Wishing you a Happy Happy Birthday!!

Its my girls birthday!! And I am not there to sing in person--- But I know she knows I wish I was.... She's 23!!! Can you beleive it? I looked through pictures to make this post and I can remember each and every one of them like it was yesterday. I remember the little girl who refused to go to kindergarten because they wouldn't teach her to read... the little girl who had tea partys in the front yard with baby dolls, the little girl who had a shower curtain under her dinner seat practically til she started dating-- and the little girl who fell head over heals with a boy in her typing class --that same little girl who wanted to come home from college after just one day and the little girl who made me so proud when she graduated from college and got a job so far away... I remember it all and I hope she will remember just how much I love her...

Soap box for the day

When you don't know what to do,
do the work in front of you
Calvin Cooledge

I saw this somewhere on-line this morning.. and my first thought was how true-- there is always something that needs to be done no matter how big or small. Whether you are at work or at home.
Many times it seems those "things" are just not what we want to do.

Then I started to think about Calvin Cooledge, and the fact other than he was president I didn't know much about him.. A quick Google search brought up this where I read this:

The political genius of President Coolidge, Walter Lippmann pointed out in 1926, was his talent for effectively doing nothing: "This active inactivity suits the mood and certain of the needs of the country admirably. It suits all the business interests which want to be let alone.... And it suits all those who have become convinced that government in this country has become dangerously complicated and top-heavy...."

Very interesting huh? So now with that quote in mind it brought me full circle to our current president.. Its no secret that I think he is trying to tackle too much. So does this quote apply to him... does he not know what he should do so he is just jumping in everytime he has an opinion?? Certainly they gave him a manual when he was elected that told him that while the world around him was crumbling it wasn't his job to address EVERYTHING-- delegate --- Case in point-- should he really be discussing small town police departments? Isn't there something on a more global platform that needs his attention... Alittle too much BIG GOVERNMENT for me...

Maybe he should be working on explaining to us hard working Americans why we have to provide health insurance for people who CHOOSE not to work. Or worse yet those that are not citizens... I am all for shoring up the gaps in our health system-- people who get up every day and work to feed their families deserve good medical care at an affordable price. Seniors who put in their time and now get to enjoy retirement shouldn't have to worry about health insurance. But those who refuse to work--should not get the benefits --I mean really isn't their prime benefit the ability to sleep in everyday??? We all make choices

just alittle ribbon

Sometimes its just alittle ribbon that finishes off a package, a scrapbook page, even a basket--- Maizy might not agree though... I cleaned out a junk drawer that had some older ribbon in it and thought Maizy might like to be BEAUUUTIFULLLLL.. I was wrong... she wasn't happy at all about wearing a ribbon. Even though I thought it brought out all sorts of cuteness... She was so unhappy that she slept in her dog bed!!! ALL NIGHT--- my kind of unhappiness... Me thinks me gonna find just alittle more ribbon for her to wear if she it keeps her off my bed and in hers!

Are they red yet?

Its been all about reorganizing again this week.. one would think there is nothing left.. but taking babysteps seems to be working and it keeps me on track. I actually did a clean sweep of one side of the room and the desk just so I could figure it all out (thanks to my buddy Jo in TX for pushing me forward on that one) ... and today I finished up measuring furniture.. I know it would be a shocker if I actually bought a piece of furniture instead of repurposing-- who knows... stranger things have happened. Although I was informed this morning that tires are on the gotta buy list for this month....

Moving on, Kristy and Mike came over for dinner last night- Seems they too have been bite by the tomato bug and spend their evenings admiring their veggies growing in pots just like we do. I am thinking we all have too much time on our hands that we can admire veggies every night. We are finally getting some red tomato's slowly but surely. And we plucked our first green pepper this week....
And of course Maizy likes veggies... hahaha it wouldn't be a post without her right???

All American-Eagle weekend.

We scooted back down to the lake this weekend because Christopher overslept last weekend and didn't go and it seems it was on his mind all week.... Despite the fact that we went for him we really didn't see much of him or his buddy he brought... They got up to fish "second shift" as they called it--5:30am was too early when Mike went out..Came home and then hopped on Heathers boat for the rest of the day ....they did come home long enough to eat dinner, shower and change and then the girls came back for them... Mike and I picked them up Sunday morning when we took the boat to get gas...

