, but one little O-town girl hit a grounder just past Allison and she made it into a home run just because our girls couldn't catch the ball so they tried to throw her out at each base, but each time the person on the base couldn't catch the ball, so the runner stole another base! It was a comedy of errors!! Allison got the rest of the batters out. Now we're up and HAVE to have 2 runs!! We got the bases loaded and scored one run - no outs - and Allison is up to bat. She gets a full count on her when the O-town coach said Allison was batting out of order. So she had to go back to the dugout and the other Allison batted. She got a hit which scored the second runner and we got victory #3! Unfortunately our Allison thought it was her fault that she was out of order so she had tears. We had batted in this same order for all of our innings - the O-town coach just chose that time to figure it out! Regardless, it turned out to be a beautiful day at the ball park! I got some sun and the girls got 3 victories. I assume they'll play the Fairfield team tomorrow, but I won't be there. I've got Worship in Music Sunday at church and stamping at 1:00!

Busy weekend!! More later...

Friday, May 20th

I was a little slow getting around today! I knew I had to dress up a bit for my PEO luncheon, so I kind of dawdled around in my jammies before taking my shower this morning. I didn't want to "dirty" two sets of clothes!! Silly me!

Our PEO luncheon was wonderful as usual. We had the best sandwiches today. The meat tasted like BBQ'd ham, so we asked the lady who'd brought it what her recipe was. She said it was hickory smoked pulled pork from Costco which she'd put in her crockpot with a little Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce! It was truly delicious - just the right amount of BBQ sauce...very little! Our meeting was after our luncheon, so I didn't get home until about 3:00. Dave had just closed his eyes for a nap, so I went upstairs to watch Oprah. I'm really going to miss her shows...only 3 more!

Tomorrow I am going to Mt Pleasant to watch Allison play ball. She was scheduled to play at 8:00 AM, 9:30 AM and 3:00 PM...I wasn't real thrilled about the 8:00 AM game!! Vicki just called me to tell me that their games had been postponed to 10:30, 11:45 and 4:45. I like those times LOTS better!! She said it was pouring in Washington, though, and had been for about 45 minutes so she was pretty sure she'd be calling me again in the morning. I can't go watch Allison on Sunday, so I'm hoping to get to see her tomorrow. Bob & Ann can't go tomorrow, so I'm representing the family. Dave's going to Habitat - the dedication of this home is in 3 weeks so they're scurrying around trying to get it done.

More later...

Great Thursday!

We sure did have a beautiful day today! It wasn't terribly warm, but pretty nonetheless! I had a wonderful day just doing what I wanted to do! This morning, however, I went to Cardinal HS to present a PEO Star scholarship to a young lady who is VERY deserving! She got lots of scholarship money today - I wish I'd been paying more attention and added it all up! Anyway, back to the Star scholarship...PEO gave 3 Star scholarships in the entire state of Iowa. Two of those three were to girls from Cardinal HS!! How cool is that? A school in little old Eldon, Iowa, has two PEO Star Scholars!! When I got to the awards assembly, I didn't know that. Then the presenter before me presented her Star Scholarship and then me! Since she said basically everything I was going to say, I just ad libbed - I was much more comfortable doing that than reading a script! It was fun!

I came home, changed clothes, ate my lunch and played all day! I did go outside to try to take some iris pictures. They are truly beautiful right now. It was hard to get a great picture, though, because the wind was blowing pretty hard while I was out there! This iris is from bulbs we got from mom, who got them from her sister, Wanda. Wanda had the most beautiful flowers! I got this one from Bob and Ann to replace my big yellow hybrid which froze out one year! It's a beautiful iris and I was especially intrigued with the inside of it. This one was more protected from today's wind.

Speaking of wind, Dave is outside right now blowing a million Maple squirters out of our gutters! The trees here are still loaded with the little devils too, so he's going to have to do this again! They are pretty dry now, so in today's wind they just blew and blew and rustled as they blew!

