Happy New Year

2010 Goals:

1. Read through the Bible in one year.

2. Blog once a week, with pictures.

3. Sew 12 items for church.

Do you make resolutions or make goals?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Here is a picture of my mom and dad, probably taken 45 years ago. My mom made her outfit.

This year I sewed:

2 dresses

15 aprons

1 skirt

Christmas Break

This is a picture of Bailey putting her head through the cat door from the kitchen looking into the garage. She can't fit through but she loves to look out to see what is going on! We don't have a cat but the previous owners did.

The week between Christmas and New Year's Eve is when I do my "spring cleaning". Today I cleaned out the hall closet, my bathroom cupboards and drawers and my bedroom closet. I feels so good to get rid of things I don't use that are just taking up space and cluttering things up. I vacuumed out the cupboards and drawers and refolded all the towels. I also vacuumed up the dust bunnies that were floating around. I felt I desered a break after all that work so I sat and read my book about sewing fabrics.

I hope everyone had a wonderful, blessed Christmas. Have a Happy New Year!

Birthday Party

We had DSH's birthday party today. It was a lunchy/brunchy party with three out of four of the girls and their little people. I got some pictures of the birthday boy with the three granddaughter's on his lap and then the batteries died. There were no new batteries to be found. Add that to the shopping list. I made devilled eggs, fruit salad, rolls, deli meat, cheese and munchies like carrots, cherry tomatoes, chips, dip and crackers. The birthday boy requested frosted brownies with chocolate chips added to the batter. He likes his chocolate! I put a 5 and a 1 on his brownie "cake". It wasn't big enough for 51 candles!

Tonight is a fancy dinner with friends at a Brazilian Steak House. We have been once before. It is a big splurge but worth it. Every kind of meat you could ask for and as much as you want. The servers are dressed kind of like pirates and they bring huge hunks of meat out on their swords then slice off as much as you want at your table. All the sides are buffet style. Very different and delicious.

More later!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are so blessed in this country! Thank you, Lord, for all you have given us.

May you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends.

Birthday Sewing

My sister had a birthday last month so I decided to make an apron for her. Sorry the picture is sideways. Still don't know how to rotate! She collects roosters and I found this wonderful rooster fabric at Fabric.com. I used a vintage pattern. There was enough left over for a little apron for her granddaughter.

Here is the little apron. So fun!

First Born

Happy Birthday to my very special daughter. She is 31 today. I am so proud of her and all that she has accomplished. I hope you enjoyed your day, my Sweet Pea!

Dead Tree

Here is a sideways picture of what our tree used to look like!

(Actually, it is a neighbors camphor that isn't dead)

Here is a picture of our dead camphor tree. So sad.

Oh dear, I don't know how to rotate! Sorry. :( Another lesson needed from DSSD. Anyway, the sideways one shows the bottom half and the other picture is obviously the top half. Removal and replacement is an expensive future project.

Photo of Mr Buck's clean teeth!

Here is Mr. Buck's nice clean teeth. He is a black and white dog so his gum tissues are pink and black so ignore the black above his canine tooth. That is normal for him.

Mr. Buck Gets His Teeth Cleaned

Ew-wee! I am so excited about Mr. Buck's visit to the Fluffy Puppy!! The groomer has a dog hygienist come in every other month to clean dog's teeth. He doesn't use sedation! He is absolutely AMAZING!! He is like the Dog Whisperer. Jason, the "dog whisperer hygienist" take the patient to the back room. The room is about 5' x 5' square with low walls and glass on one side where the appointment desk is so I could watch the whole thing. He has towels on the floor and he sits on the floor with the dog between his legs but one leg is crooked over the dog to hold him in position. Jason pulls the dogs head to his chest and talks to him and strokes him. He puts his left hand between the dogs teeth to hold his mouth open and uses his right hand to clean using the same type of instruments I use when I clean people's teeth. He has an ultrasonic scaler, too. Mr. Buck was nervous and pulled away sometimes but Jason stroked his his and pulled him back in to his chest and kept working. Mr. Buck never cried or anything. I was so amazed, I can't tell you! I got scolded for not brushing my dogs' teeth. Shame on me! I KNOW better! But, life gets in the way and Mr. Buck does get his ears cleaned out by me three times a week plus all the usual dog chores. I will start brushing his teeth. Anyway, Mr Buck now has clean teeth and fresh breath. It was "only" $120.00. Compared to over $500.00 at the vet, it was a bargain!

Keep flossing!

Feelin' Accomplished

Today was a busy, productive day. Feels good! Went to work to see one patient, got out of there at 9:35, went to the doctor's office to pick up my youngest daughter who was having a not-so-fun procedure. Her DSH was at home with the kids. Read for an hour and a half while waiting for her to wake up. Took her home and met Bailey, the dog they are dog-sitting. Played with granddaughters and dog. Went grocery shopping on the way home and spent way too much money, put everything away, ate lunch at 2:00. Ran three loads of laundry, vacuumed, mopped kitchen floor, did dishes (still no dishwasher), dusted, put clean sheets on the bed, played ball with my Bailey, cleaned both bathrooms and started dinner. While dinner was cooking I sewed! Oh, yeah, I watered the lawn while I ate lunch.

I can't remember if I told the dishwasher story. We have lived in this house for almost 7 years. It is a 53 year old house (same age as me). The house had a nice new Bosch dishwasher when be bought it. The dishwasher was grossly clogged with hard water deposits after three years. I took it all apart and cleaned out all the deposits. Actually, I couldn't get it all. It kept getting clogged up until I insisted on a new dishwasher. We went to Sears and got the cheapest one they had. On sale. The kitchen is 53 years old and disgusting so I didn't want another expensive dishwasher that would just get ruined. I want a whole new kitchen with a water softener! Well, the plan was to get the cheap dishwasher, let it get ruined by the hard water and gut the kitchen and replace everything. The economy tanked, the banks got stingy with 2nds (what do you mean our house went down in value and you won't lend us any money?!?!?!?).