I have noticed a trend-- when we are there by ourselves (which we essentially were this weekend) we spend more time on the boat then we do on land... Saturday and Sunday we spent most of the day trolling around visiting our favorite haunts on the lake. Enjoying the sun and jamming to our favorite radio station (ok the one and only good station down there!)

Saturday night before dinner we did get a nice surprise when we were sitting on the dock-- We saw an eagle swoop in with a fish in his claws. 45 minutes later and about 100 pictures he finally flew off. We see alot of eagles at the lake but never one perched in our cove-- great entertainment.

Of course Maizy wasn't entertained at all... she decided bird watching was best left to us and she snuck a nap in.

progress

Remember last week? The spray painting-- well thats how it turned out... Originally before the project I have always had the two bulletin boards together over my work space.. but now with the paint and new bold fabric it seemed a bit much... so I worked on changing it up a bit... moved one of the boards next to the desk and added a bit of ribbon to it... so now we have one plain and one with alittle bling...

Relaxed

Relaxing weekend.. We had spring like weather on Friday- Hot summer temps on Saturday and overcast and rain on Sunday---A perfect progression if you ask me. Lots of relaxing-- of course the boys had their projects... we have a new railing to keep the dogs from rolling off the deck, alittle chicken wire fence to keep the dogs from escaping through the pine trees and they did some sort of electrical project. >

We made it to the fireworks again this year-- the boat seemed surprisingly empty without the kids. We were happy that Brian and Krista arrived Saturday-- with engagement news no less! Its always nice to add new people to the weekend--keeps the conversation lively-- and Brian was great at telling us all sorts of funny stories from his time spent at Gitmo-

I did a poor job of taking pictures because the one picture that should be here was my fantastic pie-- (read: it looked good--but tasted bland) Toni had mentioned she had alot of Apples left from her mission trip and she was bringing them with strict orders that we would EAT them all-- I mistakenly mentioned a quick fix for that would be an apple pie--- shame on me... not only did Robin tease me all weekend until I finally broke down to make the darn thing-- but as it turns out we had no flour to make a crust.... (Cue Mike to volunteer a trip to the store!--always a bad idea)... once we had crust-- pie making was quick work-- too bad it they weren't pie baking apples--- oh well-- I was off the hook and bonus--ALL the apples are gone!

Mike actually fished twice this weekend... and Maizy got to kiss another fish... hmm there might have been an attempt to nibble... she will learn!

Back to reality tomorrow!

Frog encounters

If I had been thinking (or if I wasn't so technically challenged) I would have taken a movie with my camera of Maizy--- She stumbled upon a frog, one of our millions, and felt the need to talk to him.... If these pictures could talk you would hear alot of barking... As you can see she started off pretty far away... and eased herself up... but never got any closer....

I know Bonnie and Jake would have seen the occassion as snack time... but not our timid Maizy-- always scared of what around the corner...

Creative face lift

So what do these two pictures have in common? They are both part of my scraproom facelift... I spend so much time in there and when this organizational challenge was posted on 2p's I jumped at on it... we are into week 6.. and I am still hanging in there. It has taken me 3 weeks just to come face to face with colors-- I soo wanted to repaint the walls a seaglass blue and do blues and greens in there... I guess I am still in love with Amandas wedding colors-- But I couldn't bear the thought of asking Mike to paint another room!! So the funky pink walls remain.. And after convincing myself that I would purchase a new bookshelf I faced reality that its a want not a need and that I would make do.
So that brings us to the pictures... I do own spray paint-- and with coupon in hand I bought some black and white fabric. They should add something--- Last week (or maybe its already been 2 weeks) I painted the hutch that was in there white.. Are you seeing a theme coming around???

Smoked Meat

The kids got Mike a smoker for Fathers day.. but before we get to that... I was doing alittle mulching and look who made a home in the mulch bags!! EWWWW!! of course I couldn't keep this to myself so I ran inside to find a manly man... unfortunately my manly man Christopher thinks just as fondly about snakes as I do.. BUT he was willing to get a shovel and kill it

Too bad his Mom wouldn't let him get close enough with the shovel!!!