I've also attached a picture of the card I made where I was able to get the flower to stick...it's been on this card for two days, standing upright, and it hasn't fallen off yet! This will be one of those cards that will be given to someone, NOT mailed. The flower is too big to make it through the mail slot! I think it's really pretty, though!
Here is another card I made a couple of days ago. I think I will make more using this technique. To me, the background looks like a Grandma's Fan quilt pattern. Verve Stamps calls it sun rays or something to that effect. It makes a very attractive background, plus you get to use up some "junk" cardstock behind it because it doesn't show on the finished card!! This entire card is made with scraps of paper from DCWV, except the blotchy looking one - I made it with ink and shaving cream! I used my scalloped circle Nestabilities to make my flower! The ribbon and the big yellow brad are just miscellaneous "stuff" I had around my craft studio!

Since Dave got home at a decent hour, I fixed tenderloins for us for supper. My, they were good! For dessert we had key lime pie and I must say it was scrumptious!!

Tomorrow I have a PEO luncheon. It's one of those times when I wish I could be two people. One of my high school friends is back from Florida and some classmates are meeting to have lunch with her. I'd like to be there as well, but I keep preaching the my PEO sisters that PEO is a prior commitment, so I'd better practice my preaching!!

More later...

May 18th - Wednesday

I had a headache most of the day today...there must be a low pressure system nearby! I finally took a nap about 2:00 and my headache went away. It was awfully close to a migraine, but not quite, thank goodness!

We went to Bob Blew's visitation tonight...that was a sad one. His son turned 18 yesterday. She was doing really well, I thought. It was tough, though.

Choir practice went really well. We actually got done early! I left church about 8:45 and it was still light out - that's unheard of!!

Dave thinks he's going to have a few days off coming up - it's supposed to rain for 5 days or so. He said maybe we'd try to find out where the new Pirates of the Caribbean was showing and go see it. I can hardly wait. I love these shows!! Plus, Johnny Depp isn't bad either!

Tomorrow I've got to get up early. I'm presenting a PEO Star Scholarship to a young lady from Cardinal High School. They have their awards ceremony at 9:30 in the morning! Then tomorrow night is my camera club. More later...

Abundant Sunshine!

When we were in Florida this past winter, lots of days the weather forecaster said we'd be having abundant sunshine...today it happened in SE Iowa!! It was a little chilly this morning, but it was beautiful this afternoon and evening. Have you guys checked out the moon tonight? Talk about beautiful!! It's a full moon, which could explain some of the craziness in Ottumwa the last couple of days...two suicides, a murder, a car wreck which resulted in a fatality, and a stillborn baby. Wow!

I had a fun day - I made a cool card today. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of it uploaded yet. You'll have to wait until tomorrow to see it. Tonight my sorority had a progressive dinner. First stop was our house for salad...then to Marlene's for pizza, and finally at Mary Sue's for dessert! The only problem with tonight is I don't know who got kicked off of DWTS! I guess I'll have to watch TV in the morning to see.

More later...

Patchy Frost Tonight!?!?

What's going on? I was brought up to believe that you could plant your tomatoes after May 15th because that was the last frost date in the spring. This is May 16th and they're saying patchy frost tonight. I sure hope I don't have to replant my tomatoes or replace my houseplants which are also outside! Dave covered the hanging planters, bless his heart!

Today was a sad day in O-town. One of our eye doctors died last night and word got around town today. He was a really nice guy. He will be missed. There were two other deaths today too, plus some ex-IHCC employees' baby was stilborn. Bad day. I know that there are lots of prayers being sent to God's ears tonight! RIP, Bob and Pino and the other two whose names I don't know.

I made a couple more cards today...one will go to Bob's wife and family. This is the sympathy card I made for Jane. It's much prettier in real life. The polka dot paper is from Die Cuts With a View and the pink paper is Stampin' Up. The lace is some scrap that was left over from some project I did a long time ago. The sentiment on the front says "from the heart". The sentiment and inks are from SU as well. The butterfly is from a DCWV paper and I used my new Cuttlebug die and embossing folder on it.
This is a birthday card. I got the paper in the scrapbook shop in Ft Lauderdale...it's another DCWV paper. The card itself is from SU, the butterfly is another DCWV paper and the lace is another scrap from my scrap stash!