New plan: get a water softener and new dishwasher then save like fiends to do the kitchen.

Can we say "Money Pit"?

I really am very thankful for my little house, even if it does need lots of work!

This weekend: more garage work!

Tree

Our huge, gorgeous camphor tree at the front of our house is dying. I loved that tree. It was one of the things that attracted me to this little house of ours (the main reason was the affordability-we live in the Bay Area). We had an arborist come out and evaluate it. I wanted to save it but it can't be saved. The change in the tree since we got the news has been amazing. It really looks sick now. So sad. We have to get a permit from the city to have it removed, the cement sidewalk and curb has to be broken up and removed, then the stump can be removed. Then we will have to have the sidewalk and curb redone and a new tree planted. This is going to be expensive. Sigh. At least we can do it in stages.

Mother in law

Update: Mother in law doesn't have a broken hip (first and second set of xrays showed no fracture), and she doesn't have pneumonia. Hmm. She doesn't want to get out of bed, she has been coughing for weeks and she says her leg is "dead". The skilled nursing facility is giving her physical therapy for her leg but there doesn't seem to be much of a plan for her cough. Cough meds and anti-biotics haven't helped. We will keep working with the doctor and nurses.

Garage-continued.....

Last weekend and this, we have been working hard on the garage. I've mentioned before how everything just gets dumped in there over the years while we work on house projects. The corner between the big garage door and the small side door has now been insulated, sheet rocked, peg boarded and cupboarded ;) I spent the day going through all the junk and treasures in the middle of the garage and putting things in the cupboards. There were lots of things I would have thrown away but DSH wouldn't let me, sigh. We need to add more shelves in the cupboards (thanks Home depot) and we were short on the supports for the shelves we did have (thanks again, Home depot). We will be doing the same type of work on the opposite side of the garage which is a bigger space, so, it will continue...

On a sad note, my mother in law fell a week ago. The skilled nursing facility had x-rays taken but they found nothing. She has not gotten out of bed the past two days and says her "leg is dead". She doesn't complain of any pain. They want to x-ray again and MRI. If they find a fracture they are considering surgery. She has two slightly collapsed lungs that they aren't doing anything about but the doctor mentioned she might have pneumonia since she won't stop coughing. I can't imagine that they would do hip surgery on a 91 year old woman with possible pneumonia and two slightly collapsed lungs. But, I don't know. She keeps saying she is ready to go home to the Lord. I think she may be closer.

Christmas projects have also been started!

East Coast Swing and Foxtrot

The first four week session is complete. It was not as successful as we had hoped. Because we have danced a lot of East Coast Swing (my favorite) we went ahead a signed up for the class after it had started which meant we missed the first lesson. The next week we had a substitute teacher and he was terrible. We were so confused (and we can dance East Coast Swing!!). We have had Foxtrot but it is not a favorite and we haven't dance it in years. We did not do well. The third week we had the regular teacher and what a difference! She was awesome and everyone caught on much more quickly. Tonight was fast review and a new step added in for each dance. Everyone was struggling by the end of the class. DSH and I decided we will take the beginning class over again to improve on the basics we learned and to imprint it in our muscle memory! I keep suggesting we practice at home but to no avail.

Tomorrow my dental office is going to San Francisco for the Dental Convention. I HATE driving to SF and looking for parking. Happily, we were able to talk our boss into driving us all up to the class. He goes to SF all the time so he knows what he is doing. We are all going up to get continuing education to keep our licenses current. Lunch out and then back to work. I am only seeing two patients tomorrow. Kind of silly to hurry home for two patients, if you ask me (but, the boss didn't).

Side note: didn't Obama's speech stink? I thought so. He is so full of hot air and full of himself.

Memory

My dad was the fourth and youngest child to my grandparents. They owned, and lived in, one house their whole married lives. It was a very modest home, only two bedrooms and one bath, a small living room and a tiny eat-in kitchen. The house is in southern California. I loved the colors in each room. They were ice cream colors with large, white moulding. There were only three channels on the TV and when we visited, my sister and I were the remote. My grandpa watched baseball, news or Lawrence Welk. We did not get to watch cartoons. There was one toy in particular that my sister and I loved to play with. I searched on ebay to find one and I did! It probably cost my Grandmother .99 cents. It cost me (dare I admit it!) $99.00! I bought it last year when the economy was better, I had birthday money and I was addicted to ebay! There, I confessed! I do love it and I know I will probably never find another one but I do feel twinges of guilt for wasting so much money. I showed it to my three year old granddaughter and she was enthralled. Of course, I wouldn't let her play with it because I didn't want it broken! So, I have to ask myself, self, what was the point????

The Last Days of Summer

I love these flowers but I don't know what they are. So delicate.

I am looking forward to Fall. I don't care for it being dark earlier and earlier!

Ballroom Dancing, part II

Our ballroom dancing class was for beginners. DSH and I used to ballroom dance before we were married 11 years ago. This was review for us. I had to hunt through our closets to find our special ballroom shoes. The sole of the shoes are suede so you slide across the floor smoothly without slipping. I love to dance and DSH humors me because he loves me. We had a great time. Me, because I was dancing, him, because he knew more than anyone else in the class and felt no pressure! It was review, therefore, fun.

Here is an update on our garden. OOC!!!

Mr. Buck, harvesting tomatoes!

Ballroom Dancing

I'm so excited!!! We signed up for ballroom dance lessons. We start tomorrow. Four weeks of Cha Cha and waltz, YEAH! LOVE. IT. We are also taking East Coast Swing and 2-step. BIG smile. Got to get ready for the wedding.

Side note: no lunch time chore done today. The boss took the office to Cheesecake Factory for lunch today.

Lunch

It is so nice to be able to go home every day for lunch. I work 5 minutes from home. I always try to get one little chore done in addition to eating lunch. Today I folded and put away the laundry.

