A Treasure Found

I guess I had better take care of this weeks poll question before I do anything else. Email has been rolling in like crazy from people asking what the new question is - well, maybe that's not quite true - :-). But I am a day late for this weeks question. So be sure to check it out and vote. Oh, almost forgot. Last weeks question for favorite cartoon character was a tie between, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, and Casper.

What a busy, busy weekend we had. We did yard work, Dave worked on the new bathroom floor, I worked on cleaning all of the parts of the shower doors that Dave had taken off and put out on the deck, and last but not least - cleaned the garage out. It was in the garage that we found our treasure - but I'll get to that. We made an all out effort at clutter reduction and organization. We opened every box, we pawed thru all of the books, the papers, the clothes, and shoes. We took down each and every piece of sports equipment and tried to figure out who it belonged to - did they want it? did it fit? We sorted, we organized, we threw out, we put things in a pile for Goodwill, and finally - regrouped what we had decided to keep. Next came a new organizational plan - well kind of. We put like things together - novel concept don't you think? We consolidated boxes of college books and paraphanalia. Random bags, and boxes of clothing and bedding were once again put together in groups - hopefully their owners will someday come to claim them once again.

Soooo, box after box was opened - most had been gone thru many times before. Finally we came to a box that looked as though it had not been opened in a very long time. We carefully opened it and were surprised to find that the contents were items that had belonged to Dave's Grandma - who had died 28 years ago. There was her Bible, some family pictures, a jewelry box containing costume jewelry, and last but not least, a small old fashioned washboard. Taped to the back of the washboard, and written by Dave's grandma Nevil was the history of the washboard. The washboard had been made by Grandma Nevill's father as an engagement gift for her mother. At the time her father was working in a factory that made washboards. The year it was made was 1870 - almost 140 years old! A true treasure. As soon as I get it cleaned up just a little, it will be hung in a place of honor on my kitchen wall.

The weekend was hot - we broke records both days. Today was in the mid 80's, very humid tonight, and rain is on the way. I think it will be a relief when the rain finally starts - the air is oppressive and heavy.

The floor in the bathroom is looking good! Tonight is applying the first coat of sealer. Dave will also put the shower back together. Sure will look better than it did before. The plan is to be done with the whole project by Thursday - hope that works.

Now here's some really exciting new for the day. Have I ever told you about my mailman? He is a great guy - always has time to stop and visit. He asks about the kids - what they're doing, how are their jobs, are they making me a grandma yet (really - he does!). I ask him about his family - he has two grown daughters "the princesses" - not married - much to his dismay. He wants those grandchildren! Anyway, I'm getting to the exciting part now. Today he came to the door to bring me a package and visit of course. He took one look at me and said "oh my gosh - you look 18! You got your hair cut - makes you look so young". Now, what do you think about that? That just made my day- even if he might have been stretching the truth just a tiny bit.

Happy days are here again

Record breaking temperatures today. It's 7:45 pm - and it's still 82 degrees outside. It's supposed to be hot again over the weekend, and then start cooling down next week. Whatever - I'm loving it now. I worked outside all morning scrubbing and cleaning all of the outdoor furniture. Tonight we had dinner outside - one of my very favorite things in the whole world. I just love to eat outside.
After working outside all morning I came in the house for the afternoon and cleaned out closets and cupboards. I finally combed thru all of my many turtlenecks - and got rid of the majority of them. My own private little summer make turtlenecks totally uneccessary these days. Always nice to get rid of excess things. Goodwill should be very happy. I finally took my shower and got cleaned up about 4:00 this afternoon. About 5:00 I took out my very best and favorite wine glass, poured myself a cold glass of crisp but buttery chardonnay, added a few crackers, and went outside and sat in the chair under the birch tree. I had my newest Coastal Living magazine with all of it's pretty pictures, and sipped chardonnay and basked in the warmth of the late afternoon sun - heaven. That would be the definition of peace and tranquility as far as I'm concerned.