I hope you like these cards. I woke up feeling very creative. I also was pretty ambitious. I cleaned house today because my sorority group will be here tomorrow night at 6:00 for the first stop in a progressive dinner! When Dave got home, he vacuumed and carried chairs for me. He's such a good hubby!!

More later...

Another super Sunday!

I really love Sundays! I know I haven't always loved Sundays because following Sundays are Mondays...but now that I'm not working, I LOVE Sundays!! This morning, our choir got applause!! We sang, I'm Gonna Sing When the Spirit Says Sing, and the congregation must have loved it because they clapped. I can't wait until next week because if they liked this week's anthem, they're gonna love next week's! I'd love to have a packed church next week - it should be fun! Pastor David's sermon today was about the Beatitudes, but he presented them visually, which he does such a fantastic job of!!

After church Dave helped me get our St, James baked beans ready for this evening's choir potluck. These beans are Dear Abby's recipe and boy are they good. I'm not a baked bean fan, but these were delicious, even if I do say so myself! Their "secret" ingredient is sharp cheddar cheese! I will be making them again - they're very easy. Several people asked for the recipe so we told them to Google Dear Abby's baked beans!!

Our choir party was lots of fun! We had many of us there - Mark & Mary cooked burgers and brats and everyone else brought side dishes! Good food, good fellowship and good fun! Before we left, we gathered around their piano and sang I Saw the Light!! It was a great way to end an evening!!

More later...

Yucky Saturday!

Today was cold and rainy - a good day to stay in and "play" with things, like cards and fabric! Last night when the pretty flower fell off of this card, I tried to think what I could replace it with. I found a fake flower - an hydrangea (I think) and pulled off one of the flowerlets. This is what I came up with:
I thought it looked a little stark, though, so my next step was to add some leaves to the flower. What do you think? I like it! I especially like the color of the flower...I've never seen an hydrangea this color, but so what? I'll call it artistic license! The cards look like they are different colors, but actually one picture is taken with a flash and the other one isn't!

I still had another one of the backgrounds made, so I got to looking through some of my craft "stuff" and found this satin flower and lace medallion. I think they made this card really pretty. I might see what happens if I add some drops of ink to the satin flower - see if I can get a pink flower!!
Which one do you like the best - the one yesterday, or one of these? I found some glue dots that I apparently was out of, so I think I can get the flower with pearls to stick with one of these dots.

I also got some fabric out today - decided to tackle one of my UFO's (unfinished objects). The pattern is An Unusual Feathered Star by Karen K Stone. It's rather complicated and uses something like 110 fabrics for a 35x35 foundation pieced quilt. Other than the pattern, there's only one piece of paper in the pattern...no instructions! This piece of paper refers to instructions but there aren't any. Now what do I do??? I'm going to send an email to Ms. Stone to see if there are any instructions and since this paper says (please refer to instructions before cutting), I'm hoping she'll help me out!! If she doesn't, I'll just punt (guess I worked in a football office too long!!)

Tomorrow is church and afternoon Bible study...then the choir is having our end-of-the-year cookout at 5:00. Busy day! I didn't go to Wilton today to watch Allison play ball...it was just too cold for me to want to sit out at ball games. They play tomorrow too, but I'm too busy to go. More later...

Friday, May 13th

in-law's birthday. This would have been my late-sister-in-law's birthday - yesterday was her grand-daughter's 9th birthday! I miss Bonnie...she and I used to sit out on the porch when they were here and we'd talk forever. The guys would come in and turn on the light - we'd been talking so long and hard that we didn't realize it had gotten dark!

Today I went to Mt. Pleasant to see my Aunt who is in a nursing home there. I feel really bad for her. She lived on her own for so long and she was really quite active. Now she just sits in a chair. She did walk to the bathroom with the aid of a walker, but she also needed lots of help to get out of her chair. I don't know that she could get up on her own. She's 92 though, so I guess she has earned the right to sit for a while! She has bird feeders outside her window (all the rooms do) and while I was there she had 3-4 gold finches on her feeder AND a woodpecker! If they would turn her chair a little, she'd enjoy watching them. The feeder is about 6 inches from her window, so she can get an up-close-and-personal look at the birdies!!