I've decided that I MUST sew a little bit every night or nothing will get done! One more month or two of nice weather and my summer shift is only half way done! I have the lining together, mostly, and tried it on with DSH helping check the fit. Not too bad, so far. The main fabric is going to be tough to handle. It is a pink and lavender and white tweedy looking stuff that ravels horribly. I have zigzagged every edge prior to piecing it together. I just knew it wouldn't be able to stay together while I assembled the pieces. I hope I am close in the fit of the fashion fabric because it will be a bear to rip out if it needs it!

New computer lesson

DSSD was over tonight with her fiance and she gave me another computer lesson! I now know how to put in a link. Too exciting! But, not as exciting as pictures. I can't find my SD chip reader though so pictures are on hold until I can find it and download more pictures. Anyway, here is a link. The Highland Games are coming to Northern California! I hope I learned my lesson and my link works!

Random note: today at lunch I went home and trimmed the dogs ears so the hair doesn't get in their food while they eat.

Too much hospital

Well, step-daughter that just had the baby on the 4th is in the hospital with an infection. She is on IV anti-biotics. Baby is fine and is home with dad. Cousin's wife fell off of her motorcycle and needed surgery on her hand and hurt her knee. I am so thankful it wasn't worse! Dad has a broken tail bone, a bulging disc and arthritis in his spine. He is on pain meds until he can get into Stanford. Another cousin (above mentioned cousin's brother) has been in and out of the hospital for bowel obstructions. Test continue to find the cause. My prayers are with you all!

Wedding Plans Continue

A gorgeous dress was purchased today for the bride, by her mother. I went dress shopping with the bride who is my step-daughter, my sister, who is the mother of the groom and the bride's mother. Is anyone confused? We had a great time (really!) and the bride to be was beautiful! It is sooooo fun to go wedding dress shopping. So many brides trying on absolutely stunning dresses. It is a free fashion show. Such a happy place. :D

Mother in law

Here is a picture of my mother in law last May on Mother's Day. She was not yet 91.

Vacation week

This week was my annual August vacation. Normally DSH and I would go to Hot August Nights in Reno, NV to celebrate our anniversary (August 8) and my birthday (August 6). But, life changes, priorities change, choices are made. We went to Reno seven years in a row to see the hot rods and classic cars. My mother in law moved in with us July of 2006 and first granddaughter was born in August so, no trip for me that year. I suggested to DSH that he go with "the guys" to look at the cars and I would stay home. After seven years of classic cars I was done. It couldn't have been too fun for DSH when I took three minutes of looking and said, "That one is cute, this one is interesting, the one over there is an ugly one, let's go, I'm done." With "the guys" he could ask about transmissions, wheels, paint, horse power, torque, to his hearts content and they would enjoy it too. They had a blast and DSH got a much needed break from his mother. It is a very difficult thing to have your aging mother move in with you. She has Alzheimer's which adds to the difficulty. I had a much easier time with it than he did because my emotional involvement was so different. He HATED seeing her deteriorate. We were not able to have a logical, normal conversation with her very often. I am embarrassed to admit that I actually played tug of war with her over her dirty undies! I belatedly figured out it was much easier to take her dirty clothes when she was sleeping! Anyway, she lived with us for a year and a half then had to move to a skilled nursing facility in the area. Even though it was challenging, trying, and difficult having her with us 24/7 we both cried when she moved out. Moving her out was so much harder than we thought it would be! She is now 91 and doing well there.

So, back to this week. My vacation consisted of:
August 1- my mom and her twins' birthday
clean out the garage
August 2- more garage work
August 3-go to bridal store with DSSD to help select a wedding
dress
August 4-our third granddaughter born to DSH's oldest
August 5-visit new baby and mom in hospital
August 6-I turned 53 :D, had a massage, had my hair cut, went to
my youngest daughter's for dinner
August 7-went to Sears with youngest daughter and
helped while oldest granddaughter had her
three year old portrait taken. Grocery shopping and
rush to clean house. Daughter and husband came to
spend the night.
August 8-make waffles for breakfast for house guests,
make pasta salad and wrap gifts, go to 3 year
old's birthday party, go out for anniversary
dinner.
August 9-sleep in, make pancakes, watch TV church,
cut husband's hair, cut both dogs hair. DSSH
and fiance stop by for lunch and discuss
wedding plans.

We had a great time with family all week! How do you spend vacation time?

PS Garage is not finished! That will be the project of the week every night after dinner.

New Granddaughter

Our third granddaughter was born tonight!

Mr. Buck-another practice post

You got to see a picture of Bailey in the last post, now here is a picture of Buck, our English setter. This was taken last winter in a hunting field. He has a bird in his mouth. He has soooooo much fun, he is a joy to watch.

Here is Buck in the kitchen. Quite the handsome boy, I must say.

I need to download more pictures onto the computer. The pickings are scarce. But, this was just a practice exercise for me.

Practice post (and wedding news)

We are in the throws of planning wedding number three. My DSH's daughter is marrying my nephew. No blood relation, they are step-cousins. We had the required (by me :D) parent/engaged couple meeting. Before any money is spent and contracts signed, we have a dinner with the engaged couple, the groom's parents, and the bride's parents. Everybody gets to discuss expectations, wants, contribution ability, etc. I want things discussed and out in the open so there are no hurt feelings or misunderstandings. It works great. This is so fun, I am soooo excited.

Now, onto more pictures. I have to practice what DSSD showed me today. It worked! This is a picture of Bailey. She is quite proud of her ball. And I am quite proud of me for being able to post a picture by myself.

Have great week!

Pictures are here!!!!

DSSD (Dear Sweet Step-daughter) is here and she is brilliant. She is going to show me how to put pictures on my blog! Here is a picture of our side yard. I had no idea what picture I was choosing. I guess my pictures need better labels! This is going to be interesting, people. Please bear with me :D

This the start of the garden.

More garden ... mystery plants. The labels were wrong. We were supposed to get cantaloupe but got squash and pumpkins! We are ready for fall, early this year.