The kittens are getting bigger by the day. I have named them all - the Mom is Jasmine, the black kitten is blackie (original don't you think?) and the lighter colored one is shylo. Oh - did you think I didn't spell Shylo correctly? Really it is - he/she is named shylo because he/she is the shy one of the two kittens. Jasmine is quite happy to see me when I come out, and always wants me to pet her. Blackie is a little reticent about getting too close, but this morning I picked him up - twice! Shylo usually runs and hides. Jasmine is now wanting me to pick her up also. Oh, what a dilemma this all is.

I just love looking out my bedroom window on a sunny summer day. Seeing the shades of blue in the sky, and all of the colors of green in the trees in the yard - it is just the most peaceful feeling in the world. I'm so glad it's May, and I have about five more months to enjoy all of this. I wait all winter for these first glorious days of summer.

Time to get off the computer and go outside and enjoy. Bye for now.

It finally arrived - THE SUN!

It's 8:15pm and it's still 83 degrees out - now that's pretty amazing considering that we were having snow just two weeks ago, and so far this year I don't think the temperature has been over 70 degrees. Tomorrow is predicted to be 96 - the air conditioning will be going on for the first time tomorrow morning. Funny, there is usually some time between when we quit turning the heat on in the morning, and then finally turn on the air con. This year, we were still turning the heat on two days ago.

Today was one of those days where, no matter what I did, it just didn't seem to work. I spent most of the afternoon doing errands, and returning home with almost nothing. My prescription has been a problem for the last two days. It was supposed to be filled and ready today - but when I got to the pharmacy, the Dr's. office had not called it in as they had told me they had. I waited while the nice pharmacist called and got it straightened out. They filled it fairly quickly, but I still had to be in the store with the always odd and strange people. From there I moved on to Target. Maybe I should rephrase that. I tried to move on to Target - but was stopped for 30 minutes waiting at the train tracks as workers had the crossing arms going up and down and up and down. Grrrrrr. Finally on to Target - I had a list of about 10 things - they had none of them. They did have dental floss though - I had forgotten I needed some, so that was my major purchase. A really nice clerk tried to help me find something - only to lead me to the place "it used to be". After much discussion with other clerks it was concluded that the item was no longer carried. They suggested Fred Meyer.

I needed to go to Home Depot - toilet shopping - again . I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to be looking for and finally gave up. The measurements I had made no sense to me - at least as far as the toilets were concerned. Next - sinks. Hmmmm - that was pretty easy - there were three to pick from. Wide range of prices - not sure why. I looked at towel racks and faucets but decided I needed to wait until the floor was actually in before I picked those things out. I brought home some samples of things to replace the bathroom counter tops with - not sure I like any of them now that I have them home.

On to Fred Meyer. Now this was the really frustrating part. I was looking for a product that is used to wash windows. You attach your hose to the container, and spray away on your outside windows - and it does a pretty darn good job of cleaning the windows. The first person I asked just stared blankly at me and said there was no such product. The second person had heard of it, but didn't think they carried it at that store. The third person said they had it and it was back in the outdoor and garden area - no it's not. The forth person said she would call the manager - she did and asked for an attachment "like a wand" to clean my windows. I was waving my hands trying to get her attention to tell her that was not what I wanted - no luck. She got off the phone and told me where to go to get the wand. I explained that was not what I was looking for and tried again. She called the manager once again - he said it was in the grocery department with the cleaning products. I trudged across the store to the cleaning aisle. Up and down I went - nothing. I found a clerk, asked for help - he couldn't find it either. Enough - I give up on the damn window cleaner!

On my way out of the store I found Sun Tea jars on sale - "buy one get one free". I could use that - I picked up two, stood in line for a loooong time, got up the the register, and she charged me for both. I explained they were on sale - buy one get one free. She had to call someone to go check. Of course that took quite a long time. When the person called back the said it was buy TWO get ONE free. I didn't think that was right and said I would go look - oh boy did that make the people behind me happy. Well, the person who checked was right, but of course it was one of those displays that you need to look at VERY CAREFULLY. There were several things on sale in the same display - very hard to figure out which was which. Oh well, I picked up a third one and called it good.