After visiting with Auntie Mae, I went to Fairfield to have lunch with Sudi and Howard. Tomorrow is Sudi's birthday and I wanted to take her out to lunch. We went to Johnny's Place on the square. It was the first time we'd been there, and it may very well be the last. It wasn't anything special! In my haste to get to Mt. P this morning I forgot Sudi's card, so now I've got to mail it and she won't get it until Monday. Sorry, Sudi! Speaking of cards:


I've been working on this card in my mind for a long time. Unfortunately, it was not any easier to do in real life than it was in my brain!! I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder to dry emboss the top layer and a Versamark pad with gold embossing powder to highlight the writing. I used the lightest touch I could possibly use, but I still got Versamark in between the lines. I don't know how else to do this. I guess I need help!! As for the flower, I took a white flower and used a Pretty in Pink ink refill to color it. The butterfly is made with a Cuttlebug die and embossing folder. The pearls on the butterfly, as well as the papers are all Stampin' Up. I love trying new techniques, even if they don't turn out quite like I wanted them to. Shortly after I took this picture, the flower fell off, so I have to try something else. I'll have time to work on it tomorrow! Dave's going to work Habitat and I'm going to play all day!

Beautiful Day!

I loved today...beautiful weather. I just love having the doors and windows open. I mowed the yard this morning. Dave said it was supposed to rain by 11:00, so I got down at 10:50...no rain until a few drops this afternoon. Right now, however, I think we're going to get hit with quite a bit of rain!! It's thundering and lightning quite a bit and the radar screen looks pretty awesome!

I wanted to share a couple of pictures with you today. This first one is a picture of my little hummer dude!! I'm sorry it's not a very good picture...I had my camera set to where it focused on the screen instead of infinity...I'll have to fix that! If you enlarge it, it's a great picture of the screen!! His little girlfriend was here today too. She doesn't stay as long as he does. She just comes in, gets a sip and leaves. He DRINKS!!
I also had a little wren on the front steps this afternoon. We've never had a wren here, so this was novel! I tried to get a picture of him, but he/she was a bit camera shy. This little one sat out on the steps just yelling at a squirrel that was in the yard!! I love their sound - even when they're scolding a squirrel!

This second picture is of the tote bag I finished. This will be my "personal" bag that I carry on airplanes. It's approximately 22" across by 14" deep, so it'll hold quite a bit! I even put some velcro on the inside so that it will stay closed going through the xray machine at the airport!

That's all for tonight. Choir rehearsal was wonderful. We had a full house..three of our young people were home from college!

More later...

Tuesday, May 10th

It sure was a warm day today. It's 84 degrees at 8:35 PM! We set a new record with a high today...I don't know how hot it got, but I know it was hot...AND humid!

I got lots done today. I paid bills, went to HyVee to get groceries, and finished my tote bag. I'll try to get a picture on here tomorrow night. I also had a surprise visit today! My hummingbird male was here about 7:30 tonight!! I'm so excited!! I tried to get a picture of him, but I think I need to wash my windows - it wasn't very clear!

Dave got home about 8:15 tonight! That was also a surprise! He didn't figure he'd be home until about 9:30 or so.

Tomorrow it's supposed to be a little cooler, so I'm hoping to mow the yard! It was just too hot for me today!!

More later...

It's 9:00...Do you know where...

your husband is? Mine is still at work! I just got home from a disciples meeting and he's not here yet. It's also still 80 degrees outside. When we left the church it felt like summer instead of May 9th! Tomorrow it's maybe going to be in the 90's - wow! I refuse to turn on the air conditioning this early!

I had a good day today. I just love having the windows and doors open. I keep looking for my little hummingbird, but still haven't seen him. I hope he comes soon - I miss them! Several people have said they haven't had any either, so maybe ours are just slow in arriving.

More later...