Lattice, plants, and Bailey butt.

50Th post

OOOOOHHH!! I am so excited!! DSH bought a card reader for me today and we loaded pictures into the computer. Now, all we have to do is figure out how to get the pictures on my blog. I'll have one of the kids help. I'm getting closer to having a half way decent blog. I have so many pictures I want to share :D

41 Taylor

This weekend I had the privilege of meeting not one but two blog friends. DSH and I went to Reno for a short vacation and our trip coincided with the open house of 41 Taylor which is a fantastic new venue for parties, meetings, family reunions, etc. It is a darling old house that the two Tracey's cleaned up and decorated with paint, elbow grease and creativity. They are AMAZING! I had so much fun meeting them both and talking with them. Hi Tracey and Tracey! It was great meeting you both!

Fabric

I got some great fabric in the mail today. It is from Scotland. I now have five sewing projects to work on and no time to sew. Plus, every project needs something like seam binding, elastic, buttons or interfacing. I have a list started and I must run to the fabric store. I need more thread for the current project. The trouble is, I haven't sewn in years and I am in a "new" sewing room that is tiny as all get out. I have a ton of thread so I assumed I had enough light pink for my dress. The fabric is a tweed-looking light pink and lavender that ravels (unravels?) like crazy. I decided to be clever and zigzag every piece before I start constructing the garment. I ran out of pink thread but, nothing is unraveling! Every time I go into the sewing room/office, the dress taunts me. I could be sewing right now if I had thread! Sigh!!! I really don't like starting another project before finishing one, so, no progress.

Another dog post

Last night was an interesting night. Illegal fireworks, apricots and dog vomit. Nice. Quite a few neighbors, near and far, do illegal fireworks. Our dogs have always done well because they are hunting dogs and are used to gun fire overhead. Bailey did great, but, Buck the white setter was very disconcerted. He whined and barked at the shrill sky rockets people were sending up. We didn't go to bed until after midnight. At 4:45 am I was rudely awakened by Bailey who was vomiting. The dogs sleep on the floor next to our bed on DSH's side. He, of course, slept through the whole thing! I got up to check on Bailey and sure enough, a pile of bile and an apricot pit, was on the floor. Bailey loves apricots and they are falling off the tree right now. When I've seen her eat them she has always spit out the pit so I never worried about her eating one. We have picked and given away a ton and I have a ton on the counter waiting to be processed for the freezer. But, we can't keep up with the tree. More picking will be done this week. Anyway, to continue with my fascinating tale, I stayed awake listening for Bailey. I just knew she wasn't finished. Sure enough, she got up to go out two more times in the next hour and a half and vomited both times. I'm glad she made it outside. I did not get enough sleep. At 7:00am I told DSH that Bailey and I had been up half the night and he missed the fun. I went back to sleep and DSH got up. He left the dogs in the room with me while he studied Air Stream trailers. (It's on the wish list) I slept until 11:00am!! Sunday shedule has totally changed. No church, no garage cleaning but we will get our wedding gift for next weekend and we will see Margaret in the nursing home.

Have a great week and watch out for those evil apricot pits!

Independence Day

Happy Birthday, America!

Have a wonderful Independence Day, everyone.

More dog fun

Yesterday we were sitting out front on our enclosed patio where the apricot tree is. We have a nice table and chair set with umbrella and the weather was perfect for lunch outside. The branches of the apricot tree are long and heavy with fruit so they are hanging about three feet off the patio decking. Our English Setter, Buck, decided the apricots looked good and were ready to eat (they aren't). He stood on the deck and stretched out his long white neck and tried to gingerly pluck an apricot off the tree with his lips and teeth. He is so gentle and careful. He couldn't quite reach the lowest apricot so as he tried to grab it, the branch started bobbing and waving. He did not want to raise up on his hind legs to grab that green apricot. I started encouraging him to "get it, Buck, get it". It was hysterical watching him try to get an apricot that was just out of his reach. When I started my encouragement, our other dog, Bailey decided to get in on the act. She is smaller than Buck but she is a real get-it-done kind of girl. She got tired of his mealy mouth antics and jumped up in the air, grabbed an apricot and took off with it! Mr. Buck was left high and dry. He does better with the tomatoes that are just his height! Yes, he does pick tomatoes and eats them. He cracks me up!

I sewed most of the day yesterday making outfits for the two little granddaughters. It is a pattern I used over 25 years ago for my girls when they were this age. My daughter was supposed to go with me Friday to pick out the fabric but she forgot (oops!). I picked something out for them myself and hopefully my daughter will like what I got! It is fun to be sewing again.

Happy Father's Day to everyone out there!

Daughters

This has been the week of the girls. After hunting last weekend, we met the oldest in Sacramento for lunch. We had a great time eating, catching up and laughing. I am so glad her schedule meshed with ours! It would have been so fun to see her hubby, also, but we will see them both in July at his sister's wedding. I can't wait (I LOVE to dance at weddings and I have permission from my daughter to make a fool of myself, it is her in-laws after all!).

We had the second daughter, her husband and two little people over for dinner the next day. We went to the park with the dogs and her family, to play. Strawberry shortcake for dessert!

Fourth daughter and her boyfriend (my nephew, no blood: they are step-family), met us as the nursing home to visit her grandmother on her 91st birthday. We had a very fun visit, telling jokes and keeping my husband's mother company. Big news was shared in the parking lot. More later when I have permission to share.

Third daughter came over for dinner last night. We don't see her nearly as often as the other three because of choices she has made that have presented some difficulties. We call, email and invite often but she is very busy and doesn't come over as often as we would like. She will be having our third granddaughter in August. Baby shower planning is in the works. We had a yummy dinner that she liked well enough to copy the recipe. That spells success in my book.

