Sparkley Balls

I am thankful for pretty, sparkley bowling balls and having MY OWN shoes (The accents on them are purple too). I can't even imagine wearing rented shoes anymore. Last year for Christmas, I bought myself a pretty purple sparkle ball. It weighed 12.3 lbs. After about 5-6 months of using it once a week and my hand still hurting and my score never improving, I decided it was really too heavy for me. I bought a new purple, swirley, sparkley ball. It weighs 11 lbs and it really has made a difference. My hand doesn't hurt anymore and I think my scores are actually improving. I love my new bowling ball.

Weekly Scores:
Brent 127 / 119 / 141 / 158
Terrie 136 / 86 / 128 / 151

PS on RLS

My RLS started about 10-12 years ago. Even sitting and watching TV, my legs would become so restless that any type of stimulation like walking, running around or stretching didn't help. I went to several different doctors and even a neurologist. One doctor told me it was just shin splints. One doctor told me it was in my head. A couple others even told me that if I would lose weight, it would go away. (That's when I went on Phen Fen and lost 45 lbs and NO, it didn't go away.) Finally, after a year of watching the commercials about "creepy crawlies" in the legs, I asked Brent's doctor about it. Without hesitation, he gave me some samples of Requip. To my amazement, it really worked... for about 4 years at the maximum dose. So, about a year ago I switched to Mirapex at double the maximum dose. And, for now, it's under control. By the way, did you know that Requip is what they give to patients with Parkinson's Disease?

Pills

Today I am thankful for sleeping pills. I know, it sounds real stupid to be thankful for sleeping pills but since I couldn't sleep last night, I would be thankful for them, for allowing me to fall asleep when I have those nights once in a while where I just can't seem to get to the sleepy point...had Costco not been out of them. I am also thankful for the pills I take for my restless legs. Bedtime was horrible for several years before they finally realized that RLS is real and people really do suffer from it.

Four Seasons

Today, I am thankful for the four seasons. No, not Frankie Valley and the Four Seasons, though I like them too but the WEATHER.

Spring: Because it reminds me of "new life". The tulips and corcus popping up out of the snow, the blossoms on the trees and the beginning of warm weather.

Summer: Because I love the warm weather.

Fall: Because I love the colors of fall and that the days are mostly somewhat warm for about a month anyway.(there is snow on the ground as I type this)
This is Battle Road in Massachusettes. I took this picture exactly 7 years ago when Brent and I were there for our anniversary.

Winter: The ONLY thing I like about winter is snow for Christmas. I've never lived in a climate where there isn't snow for Christmas and I cannot imagine Christmas without it. If I had a fireplace, I think I might like curling up next to it in the winter though.

OK, so this was a dumb post but just because I agreed to post daily this month, doesn't mean they will all be great posts!

31 years ago today

31 years ago today, I married the love of my life. You may remember my earlier posts about how we met, etc. If not, check back to the beginning of my blog.

About this time on a rainy Saturday morning (my mom always said that rain on a wedding day is a sign of good luck), my cousin Inge was decorating my wedding cake at my house. It was the first cake she'd ever decorated before. She wasn't sure how to make the frosting smoothe on the cake so I helped her with a few tricks I had learned. We ended up going to the store about 3 times to get more powdered sugar to make more frosting. The batch didn't make much and it was hard to judge with the size of the cake. Her son had made the roses. I think the cake turned out beautifully.

Brent called me a couple of times to check in on me. He wanted to know if I was nervous. I wasn't, not in the least bit. I can't remember now if he told me he was nervous or not. He can't remember either. I tend to think he was a little because he did call me more than once to make sure I was OK. The time I got a little nervous was as I was walking down the hall on my dad's arm. People were talking and I was afraid they would not be quiet and I wouldn't be able to hear the Bishop. They did quiet down and the ceremony went very well except when it came to the part where I put Brent's ring on his finger. I couldn't get it over his knuckle so he had to help.

Our wedding was planned and carried off within two weeks. The only mess up was the paper on the invitations. I even made my own dress (and yes, I still have the pattern); nothing fancy as you can see but I loved it.

Wow, 31 years of marriage, three terriffic kids and 4 adorable grandkids. It sounds like a long time when you say it but it seems like it was only yesterday when it all came to be. I love you Brent! You are the love of my life, my heart, my soul and my world.

Count your Blessings

Since it is Thanksgiving this month and I have committed to post everyday, I will post about the things that I am thankful for. Obviously, they are going to be in random order since my brain doesn't work any other way.

