It's Brent's fault

Brent said he started feeding her to keep her away from the baby quail. She came around every night at the same time. She follows him as he waters the lawn. It started raining at night so we left the garage open enough for her to come in and keep dry. This is where Brent found her the other day:

I did try to bring her inside one day but the dogs freaked her out. She will sit on the garage porch and meow but as soon as we open the door, she jumps down, almost as if to say "come out and play". She loves her ears and head scratched but don't even think about rubbing her back or tummy. She BITES!

90 degrees

Yes, it was 90 degrees in my bedroom on Sunday evening at 7pm. Brent finally got around to taking apart the HVAC to try to clean the filter. It's in such an awkward position that it's very difficult to get to but he managed to get part of it exposed so that he could get the vacuum brush in there. When he opened it up and shined the flashlight in there, it was covered in dog hair and dust, at least an inch thick. He carefully vacuumed it off and by morning, it was 70 degrees in my room. Ahhh, finally some relief. Now, I am hoping that by getting this fixed, now our electricity bill will go down. It was $332 for one month! Brent has a thing about fans and portable air conditioning units. He thinks the more the better. He doesn't pay the bills. He also doesn't pay the water bill. It was $200. Man, this summer is wiping me out.

As the World Turns

I feel like I have been out of the loop these last several weeks. I hardly have time to read my favorite blogs, let alone write on my own blog. I know, I've said this so many times before and I am sure you're all thinking I'm full of myself or crap, whichever but regardless, I will do my best to catch up.

Work has been busy as usual. Month end is always hectic. One person quit and I had to let another go so I trained one new employee and I've interviewed for the remaining position. Our COO has come out of retirement (thank goodness)and although I did the initial interview, he now wants to make the decision between my top two picks. We've had a higher than usual turn over the last few months. I blame myself for that in part. Maybe I wasn't clear enough when I interviewed in the past that this is a regular full time 8-5 job and somewhat stressful because of the work load. I guess people just think that working from home is a piece of cake. It's not. It takes a person who is focused and can stay focused and not be distracted by the little things going on at home. OK, enough of work talk for now. I will save the rest when I go on my rant next week.

On Friday 7/16, I flew to Arizona so I could go to a shower for my newest grandbaby. She will be born on Sept 3rd and I will be going back then as well. This is Jessica. I can't really call her the mommy to be because she's already a mom and has two kids, 15 and 13. Jessica is a very sweet woman and I know she and my son will be great parents.
Someone had given them a car seat and although it was only 2 years old and in good condition, I wanted to make a new cover for it. Not many car seats are designed for little girls and this one was tan plaid. Not girly in the least. I had Jeff send me the old cover. I picked it apart and used it as a pattern and Voila! a brand new car seat! I also made a matching canopy to keep the baby protected from wind or rain or whatever but because they are in Arizona and it gets so hot, I didn't want her to suffocate under the canopy so I made one with a mosquito net attached so that she can still be a little shaded but will get some air.


Sunday I took Jeff and Jessica to Babies R Us to get some necessary items such as a stoller and swing. Yes, I know. This baby is going to be spoiled by her Oma. I have to because I won't get to see her whenever I want like I do my other grandbabies. I will be going back in September when she is born. Jeff has asked me to come a couple days before to help Jessica get ready and then he would like me to stay for 8 weeks. I am not quite sure I can stay that long. I told Jeff that he will be anxious to get rid of me way before 8 weeks. I think this is something we'll just have to play be ear.

I'm such a slacker

I'm such a slacker when it comes to blogging lately. I have lots of excuses; from no time to nothing to blog about. My latest excuse is that It's almost no fun to post unless you have pictures to share. I have a brand new camera. It's a 12 megapixel camera. For some reason, my desk top cannot read the card so I have to load the pics to my mini netbook. Problem is, Blogspot won't allow me to load photos with that high of a resolution without resizing them and the problem with that is my mini doesn't have a photo program that I can use to resize them. This means I have to load on one computer, email to myself, start up my other computer, resize the pics then load to my blog. I haven't had the time to figure out any other way. I'd load one of the many photo programs I have onto my mini but my mini doesn't have a disc drive.

I started this post last night and actually even had quite a bit more that I posted about but when I went to publish it, my mini contracted a bug. It took me another two hours to fix it. NOW, I can't even remember all that I typed.