Here is the recipe:

12 to 16 oz rotelle pasta
3 zucchini cut in 1" cubes
2 red bell pepper cut in 1" chunks
1 red onion cut in 1" chunks
2 - 3 garlic cloves, minced
3 T olive oil
1/2 tsp pepper
salt to taste
1 pint red and yellow small tomatoes
1 Cup fresh basil chopped
1 T red wine vinegar

In 450 degree oven, roast zucchini, red pepper, onion, garlic, oil, salt and pepper. 35 min stirring once. Toss tomatoes with basil and vinegar. Cook pasta during the last 10 minutes of the vegetables roasting. Save 1/4 C of pasta water after cooking pasta to toss with all the ingredients. In large bowl put drained pasta, roasted veggies and tomato mixture along with reserved pasta water. Toss and serve hot.

Last night I added cooked chicken and grated on some Parmesan cheese. We had french bread along side and it was an easy dinner.

Blessings

Today has been a refreshing and restful day for DSH and me. We got a little bit of work done around the house. I mopped the kitchen floor and then helped DSH go through his closet and get rid of tired, old clothes that don't fit or are worn out. DSH does not like doing that job at all. We have two HUGE bags ready to go to the Goodwill. He does not get rid of anything unless I make him. His closet is now organized and nothing is getting scrunched. I will make a fresh strawberry pie to take to a friend's house tonight for dinner while hubster takes the dogs out for hunting practice. We are going hunting this Friday! What fun, except for the 4:00am morning call and no coffee because of the long drive!

Dental work

Today was dental work for me! Two crowns and a filling. Such fun to be a patient again. I was learning empathy :D Good price, too! Since I work for a dentist, dental work is free. I only had to pay the lab bill. I haven't had dental work done in years. Just teeth cleanings. Sore teeth and gums for me over the next few days!

Have a great holiday weekend. THANK YOU, military!

Failure

Today has been a full and exciting day and it's only 1:25pm! The neighborhood had it's yearly garage sale where any house in the neighborhood that wants to participate can, for a $5.00 fee. Each house hosts their own garage sale, takes the profits then puts anything that doesn't sell on the curb for the neighborhood truck to collect and take to charity. The $5.00 fee covers advertising and leftover/junk pickup. We did not participate but our next door neighbor did. Their two little girls are about a year or so older than our granddaughters so we went over to buy old toys. We have nothing to play with at our house. We found a cute scooter made for tykes, copying the popular "razors". We asked how much, they said for us, free. What a deal!

We chatted awhile and as we were leaving a couple arrived to shop. As they were walking away from their car, the husband (presumably) said, "Honey, Booger Pie, we have an awful lot of stuff already........" We didn't hear Booger Pie's response but his comment was said very sweetly as if that was a traditional endearment.

I have now been called "Honey, Booger Pie" about ten times this morning and we laugh hysterically every time!

On the the failure of the day. I clean teeth for a living. I have an ultrasonic scaler at home that was given to me by my boss when he purchased a new one. I have a 4 year old English Setter with filthy, disgusting, tartar covered teeth, not to mention breath that can kill. We have had his teeth cleaned by the vet once and it cost about $500.00. I had a fit when I saw the bill and decided I can do this myself at home. I am a trained professional. I discussed it with the vet, she prescribed a sedative and two weeks ago we gave him one pill. We saw no change. We gave him another pill, no change. We tried to clean his teeth and he would have none of it. Today we tried a different medication. He was staggering around like a drunken sailor. We got him up on our makeshift operating table, my DSH held him down and I started to go at it. As soon as I was two millimeters from his teeth his hind leg came up and scraped down DSH's arm. Dog legs were flailing, ultrasonic was squirting, DSH was exclaiming and absolutely no tartar was removed from stinky dogs teeth. Sigh. I have to pay $500.00 to get his teeth cleaned.

Now we have a drunk dog staggering around wondering why his mom slipped him a "Micky".

I did get DSH's hair cut and mine bleached (Loreal Natural Blond 9 1/2). The lawns all got watered and dishes got washed so it wasn't really a total failure of a day!

We now a big dinner out with my sister and her husband to look forward to. I hope the dogs is sober by the time we leave!

Bye for now Honey Booger Pie!

Busy, busy, busy

Last weekend was full of granddaughter fun. They are now almost three and 15 months. We had them overnight on Friday and all day Saturday while daughter #2 ran a half triathlon. This was her first event and she did amazingly well. Her goal was to finish in two hours and she finished in 1 hour 21 minutes. Awesome!

The event was a long ways away so I wanted her DSH to go with her. This gave them some much needed adult/couple time and if something bad happened (I feared the worst during my "protective mothering" moments) he would be there for her. I hate swimming so I just KNEW she would run then bike then be exhausted and drown. :( Of course, she is a great swimmer and they swim first so they are fresh. Brilliant of the planners, I must say! I am quite proud of her.

The little people did not sleep much Friday night, therefore, neither did I. DSH slept just fine. Saturday was rainy which limited outdoor fun. We did go out once and got wet and muddy. Everyone was quite happy. I had to let the dogs out now and then and the youngest would try to get out too. I wouldn't let her out and she would be very upset. Repeat when dogs came back in.

We had an outing to the skilled nursing facility which was quite successful. We took the girls to visit Great Grandma. They all loved that. GGma got to hold both girls and the oldest gave her a kiss! The girls got to see the pet fish and birds. It was all quite exciting. They fell asleep in the car on the way home which messed up afternoon nap time. Two tired, cranky little girls all afternoon (three, if you count me!). We rested together for a bit but no one slept like they were supposed to. I finally resorted to TV at 4:00pm. There are some really stupid cartoons out there. I need to buy some kids DVD's.

Parents arrived about 5ish. We shared stories and then loaded up their car with kids and gear. They had a wonderful time and were very appreciative.