Gorgeous Day

Today was a beautiful day! Dave went to work early this morning, so I got up and went to church by myself. The last two weeks, Mark & Mary have been in charge of our praise music. We've been singing "old" songs that everyone knows, like I Saw the Light. So much fun! The choir anthem today was A Mother's Love and I made it through the song without crying! I'm not very good about not crying on Mother's Day. I really miss my mom! I never knew that I could miss her more than I miss my dad, but I do. She and I had so much fun once I moved back to SE Iowa. I am so glad that I got to spend such quality time with her! RIP, Mom!

After church, I came home and took a short nap. Jami and Bryan both called me to tell me Happy Mother's Day. That was really nice. I love those two kids! They are such wonderful adults! Dave got hot about 4:00 and we planted the perennials that I had bought, including 4 tomato plants. I also sowed some cilantro seeds and some zinnia seeds. Now we need some rain! Poor Dave is so tired - he's been asleep since about 7:00. I may not wake him up to go to bed - I may just let him sleep!

I'm watching Brothers & Sisters - the season finale! Next Sunday is Desperate Housewives' season finale. It ought to be good - they usually have a cliff hanger for a finale! More later...

Perfect Day

This was an absolutely beautiful day to sit outside and watch a softball game...well, actually 3 games!! Not only were there 3 games, but they were one right after the other. The Washington A's wear black and orange. Today their black pants were a little hot! Allison had on a black underarmor shirt under her jersey and after the first game, it came off! She ended up getting a little sunburned, but at least she was cooler!! I wore shorts and a short-sleeved top, but had a sweatshirt on for early this morning. It felt really good until about halfway through the first game and then I shed it! I am burned too. Both Allison and I had on sunscreen! My sunscreen was a 30 spf and I'm pretty sure Allison's was a 45, but we burned anyway. The A's lost their first game 6-5, but they came back from being down 6-0...they almost won that on. Then the second game was B-O-R-I-N-G!! It was a walk-a-thon. First they walked 5 of our girls, then we walked 5 of theirs. The second inning was the same thing...the pitchers were awful. When the third inning came around, we "batted" first and they walked 5 of our girls. Then Allison came in and got the outs with only 1 girl scoring. We won it! For the third game, Allison got to pitch the entire game and we won it 10-1 I think. She did a great job and our girls rocked the other pitcher for 10 runs! At least she threw pitches that went near home plate so our girls could swing! The third game was much more fun! We really like it when Allison pitches! The games go a lot faster!!

Since we played 3 games in a row starting at 9:00, we got home relatively early - around 4:00. Dave is still not home - bless his heart. I'm going to do my Bible Study lesson and then I'm crashing. Something about being outside all day. More later...

Beautiful Friday!

What a beautiful day we had today. I got up before 7:00 this morning...I think it was the sun shining in our window. I'm just not used to the sun! Since I was up so early, I went out to Wally World because I ran out of thread. While I was there, I got groceries too! Things are really a lot cheaper out there than at HyVee. One of the things that I buy for Dave's lunch is a Little Debbie's product. At HyVee, I pay $3.49 and at Walmart it's $2.78 every day. I also wanted to buy a BIG bag of M&Ms at HyVee the other day, but they were something like $9.48. At Walmart, the same bag was $7.98! Big difference!! I guess I'll have to do a little more comparison shopping.

When I got home, Dave had been home and put gas in the lawn mower...hint, hint, hint! So I mowed the lawn. I don't mind mowing with this lawnmower - I love the power steering!! I also swept the kitchen floor so my back really got a workout today!

Tomorrow morning bright and early (like 6:30 AM) Bob & Ann are picking me up. We're going to Agency to eat breakfast at the fire station and then we're off to Oxford to watch Allison play ball. Maybe we'll get a tan tomorrow - yay!!!

More later...

Thursday, May 12th

I am so sick of gloomy days! Tomorrow sounds like it is supposed to be beautiful - sunny and 70!! Now, THAT I like! I'm planning to sit outside tomorrow and just absorb some sun - it's been a long time coming! I'm also hoping to get out and get some pictures taken. I'd love to go to Pella, but I'm not up to fighting that mob scene just to get some pictures of tulips!

Today I had a massage and, as per usual, it was wonderful. Since I'm still having allergy issues, I decided to take a nap after I had my massage. Now that it's almost bedtime, I'm going to take an allergy pill and hopefully sleep all night! I'm sure Dave will be going to work tomorrow, so if I don't get a good night's sleep maybe I can sleep in!