I am thankful for FREEDOM.
Today is the day we are priveledged enough to have the right to vote. I am thankful for this right and to the many men and women who have served this Country over the years to allow me that right. Some may think their vote doesn't count. I am not one of those. I am going to vote. It scares me to think what the outcome might be but I have to cast my vote so that I can say I did my part, no matter the outcome. I refuse to allow those that have served this Country to have done so in vain.

More decorating

I had Brent go through my boxes of decorations in the garage to look for one specific item. A metal pumpkin. I was going to put this on my kitchen table. He found the box that had the "fall foliage" in it that decorated this metal pumpkin but the pumpkin was no where to be found. So, I went to Tai Pan Trading in search of another one. No luck with the same one but I did have success in finding other and similar "stuff". Here is just some of the stuff I found at Tai Pan. The more I walked around, the more I just couldn't do without. This place is dangerous.

Holiday Decorating

I read on my neice's blog that November is National Blogger's month and that anyone who has a blog should post daily. This would be quite a challenge for me since I typically only post once a week but I am up to the challenge. Since I didn't post yesterday, I am a day behind so I will post twice today. My bowling scores for yesterday and today I will post about holiday decorating.

When I was much younger and my kids were at home, I used to decorate for all the holidays. I painted ceramics for every holiday. Halloween and Christmas were always the biggest of course. I was taking a craft class with Jenny earlier this week and she mentioned to her friend how excited she was for Nov 1st so she could decorate for Thanksgiving. Truthfully, up until recently, there haven't been very many cute decorations for Thanksgiving. I think that is one of the reasons I haven't decorated much this time of year.

Here is the outcome of the craft class Jenny and I took. It says: "Thankful"

Weekly Bowling Scores 11/1/08

Brent 109 / 132 / 168 / 178 I think he got tired of me beating him.
Terrie 112 / 135 / 114 / 139 At least I broke 100 on each of my games.

Week Bowling Scores 10/25/08

Brent 128 / 125 / 145 / 155
Terrie 147 / 144 / 86 / 147 Yes, my third game, I was going for my all time low score without trying! I couldn't seem to throw that ball straight to save my life.

Contest

When I was younger and had kids at home, I loved carving pumpkins and it was usually I that had the best decorated cubical at work. Now that I am old, I usually choose not to participate in things like this but here goes anyway. At work, we are having a pumpkin carving contest. Since we all work from home, we have to post the picture of our pumpkin on our Instant Messenger for the judges to see. I cannot decide which one to post so I need your help. I need to have this posted on Monday sometime. PLEASE HELP!

Another thing to cross off my "To Do" List

Just one more thing to cross off my "To Do" list is my bed. About a year or so ago, I decided to copy all those home decorating shows and make my own headboard. It was super easy. I even showed Jenny how and she showed her Sister in-law. I covered it in a purple suede type fabric because of course, purple is my color. I had heard shortly after that, that purple is the new decorating color of choice so I figured it should be easy to find a bedspread to match. NO WAY! The only purple thing I found was a duvet cover that was more maroon than purple. I needed something with a print so it wouldn't blend into my headboard. It's been over a year and I've had no luck. I decided to make my own. I got the inspiration from a pillow I found at IKEA only instead of making stripes, I went with blocks of color instead then sewed the same fabric from the headboard around the edges.

My other project for my bed was to make a frame for it. Most people use bed skirts to cover the box spring. I can't because I have a dog that takes revenge whenever his master leaves for the day. Having to take a skirt off and put it on a couple times a week is much too difficult with a king sized mattress. I got crafty once again and designed this frame. Simply pieces of pine painted black and then pre-made "feet". Brent nailed everything together for me and voila, a new bed. I'm rather proud of myself!

Who was here first?

Dusty doesn't like to be held but he always needs to be close to another warm body, be it the dogs or my backside. Here he is squished behind me laying in my chair as I work.

Week Bowling Scores 10/18/08

Jenny 108 / 91 / 147
Terrie 111 / 117 / 113
Brent 165 / 107 / 159
I might add: I had a Turkey in my 10th frame on the second game. For those of you who don't know what a "Turkey" in bowling is, it is three strikes in a row. Yay for me but too bad the rest of the game didn't go that way.

Week Bowling Scores 10/11/08

I forgot to post my weekly bowling scores. What would you do without them?

Brent 128 / 125 / 141 / 151
Terrie 120 / 138 / 101 / 134
Kim --- / --- / 92 / 105
Shawn --- / --- / 113 / 127
Zach/Aubrey / --- / 81 / 71