My weekend in review...

It's been a wonderful four day weekend and I'm glad to be back to blogging world.

Thursday afternoon my sweet niece Cindi presented us with a beautiful new great-nephew. Allow me to introduce you to Chase Matthew, 6 # 10 oz. Isn't he a cutie!



That was a great afternoon, but it went down hill from there. We had a major hail storm come through.

After the hail storm and the rain stopped, I went out to inspect for damage. Mine and hubby's vehicles took a beating. His is repairable but mine suffered more damaged and the insurance company is going to total it. I had a cracked windshield, cracked trim, dents in the hood, trunk, roof, quarter panels and light covers cracked.

His was some hail damage on the hood and a little on the top.

You would think I would be devastated about all this damage, but for some reason I was very calm. I've been thinking about trading my car in. I've never been happy with it since I bought it. Guess I won't have any choice in the matter now.

What really upset me was what the pounding hail did to my patio swing. I never knew hail could beat a hole in material. My swing was only a year old and I had babied it and there was not one single tear or scratch in the material.....till now. The storm roared up out of nowhere so we didn't have time to bring the cushions in like we normally do.

I think I'm going to look for a wooden swing to replace this one.

Friday, I ran errands and spent a wonderful evening at the ball field with my son and his family. Got to watch Garret and Alexis both have a game. Saturday, I went shopping and car scouting with my daughter and her children. Her Explorer took a beating and is totaled as well. So we went to get some ideas while we wait on the insurance company.

Sunday was a beautiful Memorial Service at church and the rest of the day we just relaxed some more. I even took a LONG afternoon nap...which I NEVER do.

Monday, Hubby and I went antique shopping. I could not find the pitcher I was looking for. But I also wanted to start a collection of salt cellars (also known as salt dips). They are little tiny "bowls" that would be placed at every plate with a little salt in them so you could salt your food. A friend of mine has some and I thought I would start collecting them. Some have little lids such as roosters, rabbits, swans, etc. And some are just open containers.

I found these little rooster ones that I just had to have. My mom and grandmother had the larger size of these that were candy dishes when I was growing up. The jadeite and the pink one are my favorites. They range from $2.00 - $3.95 each. They made my day. Each one is about 2 1/2" long.

This little salt dip is adorable as well. I want to find some more to go with this. It was just $2.50.

I found this cute little bowl/dish. I have no idea what I will use it for, but I fell in love with it and for just $5.00, I had to have it.

After antique shopping all day in 90 degrees, I was exhausted. I came home and took a bubble bath and read. Then hubby fixed me biscuits and bacon gravy for supper. I had that with homemade apple butter and vegged out on the couch all evening. It was a very relaxing weekend. I'm ready to face the world again. I needed these four days off. Sunday starts Vacation Bible School at our church and I'm helping with crafts and music for the Pre-K kids. Relaxation kind of goes out the window that week but I love every minute of it.

Time to refresh.....

I am so excited. Hubby and I are taking a four day weekend. Since Monday is a holiday, we've decided to take tomorrow off as well. Most of my clients will take advantage of the four day weekend, so I'm going to join the masses. It's a great way to kick off your summer.

I'm going to knock off early this afternoon and clean house and hubby is going to catch the laundry up today. That will give us four days of doing whatever we want.

I think tomorrow we will go get our flowers and work on our flower pots. We never put any out until Memorial day every year. Since our departed loved ones are all buried in West Virginia, we don't get to decorate on Memorial day so we plant our potted plants in honor of our loved ones every year at this time.

I'm not sure yet what the plans will be for Saturday. Sunday will be church and we are going to have a Memorial Service for our fallen military, POW's, and MIA's. We have some beautiful music planned along with some video scenes that are very poignant. We'll probably go out for lunch that afternoon and a nice long Sunday drive.

But Monday is the day I'm excited about. We are going antique shopping. We have some of the neatest antique stores around here and I'm on a mission. It's probably a futile mission, but a mission all the same. I have some old bowls and pitchers that are in my cabinets and I want to incorporate them into my kitchen. Since my kitchen is sort of a cross between French Country and Country, I have some ideas to bring it all together. I saw this beautiful pitcher at http://emmallamb.blogspot.com/2011/05/thrifty-finds.html

This is all the new decor rave "Granny Chic". So I'm heading out Monday to see if I can find something similar to fit into my decor. Now, here's the problem. Emma is from Scotland and found her treasure in Edinburgh. I'm thinking my chances are slim of finding one here, but who knows what treasures I may find.