Note to self: start working out again, buy DVD's for kids, child proof home, babysit only during nice weather!! ;)

Ice Cream

Tonight DSH and I went to a book store to listen to a writer talk about his book. This was a first for us. Very interesting but we didn't stay for the whole thing. On the way home we decided to get a snack and maybe some coffee ( who cares if it keeps me up all night running to the potty!). It was almost 9:00pm. We drove and drove looking for a snack type place. Didn't want to go to a dinner place. We were in Mountain View. Lots of book stores, Asian restaurants and Indian restaurants, but no dessert places. Wait, there's Baskin Robbins Ice Cream, they're open. We slow down and CAN'T BELIEVE OUR EYES!!! The line is out the door. The line is going around the building! What the heck???? It's not even hot outside. It's cold! Maybe there is a business opportunity here. We didn't stop. We didn't want to wait. We went home and baked some cookie dough I made the other day. I would have enjoyed the ice cream :D

RAT!!!

I am soooooo proud :D Bailey, the English Cocker Spaniel caught a rat this morning! She has been on the hunt for rats, mice, squirrels, birds, etc. since we got her. She always gets her bird with "Dad" (aka as DSH), hunting beside her. But, a rat is a different matter. I sure wish I was computer savvy enough to put a picture on my blog. Of course, it would have helped if I had taken one. She would have to be successful while we were getting ready for work!

Imagine a small black dog with a big, fat, ugly, dead rat in her mouth.

Good girl, Bailey!

Garden

It is a hot day here in Northern California. I decided it was time to plant my garden. DSH went to Orchard Supply Hardware with me and we got some compost, vegetable plants, light bulbs and two cute little chairs for the granddaughters. We ate a late lunch and then I churned up the soil, removed the new weeds that had sprung up since the last major weeding event, dumped out the dark compost and played in the dirt. I placed my little plants in their intended spot then dug a hole to make them comfy in their new home. I planted various types of tomatoes, cantaloupe, Japanese cucumber, bell pepper, artichokes and zucchini. I know I will have too many tomatoes but that is ok. We will share.

I had to clean up the mess I made (I hate that part) and then everybody, including me, got a big drink. The plants got Miracle Grow in their water and I got tea with sugar in my water!

What a beautiful day. A blessing from the Lord.

Tax Day

Happy Tax Day! Is there such a thing? Our taxes were done long ago and we did get a little back so that was a blessing.

It has been terribly windy yesterday and a bit today. Baby apricots falling off the tree, leaves everywhere, fence trying to blow over! Quite exciting! We had to tie the fence to the trees so it wouldn't fall down. Time for a new fence, me thinks.

Until next time, may God richly bless you my beloved.

Our Savior

He is risen!

Happy Easter!

Day Off

I took a vacation day today. DSH had to work so I revelled in puttering around the house with only the dogs for company. I slept in (of course) then trimmed the dogs ears. The hair grows so long on their ears that it gets in their food when they eat and then their ears get crusty! Very unattractive. Bailey doesn't appreciate being groomed. She rolls over and makes it difficult. Buck, on the other hand is quite foppish. He sits quite nicely and loves the attention. After the dogs were prettied up I did office work and budget work. My favorite things, believe it or not. My DSH calls me the "Budget Queen". Or if he is feeling nasty about it, he calls me "Scottish" (which I am), but he doesn't mean it in a nice way, he means a tight fisted, cheap, penny pincher! But, it is only relative. I just don't like to spend as much as he does.

I did some yard work, the weather is quite spring like. I'm going to have sore muscles tomorrow. Some was left for DSH. I don't have the endurance or upper body strength to do it all. At least I cleaned up the mess I made. I usually trim, dig, cut, hack and trim some more and then I'm so pooped I can't clean up and leave the mess until the next day. That is frowned upon for some reason! Sorry, honey :D

I did laundry, too. We are having chicken fried pork steaks for dinner. Kind of fattening but good.

Weeds and rain

Today was a weeding day and it started to rain. We came in and had lunch. It is starting to rain pretty hard. Not just a sprinkle. Nope, I did not vacuum or dust yesterday. That's ok. It is still there waiting for me. DSH did mention the dust bunnies everywhere so I will vacuum sometime soon. We will be visiting Margaret, his 90 year old mother this afternoon. She is in a skilled nursing facility and we go just about every week. Sometimes we miss. She has Alzheimer's so she doesn't remember us ever visiting. Very sad. It was supposed to rain late tonight, not now. It is going to be messy running the dogs in the rain. They won't mind!

Spring

HAPPY SPRING!!

Today I am going to do NOTHING. What that really means is I will go grocery shopping and I might, only if I feel like it, vacuum and dust. I am exhausted for some reason. It has been a very hard week at work. I slept until 9:15 this morning and it is 10:30 and I'm still in my jammies. We are having date night tonight instead of last night because DSH has a class for three Thursday nights and he gets home too late to go out. Well, we could but I really don't like going out to dinner at 8:30 and getting home at 10:30. So, I made mushroom chicken last night and we ate as soon as he walked in the door. I am so glad I didn't have to work this morning. I was supposed to work half a day but it has been a little slow at work (hmmm, bad economy?) so no one worked. I am thankful. I needed the day off. Bad part, less money.

Disaster (on a small scale)

Yesterday morning I went grocery shopping for the week and for company that was coming for dinner later that evening. I planned to make chicken enchiladas because our guests requested Mexican food. I make it pretty much from scratch (read: lots of work). But, it is worth it because they are so yummy.

After lunch I made cookie dough so we could bake cookies for dessert. I started the chicken cooking, chopped the onion, minced the garlic then warmed the oil for sauteing. I got the cream and chicken broth warming. It was all coming together nicely. When the onion and garlic was soft, I added tomato puree and chilies. I shredded the chicken and added it to the mix. The filling was kept warm while I heated the oil to soften the corn tortillas. OOOH, it all smelled so good. The table was set for dinner with my good china (actually, the only china I have!). I started cooking the tortillas slightly, dried off the excess oil, dipped them in cream, added the chicken filling, roll, place in lightly greased baking dish. Next one, next one, ouch- burnt my finger, next one, next one, next one, (boy, I'm getting hungry), next one, next one, check how much filling is left the, HEY! What's this????? THAT'S MOLD ON MY BRAND NEW PACKAGE OF TORTILLAS!!!!!! I can't serve this! I don't want to eat moldy food! I have nothing else to serve. They will be arriving in 30 minutes!!!! WHAT am I going to do????? I am soooooo upset. What a waste of food, time money and it's embarrassing to boot.