There is a happy ending for all the snake lovers... Mike threw him in the woods... my guess he'll be back for revenge and bring friends....

Back to the smoker... Christopher and Mike put it together only to learn via the directions that you have to prime your smoker before use...ie smoke it empty... ahhh no smoked dinner for us

Happy Fathers Day

I would love to say that for Fathers Day it was a warm sunny day-- but our weather system only brings rain with the sun peeking in and out-- I can't remember the last day it didn't rain. We don't have any big plans for Fathers Day-- hopefully a day of rest for Mike-- but I doubt he can accomplish that-- he always has something on his to-do list. Wish I could be with my own Dad for Fathers Day-- but too many miles are between us. Hopefully he knows I am thinking about him.

Wishing the two greatest Dads the best Fathers Day!!

we are beyond cats and dogs

So we are seriously beyond the whole its raining cats and dogs thing... Last night I was walking to the kitchen and I caught this little guy out of the corner of my eye!! Yup thats one of the billion frogs that call my yard home...apparently this guy was looking for better accomodations as he was knocking at the door to come in!!

Nothing like seeing a frog stuck to your glass door!

On the boat

We went to the lake this weekend and spent both days on the boat-- with sunny skys and no one on the water it seemed like the thing to do-- Maizy isn't all that thrilled with boating--even less thrilled about wearing her life jacket-- but eventually she found a spot that suited her... under the seats! We hadn't spent this much time on the boat in a long time and it was nice to get out and see some of our favorite old haunts and see how many houses have been built or remodeled.. Down on Stonehouse creek there were tons of new houses and sadly over on Lizard creek my dream house has become someones elses and they added a big ol screen porch to it and a new boat house.

A day on the boat without drifting through PeaHill Creek??? gotta do it and get alittle lunch-- Picnic on the Boat!! Of course our perfect weekend wouldnt be complete without Mike catching a big fish... Maizy wasn't too sure about the whole Kiss the Fish thing either... a good sniff was all she was willing to do!

Lots of greenery

Just in case you were wondering Farmer Joe... I mean Mike has been tending his garden pots daily and wow how they are growing! Check out these tomatoe plants!

Nothing but one green pepper to report but he certainly has come a long way.

NJ --we returned

If you look closely you will see the VA Tech flag... that should give you a clue as to where we went this weekend!! Back to NJ, which we have finally figured out why it has such a bad reputation... after 5 hours of driving Mike came up with the answer. NJ is like a state stuck in time. Really other than the whole Newark cesspool-- NJ really is picturesque-- lots of trees, older home and two lane roads. There are not stripmalls on every corner nor are there townhomes and condos on everyblock. They haven't caught up to that yet... seriously you look at the stores, the signs and the roads and it looks like our area did some 20-25 years ago.. yes they still have Gulf gas stations.. who knew??? I thought they were out of business.
Regardless of the time warp, we enjoyed our time with The Dahl's. They have a cute house that is just perfect for them. Huge kitchen and a back yard that makes Cooper smile.

Hardwood floors so running down the hallway is much more fun... and even a fireplace at a jaunty angle. The paint colors in the house was alittle surprising... HOT Pink in the master bedroom, Purple in the guest bedroom and PEACHY peach in the family room... but hey it could be worse right??? I see painting in Amandas future.. rental or not.

Probably the best part of the weekend... was the Englishtown Antique store we found. Oh my goodness... mix junk store with antiques with used Stuff... you could spend days in there... I know Amanda and I will be returning (without the boys) next time we go up! I wish I could find a place like that here! what fun!
So glad we were invited (or did I invite myself???) it was fun playing in the garden, grilling on their HUGE deck and just hanging out.

cuteness

So how darn cute is that bag??? Yea I have a thing for big bags... I always have... as a teenager I carried huge Space Bags, and have carried backpacks, beach bags, hobo purses you know name ever since... ohh I have tried going smaller... my daughter has shamed me into carrying cute little handbags (which I love) but I always end up reverting back...
This one is handmade... I could do that... so could you! Tutorial here!