It's 85 degrees in my bedroom right now. Yes, we have central air and yes, it's cold downstairs but up here it won't cool down. The coolest it gets overnight in my room is 77 degrees. Brent said the coils freeze up and then it stops working. Gotta get that fixed!

It's still not coming to me. I can't remember what my post was about so I will just call it to an end. I'm going to do some reading to catch up on all of your blogs now.

A day off

I had a procedure scheduled for today so I took the day off from work. So why is it that I feel so guilty? Is it because I have so much work to do or is it because my procedure went quickly and I got out sooner than I expected and if I wasn't so sleepy, I'd probably go to work? I don't know but in any event, the doc said I shouldn't be driving for at least 4 hours so I can't go to work ...oh wait, I don't have to drive to work, I just go downstairs to my office! My mind is a bit fuzzy right now so I don't even think I should be blogging. I certainly can't sew or I would be unpicking every mistake I make. I think maybe I will go back upstairs and try to sleep a little. I've been up since 2:30, with the exception of the 30 minute nap I took during the procedure. Now don't go worrying about me. It was nothing really. Just a little screening that my doctor seems to think is very important for anyone who turns 50 but at least I've been given a 10 year pass because everything looked excellent. I may be overwieght but I'm healthy as a horse!

I was inspired by Diana. All her cleaning this week has inspired me do something abhout my deck. Although I still plan on pulling up this hideous green outdoor carpet that the dogs think is grass, Brent has informed me that I cannot give him anymore projects this year. He has to finish the projects that I gave him last year before starting anymore. That said, it didn't stop me from getting him to help me clean the deck. Our deck is 24 ft x 24 ft. It's on top of our garage and walks our from our kitchen. I had him clear off his tools and leftover wood from the interior projects that piled up there then I swept the carpet to get the big stuff off, then I vacuumed all over then I shampooed that nasty grass green carpet and washed off the vinyl siding. When people see my deck and the view we have, I hear all the time, "you have such an awesome deck, I bet you just love sitting out there" but honestly, we rarely ever sit out there. A big reason we don't is because I cannot stand the smell. As I mentioned before, the dogs thought the green carpet was grass so whenever they were too lazy to gown down the stairs to use the real grass, either because the stairs were icy or they were just too lazy, they, well, you know... thus, the need to shampoo that filth. I guess I should also mention that part of my inspiration to start my cleaning frenzy with the deck is because a few weeks ago, we bought some new patio furniture and then this week, we bought a hammock. I also ordered an outdoor 9x12 matt to set the furniture on. Now, we can actually use it.

Now that it's actually a space that we can live in, Brent said he wants to mount a TV on the wall (above the grill) and then he will sit out there all the time. Actually, I have dreamed about enclosing part of this with screens and windows so I can close it up in the winter or if it rains then put my work computer there so I can work with a view instead of in my basement. That probably won't happen any time soon but next year for sure, I am going to put tile out there, even if I have to do it myself.
Next cleaning project is the front room. My new furniture is coming around the 21st so I need to wash the blinds, paint the window trim and mop the floor. That's next weekend though!

Life goes on

So before everyone removes me from their list of blogs to read because I haven't posted for so long, I figured I'd better post about everything that's been going on these last several weeks. Here we go in no particular order.

A few posts back, I commented about the landscaping in my front yard. It was pretty much non existant. Finally, after years of talking about it, we got curbing. Boy, what a difference a little concrete makes.


A closer look. I moved what flowers I had away from the house and window wells and then I've scattered wildflower seeds around. Next year, they should all be in full bloom. For now, this is it. I did buy quite a bit of bulbs and such from Roberta's but so far, less than half of what I've planted survived. Since they are guaranteed for a year, looks like I will be getting some of my money back.


A perfect peony. I accidentally got a little dirt on it but it's still a perfect bloom!


Jase turned 3 and is now officially potty trained (except at night)


Handsome Taz



Taz loves Paisley and Paisley loves to sit in boxes, no matter what size.


Lacie


The view from where I sit on my bed when I am not in my office working or sewing


Soccer Saturday: Each Saturday we go to the Grandkids soccer games. I took video of Zach's game but I guess I forgot to take stills. I got them of Aubrey's game though.