I call my DSH and tell him we have to change our plans for dinner and when is he coming home (I thought he would be home by now). He knows I'm upset because I'm crying (I NEVER cry).

Now, these guests are very special people. The couple have know my husband's family for over 40 years. We support them as missionaries. He is the president of OC International. I am MORTIFIED!!! The gentleman they are bringing with them is housing them for the weekend. He is 94 years old and his wife recently passed away. She is home with the Lord.

I know they will understand but I still feel horrible. That said, I blow my nose, dry my eyes, change my pitiful attitude, thank the Lord that we can afford to go out and get on with it.

Fast forward a bit. Hugs, kisses, greetings, explanation and then off we go to El Burro for Mexican food. We all had a lovely time except it is hard to talk at El Burro because it is so loud in there and one has to shout to be heard.

End of story: this morning I took my dinner receipt, recipe book, casserole dish of half made enchiladas, molding tortillas and cash register receipt to Safeway and told the manager my story. I came away with a Safeway gift card that covered dinner for five at El Burro and money back for the tortillas and an apology.

DSH said he won't invite anyone over again for a long time! I told him it wasn't his fault. Moral of the story: it's not about me, it's not about my cooking. It's about hospitality and making guest feel comfortable and welcomed. It's about connecting and catching up. That can be done at home with canned soup or at a fancy restaurant. It's the people that matter and giving the glory to the Lord.

Weeds

Today was a day for weeding the garden in preparation for veggies! We have had a good amount of rain this year (PTL!) so the weeds are lush and large. I weeded a small patch under the office window and then weeded the soon-to-be vegetable garden. DSH weeded next to the fence on the outside of the yard. It was looking quite ragged. I won't plant the veggies until May 1st at the earliest. I will put flowers under the office window or maybe a boysenberry bush or two. I haven't found a boysenberry plant yet so that will be the deciding factor.

We took the dogs for a run at the school which was well received. They love to run! We walked around the school quite a few times to keep our muscles loosened up after all the weeding. I know I will be sore tomorrow.

Tonight we are having corned beef and cabbage, early, but that's ok. It will still be good!

Cranky

After a long day taking 90 year old mother-in-law to the doctor, eating lunch in five minutes, taking myself to the doctor (nothing serious, PTL), then going grocery shopping at Lunardi's I stopped at Safeway for things I don't buy at Lunardi's. I found everything I needed and wanted except for one item. During checkout, the cashier asked me if I found everything. I said, "No". She said nothing. She rang up my sale, handed me my reciept and said thank you. I said, "Can I ask you a question?" She said, "Yes". I said, "Why do you ask me if I found everything and then say nothing?" She said, "Do you want someone to check on your item?" I said, "Yes". The person who came to help me said they might get my item in in a few days. I don't get it. Why ask me if I found everything if they aren't going to do anything about it when I don't? Why not check in the back for me? Why not offer to check on the shipping status? Why not order it for me? Why not know if it is discontinued or not carried at Safeway anymore? Don't ask if I found everything if you are not going to follow up! I'm still cranky :( My attitude will improve! I promise.

Hunting

DSH is hunting pheasant today. He got up early and took Mr. Buck, our English Setter. Miss Bailey did not get to go and she is moping around today. She knew something was up yesterday when the hunting gear came out. She didn't get to go because it takes a long time to hunt both dogs and DSH and friend didn't have time today to hunt both dogs. They don't have the same hunting style, one is a flusher and one is a pointer so they don't work well together. They have to take turns. She will get to go next time and so will I.

Tomorrow is youngest step-daughter's birthday party. She turned 25 last week. We are having Monkey Brains (aka stuffed cabbage), spinach salad with hot bacon dressing, fruit salad, rolls, smoked pheasant (hmmm, I wonder how that got on the menu!), smoked pork, smoked sausage, baked brie and poor white cake with 7 minute frosting for dessert. Step-daughter requested most of the selections on this menu. DSH added a couple of meat items because he hates Monkey Brains! This morning I assembled the MB, cooked the bacon and washed the spinach for the salad and later today I will make the cake but not the frosting. The frosting tastes best fresh so it will be made tomorrow while the MB are baking. 11 guests coming over and we only have seating for eight. Folding table is coming out!

Valentine's Day

DSH is always the best on Valentine's Day. Me, not so much. Valentine's Day is my dad's birthday so it was always more his birthday than Valentine's Day. I guess my mom was always cheated! I never heard her complain about it so I never gave it a thought. Anyhow, I always get beautiful flowers, hand picked candy of all my favorites from See's (the best in the West), a card or two and gifts of clothes. Crazy generous. I refuse to go out for dinner or he would do that too. He gets a card from me along with some See's candy hand picked for him (and, yes, I do know his favorites). He likes shopping and he likes giving gifts. Me, not so much. I am the BudgetQueen, Scottish, and all things cheaplike. We clash once in awhile, go at it once in awhile, but ALWAYS work it out. He loves me and I love him. We actually balance each other out nicely. It is sometimes painful to balance! I appreciate his generosity and thoughtfulness and hopefully he appreciates my thriftiness! Thank you, HONEY!!!!!

Rain!

Praise the Lord for rain! We are in a drought here in California. Water rationing imminate. I don't usually like being rained on, but, I didn't mind at all on our way to and from church. A dreary, stay in, read a book kind of day. Of course, I have no book to read! That means blogging :D

Friday I took my 90 year old mother-in-law to the dentist I work for and he did three fillings for her. Half price! What a nice boss I have! She is on a VERY limited budget: $35.00 spending money per month (per MediCal). She did great except she chewed on her lip after she went back to the skilled nursing facility! I know that would happen. Poor thing. She will be fine but just like a little child would do, she chewed her lip while it was numb. We went to check on her Saturday and that is how I knew she had chewed her lip.