More later...

Good Wednesday

Today was a wonderful day, until about 7:30 tonight! I had lunch with Sudi and Howard and it's always good to see them! I picked up several new books to read while we were at the Tattered Cover...and I love reading! I got started on a tote bag. I went to the meal tonight at church, after which I went to the grocery store to get groceries. Then I came home and played a couple of games on the computer, changed into shorts, and went back to church for choir practice at 7:30. About the time choir was supposed to start, I told Angie (whom I sit by) that I thought I was going to sneeze. I didn't just sneeze once, I had a full-blown allergy "issue"!! I was able to stick around for most of practice, but I went through a whole little package of Kleenex and I was miserable! So about 8:45, I asked to be excused and came home. I've taken an allergy pill, but unfortunately once histamines are released, it takes a while to stop them from playing havoc!

More later...

Tuesday, May 3rd

This was one of those uneventful days - I did as little as possible and loved it! I even thought about going back to bed after breakfast, but I didn't. Tonight I had a sorority meeting and I didn't get home until about 10:00.

After I told Dave good night, I came downstairs to find out who got kicked off of DWTS. Finally, they eliminated Kendra!!! Now next week, hopefully it will be Romeo and then we're left with 4 couples - any of who could win the season!

Now I can quit and go to bed! More later...

I love Mondays!

Isn't this beautiful? This is one of Bob & Ann's Red Bud trees! I just think it is gorgeous. In fact, all of the blooming trees and bushes have been beautiful this spring...it's just too bad that it's been too cold to be outside enjoying the beauty! Maybe later this week!!


I had a very productive day today! I finished a purse today. This is called a Claire purse from Lazy Girl designs. It's made from 7 fat quarters of fabric. I found the button in my mom's button tin! I love it...I finally have a purse that I can use with something other than green and blue!
Dave thinks this purse is really classy! Tomorrow I'm hoping to work on another tote bag...one that will go a little better with my carry-on bag. I use a tote bag as my purse for my personal bag on airplanes. We don't carry luggage - just a carry-on and a personal bag. Dave usually has his computer and I put lots in my tote bag! I'll have to see if I can find enough fabric to make one that is green since that's the color of my carry-on. I think I must have ADHD though, because I can't just sit and work on something until I'm done...I work on something for a while, then go to something else, etc.!

Dave went back to work today. He is happy to be making money! More later...

Great Sunday!

I don't know what happened to my post from last evening, but for some reason it is gone! So, I'll try to remember what I wrote about. I'm sure I told you about Pastor David's sermon - he "starred" in a drama about the Good Samaritan. He was the priest who walked by the injured neighbor. My Dave was actually the Good Samaritan. I really like the dramas...they bring the Bible stories to life for me. You should see the kids' faces when he does something like this. I'm sure they won't forget the story of the Good Samaritan any time soon.

After church, we picked up Bob & Ann and went to the Libertyville church for their annual pork loin and chicken dinner. I was watching the pieces of meat as they took them out of the roaster and decided that I wanted pork. I thought Ann had gotten pork and her piece of meat looked scrumptious! Well, the pork WAS wonderful...only Ann had chicken! They also served green beans that tasted like they were fresh from the garden, as well as either a baked potato or cheesy potato casserole, rolls and dessert! The dessert table was really hard for us...they all looked so good. Dave got rhubarb pie, Ann took what I call Chocolate Dream dessert, Bob took a banana cream pie with a fabulous crust, and I took a piece of my ex-sister-in-law's custard pie. It was awesome. Fortunately we only took one dessert. There were desserts that looked so good - like lemon meringue pie, cherry pie, maple nut angel food cake! It was fun. We also got to see a bunch of people we don't see much of any more.

After lunch and a short rest, I had Bible study at church and Dave worked outside. He painted RoundUp all around my peonies, put some weed killer in my perennial beds, and even mowed. He's been having a good time outside - puttering in his garage, cleaning out things he doesn't use any more, and even painting his work bench and cabinets. It was a good day for both of us!

More later...