Mollie, Kim with Jacob and Brent.


Mollie likes to eat and she's will mooch off of anyone with food. (Really this is my daughter Jenny)Zach is on the right side and Jase, Jenny's boy is by Mollie.


Mollie's purple coke. Mollie loves to sneak sips of her daddy's coke. Today, she was a little feaverish and somewhat ornery so I gave her a can of grape soda and told her it was purple coke. She took one sip of it and immediately, she was a happy girl.


Papa and baby Jacob


Miss Aubrey Girl


Aubrey in action


There you have it. My life over the last few weeks summed up in a few pictures. Aside from all the stress at work and making a bunch of new items for my doll clothes business (click on the button to the left called All Dolled Up to see my stuff), life is good.

Prayers Please

I will catch up tomorrow but for now, I just found out that Linda's husband (Huhoney)had a stroke Saturday morning. I don't know much of the details as I have not spoken to her yet. For now, please keep Linda and Bob in your prayers!

My windmill

I bought this cute solar lighted windmill from Walmart a few years ago. It collects the sun all day and at night, the windows light up. When I first bought it, the colors were a little darker but not much and I've always had the intention of paining it but with the eastern exposure, what little color it had, faded away.

Finally, I painted it. What do you think?

It's Here

It's finally here. My new sewing machine has arrived. Actually, I picked it up last week Monday but I've been so busy training a new employee and at month end to boot, that I've not had time to post about it. This maching, although it's smaller and looks like a toy compared to my other machines, is all inclusive. I can use it like a regulare sewing machine plus it has pretty much the same decorative and stretch stitches and button hole stitches as my dead Baby Lock but this one also Embroiders and free hand quilting. Now, I just have to learn how to use it. Thank goodness, they give you 6 free classes with this machine. The don't start until June 7th and there are 4 sewing classes and 2 embroidery classes. That's a whole month away for the regular sewing classes and two months away for the embroidery classes. I just may have to try to figure it out on my own. The sewing, I can do but the embroidery, that's a whole new game for me. I did find one thing that I do not like about this machine is the foot pedal. It's so hard to press down. I hope it will loosen up with time.

Baby, It's cold outside

So here we go again. It's starting to snow and it's April 22nd! I am sure it's not the snow that will cover the ground but it's still snow and I am tired of the cold. I ended up bringing in my tomatoe plants that I just bought the other day. I don't want them to freeze.
Yesterday, this is what I saw when I went out to get my mail:



I just wish mother nature would make up her mind.

Yard Work

Today is the first day that I've had the chance to do any yard work. Either the weather was crappy (it snowed here last Monday) or I've been swamped with doll clothes orders. But today, I hedged all the shrubs and got the flower beds ready for some new roommates. (Brent mowed the lawn...gotta give credit where credit is due.)

I ordered a bunch of flowers from QVC, all perennials. I am tired of buying new flowers year after year so this year, I invested in perennials. The stores around here never carry a big variety of them and those they do carry are just so... blah. I happen to be a QVC shopaholic, or at least I used to be. When there is nothing on TV and I am settling down for the evening, I will turn on QVC just to see what they are selling. Last weekend they had a bunch of gardening shows and I think I ordered nearly every item they offered in that block.

This is my house: I may have a knack for designing and making doll clothes but I have no talent for designing and landscaping a yard. In front of the bay window, there used to be an "island" with a lamp post and a small piney type tree and some flowers but the lamp post rusted and broke at the bottom and the dwarf pine tree was so ugly that I decided to pull that all out and let the grass grow over it. We also used to have a willow type tree that was on the left front yard but that split right down the middle when we got a heavy spring snowfall. My hope is to have Brent help me dig up some of the grass in front of that big white fence and along side the neighbor's chainlink fence so I can have a nice pretty place filled with flowers and trees. I even have a bird bath that I bought a couple years ago that I want to put there.

This is the north side of my house. These concrete things are called "hold a hills". Normally, the only things that will grow here are petunias but we are planning on takeing these out because they are sagging. We will replace this with another type of retention wall. Brent wants rocks, I want a decorative brick. Notice at the corner of the house? That's my lilac bush. That thing has been growing there for at least 5 years, maybe even 8. You can see that spring still has not sprung here in Sandy UT. There's not a bud on there.