I also had a sewing class on Friday. I was wrapped up like a mummy from shoulders to hips in duct tape. I hated it!! We were making a custom dress form for me. I had an old, long T-shirt that I sewed to fit snug then was wrapped tight in the tape to copy my (much rounder than I remember) form. After two to three layers of tape I was cut out of it. I have to get a stand and then stuff it to look like me. I don't think it was tight enough to be accurate but I couldn't tolerate it! I just figure it gives me room to grow!!!! LOL

Boot Camp

It is going to be a long, lonely week. Buck and Bailey are at camp improving their bird hunting skills. They get to sleep in an outdoor kennel, no soft bed, no scratching from mom or dad, no treats, no cuddling, no ball play and no running at the school. They will be roughing it. But, they will have a great time hunting and retrieving the birds. They LOVE that part! DSH will pick them up next Saturday and hunt with them before coming home. I will stay home and get ready for LoveBug's first birthday party that is at our house on Sunday.

Home Sick

Today I am home sick with a cold/flu. No one wants to get their teeth cleaned with the hygienist coughing in their face. Sorry, that was a bit graghic! I will rest, drink plenty of fluids and take lots of vitamin C. The rest is the best part. If I'm up to it I will straighten up the office a bit.

My cousin is in the hospital with a serious condition. Third time this has happened to him. Hopefully, no surgery will be required. That man has had more surgery than anyone I know! I will be praying for you, Munna! (my baby name for him, I couldn't pronounce "Jim", HUH!?)

Vet Visit

Hard day at the vet. Buck and Bailey were due for some immunizations and other indignities. Bailey, our English Cocker, does very well. She is one tough girl. Poor Buck, on the other hand, is kind of a wimp. He absolutely refuses, REFUSES! to have his temperature taken. (well, wouldn't you?) He cries when they take his blood to check for heart worm, he cries when he gets his shots, he cries when they check his ears. It is all very traumatic for everyone. We all made it through with treats, liver, yum! I was traumatized too, where's mine????

We walked down the street after for a necessary potty break (for the dogs) then stopped at the dog store for new dog beds. After our purchase, we stopped at the school to let the dogs run. They got to get their wiggles out and de-stress. A much better ending to the day!

I surely wish we had chickens like Judy at Apron Strings but they would drive Buck and Bailey nuts since they are bird dogs. Keep sharing about your chickens, Judy. I love to hear about them. Not the 'pecking of your hand part' though!

Poor Girls :(

This has been a rough month for two of our girls. My oldest broke her arm Saturday while snowboarding. She did get a good morning full of fun before crashing. She did get to ride on a snowmobile but that doesn't make up for an arm in a cast for 6 weeks, pain and having to miss work which is a new nursing job. Hard to nurse others in the ICU when you have a cast on your arm. I sent her a small care package: floss holders (for one handed flossing), Earl Grey tea, a book, some See's candy (I know, I know! Just wrong for a dental hygienist to send candy!!) and some fresh roasted almonds that were grown by my husbands family. My Poor Sweet Girl!

My youngest has had three, yes three bouts of the cold/flu in one month! While taking care of two little ones (two and a half and 11 months). Dad, of course, was gone part of the time for work which didn't help much. Dad is back home again so things are looking up! Dad was sorely missed! My Poor Sweet Girl!

This too shall pass. You will both get better. Remember, you are loved!

We haven't yet heard from our other two girls. I will assume they are fine and healthy until I hear differently!

Repeat!

LOL!!! That last post was a bit of a repeat. Sorry.

Oldest daughter called today and told us she crashed while snowboarding and broke her arm yesterday. She just started a new job as a trauma nurse. She might be able to go to work and do some work or she may have to just stay home and heal. She had half a day of fun before her own personal trauma. Take care of yourself and get better fast, SweetPea!

New Year agenda

No resolutions here, just an agenda for the new year, a plan, if you will. We made a good start today. The garage is going to be cleaned up and organized. It has been such a mess, crammed full of junk, stuff and treasures we don't even remember we own. We've been doing our own construction and decorating for six years. We have ripped out doors and frames, removed all sheet rock, redone electrical- adding ground wire and new outlets and switches and lots of can lights. We had lots of help re-plumbing. There has been insulation added to walls then new sheet rock put up, texture, prime, paint, wood trim everywhere. All the supplies, tools, scrap and furniture that was in the way in the house was literally thrown in the garage. What a disaster. It's amazing we could find anything. We have finished three bedrooms, the hall and the living room. That leaves all the hard rooms like kitchen and baths. We won't do those ourselves. We will pay. Which means it waits. The garage looks much better although it is only half done. You can walk in there and find things. You can see a lot of the floor!! I keep going out there to just look at it!

I love Judy at Apron Strings's idea of a new recipe a week. I've been cooking what she has tried. Delish!! Thanks, Judy. I don't know if I will keep up with a new recipe a week but I will try. Judy posts the recipes she uses so that makes it very easy for me. :D

I also want to start sewing again. I still have to sign up for lessons because I want to learn how to draft a pattern and how to taylor for a proper fit. The sewing blogs I have found are amazing!

Sick :(

What a way to start the New Year! Sick with a cold. So nice of family to share. That's ok, this too shall pass. We have so many blessings: health, a nice home and our jobs. Our computer died right before Christmas so DSH had to get a new one. He went Apple and I get to keep the old, repaired one. I should be able to blog more this year since I have my own computer now. I also want to start sewing again and take some sewing lessons. I used to sew a lot......I made all of my church clothes and I made all of the girls clothes until they got to the jeans stage, then I made just their church clothes. I would like to improve my tailoring skills. I also would like to get the garage cleaned out and organized. That will take lots of help from DSH. Too much of it is his stuff (treasures) and I can't get rid of it without his permission. I think a year is a reasonable amout of time to acomplish those to goals. We'll see.

Happy New Year to everyone.