I was tired, it was hot, and I was done trying to shop at this point. Back home I went - or tried to. Road construction made me miss my street, non functioning traffic lights sent me off in a direction I didn't want to go, and a car that wouldn't let me change lanes all conspired against me to keep me from getting home. All that and three hours of my time and all I came home with was - my prescription and dental floss - hahahahaha. Too funny.

I forgot, I did go to the fabric store today - now that was a definate high point for me! Just love those fabric stores. I was good - didn't buy too much - well, I didn't buy too much fabric. I did buy patterns and handles for a purse.

Time to be moving along here. It's gonna be HOT tomorrow, so I'm going to go to the early exercise class - maybe even the really early class - 5:40. Hope I get some sleep tonight.
Good night everyone.

Summer is on it's way

Just when you think you can't stand the rain and the cold and the gray skies, the temperature goes from 40 degrees to the 80's and 90's overnight. What is up with that??? We were still having snow just two weeks ago, and tomorrow it's supposed to be 89 degrees. I'm not really complaining - I just don't get it. Oh well, at least I'll be warm. I think it's still 70 degrees out right now at 8:00 at night. With the windows all open it's impossible to even think. Every person in the neighborhood has decided that NOW is the time to mow their lawns, use their weedeaters, and get out their damn leaf blowers to blow every blade of grass off their property. Talk about NOISE. Who cares about air pollution - I care about NOISE pollution. Make it stop.

The kittens are getting bigger by the day. They are feral cats - and at this point a real dilemma for me. I guess until I am actually able to catch them, I can put off doing anything about them. Sad.

The bathroom remodel is coming along. The floor is gone, the toilet is gone, the walls have been spackled and textured and partially painted. Cutting and placing the backerboard comes next, and after that Dave will begin marking and cutting the tiles. Apparently my estimation of how long this would take was about a week off - shows how little I know. After the bathroom floor is finished, we can move on to replacing the counter top, sink, and faucet. After that - it's DONE.

Katie will be home this weekend - we will celebrate Mother's Day with Sean. Greg and Charisse are off to South Beach, Florida on Saturday for a few days, and then on down to the Keys. I'm sure they'll have a great time.

I think that's about it for tonight. There's more going on, but not things I really care to write about. Until next time - ta ta.

Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day today. I'm not so sure about this holiday - I think for a lot of people it just brings up bad memories, or makes them unhappy for other reasons. I'm lucky I have three children who were thoughtful enough to acknowledge the day - though were not able to be here. One brought me a beautiful hanging fuchsia - my traditional Mother's Day gift since I celebrated my very first Mother's Day 28 years ago. The other two were out of town, but both called, and sent cards. We will celebrate with a nice dinner next weekend when they will be able to be here in town. Another Hallmark created holiday.

The sun is out, the sky is blue - it gives us hope for the promise of summer - I think we've given up on spring. It is cold out - feels more like a day in November than mid May - global warming? I think I will work on my flower pots this week - pull out the weeds, dig up the dirt, add some fertilizer. Next weekend I can plant some flowers - not too many, but a few. My yard is so overgrown with trees, and so shady, not much grows in the way of flowers. I'd love to get at least one of the big trees taken down, and get the photinia trimmed back by at least half - we'll see.

This week we're moving on to the second bathroom re- do. I think we'll paint on Tuesay, rip up the floor on Wednesday, start setting the tile on Thursday, finish setting on Friday. By Saturday we should be ready to put in the new toilet, and then put the first coat of sealer on the floor. At least that seems like the way it might go . . . . . .

A lot has happened in the last few weeks - most of which I have not written about - and I don't think I will now either. They are the kinds of life changing events happening to other people, that cause each of us to look at our own lives. Some have been terrible tragedies, some magical events filled with joy. I am grateful for all that I have, and will pray for those in pain.

Tribute To Jorjah

You were a wonderful dog, a faithful companion to your family, and we loved you like one of our own. You gave many people some of the best times of their lives. You were too smart for your own good sometimes - but you sure made us laugh. We loved seeing you in your various getups for each and every holiday - and you seemed to enjoy the costumes you wore, and the attention you received. We'll miss seeing how happy you were running on the beach, swimming in the ocean, and chasing seagulls.

You may be gone, but you will never be forgotten. Thank you for all of the good times you gave us. We will love you always.