The only thing that has sprung is the crocus but they are already gone. So are most of the mini daffodils. My tulips are almost ready to bloom though. I just have to remember to take pictures of them this year when they do. Here they are still waiting to bloom. Monday, I am going to call around to get some prices on curbing. Brent wants me to wait until he can determine where all he wants it but we've been talking about it for more than 10 years and I am still looking at these ugly landscape railroad ties. I figure that if I call someone to come measure, they can tell me what will look nice and where. I'm tired of waiting on Brent.

A bit of Nostalgia

I'm sure that you've seen this email floating around but since I don't have anything else on my mind and I haven't posted all week, Her's just a little nostalgia to think about.


All the girls had ugly gym uniforms? These ones were actually cute compared to the ones that I had to wear. This style went out the year I entered Jr High. Mine was still one piece but was made from polyester double knit, light blue on the bottom and blue and white stripe on top with a zipper front. Oh, these things were hidious.



When a quarter was a decent allowance?


You'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny?


Your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces?


You got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, all for free, every time? And you didn't pay for air? And, you got trading stamps to boot?


Laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box?



They threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed. . and they did it!



No one ever asked where the car keys were because they were always in the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked?

Stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic seals because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger?

When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited the student at home?

. .as well as summers filled with bike rides, Hula Hoops, and visits to the pool, and eating Kool-Aid powder with sugar.
Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say, 'Yeah, I remember that'?

Do You Remember a Time When..
Decisions were made by going 'eeny-meeny-miney-moe'?
Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, 'Do Over!'?
'Race issue' meant arguing about who ran the fastest?
It wasn't odd to have two or three 'Best Friends'?
Having a Weapon in School meant being caught with a Slingshot?
Saturday morning cartoons weren't 30-minute commercials for action figures?
'Oly-oly-oxen-free' made perfect sense?

Spinning around, getting dizzy, and falling down was cause for giggles?

The Worst Embarrassment was being picked last for a team?

War was a card game?
How's This For Nostalgia?

All the girls had ugly gym uniforms?


It took three minutes for the TV to warm up?



Nobody owned a purebred dog?


When a quarter was a decent allowance?


You'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny?


Your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces?


You got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, all for free, every time? And you didn't pay for air? And, you got trading stamps to boot?


Laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box?


It was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents?


They threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed. . and they did it!


When a 57 Chevy was everyone's dream car...to cruise, peel out, lay rubber or watch submarine races, and people went steady?


No one ever asked where the car keys were because they were always in the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked?


Lying on your back in the grass with your friends?
and saying things like, 'That cloud looks like a... '?

Playing baseball with no adults to help kids with the rules of the game?


Stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic seals because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger?


And with all our progress, don't you just wish, just once, you could slip back in time and savor the slower pace, and share it with the children of today.


When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited the student at home?

Basically we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! But we survived because their love was greater than the threat.

. .as well as summers filled with bike rides, Hula Hoops, and visits to the pool, and eating Kool-Aid powder with sugar.
Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say, 'Yeah, I remember that'?


I am sharing this with you today because it ended with a Double Dog Dare to pass it on. To remember what a Double Dog Dare is, read on. And remember that the perfect age is somewhere between old enough to know better and too young to care.

Send this on to someone who can still remember Howdy Doody and The Peanut Gallery, the Lone Ranger, The Shadow knows, Nellie Bell , Roy and Dale, Trigger and Buttermilk.


How Many Of These Do You Remember?
Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water inside.
Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles.
Coffee shops with Table Side Jukeboxes.
Blackjack, Clove and Teaberry chewing gum.
Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers.
Newsreels before the movie.
Telephone numbers with a word prefix...( Yukon 2-601). Party lines.
Peashooters.
Howdy Doody.
Hi-Fi's & 45 RPM records.
AM radio
78 RPM records!
Green Stamps.

Do You Remember a Time When..
Decisions were made by going 'eeny-meeny-miney-moe'?
Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, 'Do Over!'?
'Race issue' meant arguing about who ran the fastest?
Catching The Fireflies Could Happily Occupy An Entire Evening?
It wasn't odd to have two or three 'Best Friends'?
Having a Weapon in School meant being caught with a Slingshot?
Saturday morning cartoons weren't 30-minute commercials for action figures?
'Oly-oly-oxen-free' made perfect sense?
Spinning around, getting dizzy, and falling down was cause for giggles?
The Worst Embarrassment was being picked last for a team?
Baseball cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle?
Taking drugs meant orange - flavored chewable aspirin?
Water balloons were the ultimate weapon?

Bye Bye Baby (Lock)

I don't think I mentioned this but my BabyLock sewing machine died. I purchased this machine about 8 years ago for $1200. Yes, it was a lot of money but it was a compromise because it had the necessary stitches I needed and several decorative stitches I wanted. I really wanted a sewing machine that also did embroidery but I could not afford it. Well, for the most part, it sat there for 7 years not getting used much. Then when I started my little doll clothes business, it got used about 5-6 hours a day. Two weeks ago, I took it into the repair shop but I had a suspicion that it would cost at least $200-$300 to fix so I told them to call me before they made any expensive repairs. So I told Brent about the problem and he told me to still get it fixed because maybe one of our girls would want it. I didn't tell Brent that after I dropped that machine off, I ran some errands and as fate would have it, I ended up right next to a sewing machine store. I just had to go in. (I should mention here that I had previously looked at machines at the fabric store I frequent and had one in mind that cost only $699 and did both general sewing and embroidery). I was talking to the manager about what I was looking for and that I wanted to keep it under $1000. She showed me a Brother machine that was normally $999 on sale for $699. It was everything I was looking for. Utility stitches and embroidery. The basic functions on this machine far outweighed the Singer machine I had previously checked out. Needless to say, I bought it. Bad news though, they didn't have any in their store so the manager called their other stores. None of them had one. She checked on ordering and found they had already ordered more and expected them in the following Tuesday. Well, I had not heard from the store for over a week so I called. I was then told that they were on back order and they didn't know when they would be in. That was last Wednesday. Friday afternoon, I got a call from the store manager. She told me that the manufacturer had over sold those machines and were in the process of replacing them with another model. The only difference between this new model and the old was that the new one has a USB port to plug your machine into the computer to download embroidery designs nstead of having to buy little design cards. The manager told me that they would give this one to me for the same price though. More problems, they do not know when this new model will come in but if I didn't want to wait, I could have their floor model and a $50 gift card. No thanks, I think I will wait! I am currently using my old Kenmore sewing machine that my dad gave me when I was 15 or 16. It doesn't do any fancy stitches and even the bobbin winder broke off so I had to go buy one of those new nifty portable bobbin winders. Today, I've been trying to make a new swim suit for the doll and the machine is having problems. The bobbin thread is bunching up and for the last several days, it is skipping stitches. Now what to do?

So, back to my Baby Lock machine, the reason I even considered buying a new machine. I got a call from the repair shop. They told me that they couldn't quite tell what the problem was. It was either the motor that would cost $500 to replace or it could be the electronic board which would cost $600 to replace and then it needed additional repairs/maintenance totalling another $200 or so. I told them not to do anything on it. Sorry girls, no one gets that machine now. It's worthless.

So hopefully, I won't get in an order for doll clothes for a while. I took my ad off of the local online classifieds so it's not too likely that I will get many orders for the time being.

A new me

I've survived the three weeks on the HCG diet. I've lost a total of 19.3 pounds. 4.23 from my hips, 4.5 from my waist and 2.5 on each of the other key spots.So, you'd think I'd be ecstatic, right? Well, I was until I went shopping for new pants today. Just before my diet, I bought a new pair of pants and obviously, those ended up being too big so me, being thrifty, I took them in. Well, I took them in just a tad too much and because I surged the seams, then now cannot be let back out and, stupid me, took them in after I had worn them a few times and stretched the denim out...then I washed them and now are not so comfortable. I went to 5 stores today. Hot one had a size that fit me. I'm a little bummed.

On another note, it's been about a year since I did my makeover online at www.instyle.com and gave myself the Reese Witherspoon look. I did another one and honesly didn't recognize the name or the face of the actress I selected but I chose her hair because it's most similar to mine. I won't show you the before but it's amazing what false eyelashes and concealer (to eliminate the bags and wrinkles under my eyes)will do. You wouldn't believe this is a 50 year old woman, would you?


Too bad concealers really don't work these miracles.