We'll finish up the day with a delicious meal from the grill. We are planning to have a great weekend and I hope you each will as well. I'm not going to check emails, do any "work" work or write any blogs all weekend. I've been burning the midnight oil and the early dawn oil for so long, I need a break. So I'm sleeping in (which will mean until 6:30 or 7:00 for me) and enjoying my four day mini-vacation.

I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial day. I'll see you back on Tuesday.

How did things get so out of hand....

It started off so simple. People began wearing flip flops for all occasions. They became an acceptable form of fashion footwear. I am not a shoe person and never have been. I have one pair of winter tennis shoes and one pair for summer. I have one pair black winter boots and one pair of brown. I have one pair of black dress shoes and one pair of brown and a pair of black flats and a pair of brown. I had three pairs of sandals (black, brown and white).

Then the flip flop phase came and I was sunk. Growing up, I always lived for summer when we could wear our "floppies" as we called them back then. But a couple of years ago, I started buying a couple of new pairs of flip flops and then a couple of more and now, I have 25 pairs of flip flops.

How did things get so out of hand? I am going to blame part of it on Kohl's for having $12.99 flip flops on sale for $5.99 when I have a $5.00 coupon. I'm going to blame the other part on Payless for their Buy One Get One 1/2 off sales. I guess I'll take the rest of the blame since y'all already know I love to collect things. Do flip flops count as collectibles?

My daughter bought her two year old daughter, Shelby, her first pair of flip-flops Saturday. Shelby was all excited and had to wear her new "flollups" out of the store. I think I've started something.

Collecting makes me happy...

I love collecting. Whether it is Emmet Kelly Clowns, teapots or kitty cats, I am a collecting fanatic. As I was preparing for my yard sale last week, I mentioned I had stumbled on a box of memories. There were many items in there that are treasures to me. One thing I had forgotten about was my thimbles.

Growing up in a family where we didn't own a car, vacations were unheard of. We went to Grandma Garretson's up in the country 2 or 3 times a year either on a Greyhound or my aunt would take us. When I married my hubby, he was a traveler. We would take one long 1-2 week vacation every summer and little weekend trips periodically through the year. I was so fascinated with the junk shops in the vacation spots. I had never traveled, so all this was new to this old country gal. Being a born shopper, I loved to scour around the quaint little towns for treasures. That is how I stumbled on and fell in love with collecting.

Everywhere we went, when you went up to the counter they would have these adorable little thimbles so I decided to start collecting them. Just about every trip, I would pick one up as a souvenir to show I had been there. As my collection grew, I started getting them as gifts from my family and friends as they went on vacation. My first one came from the Great Smoky Mountains about 10 years before we moved here from West Virginia. I have them from Myrtle Beach, Panama City Beach, Daytona Beach, Virgina Beach, Gulf Shores, Luray Caverns, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, New York, New Orleans, Maine, Pittsburgh, The Amish Country, Kings Island, Chattanooga, Helen GA, Hershey PA, and many more.

I can pick up each one and it will bring back a ton of memories either of my trips or of my family who bought them for me. Who knew that little ol' thimbles would come to mean so much. I think I'll bring them out of storage and set up a new display for them. That way, when I feel the need to get away, I can pick up a thimble, close my eyes and take a vacation in my mind.

Blankie's

A special thanks to Becky Jane at Rise Above Your Limits for the wonderful gifts I won in her recent giveaway. Please visit her blog for some inspiration and fun. She's one on my "must read daily" list. Thanks, Becky for the home made blankie and the candle. I love them!

Here is the blanket she made me. It is so soft and the colors are perfect for me. It will go in my living room, my guest room or my bedroom. I may have to become like Linus and just cart it with me everywhere I go.

She also sent me a candle from Scents in Soy on Etsy. The smell is divine. I just keep walking by and picking it up to smell it. It's Sweet Orange & Green Clover and is so fresh and springy.

She couldn't have sent any better gifts. I love candles and have them all over the house. But I am OBSESSED with fleece blankets. I don't know why. My husband laughs every time I buy a new one. I guess he thinks I'm storing up for another ice age. But I just like blankies. Here are some of my faves.

My Mom made me this one and the pillow to match to go along with one of my favorite dolls.

I got this one at the Bass Pro Shop when it opened in Kodak. It is my nightly companion....unless one of the boys are spending the night. They have claimed it as "the boys" blanket. (By the way, now that I have a nice new blankie with pink in it, I'm sure the girls will claim it as "the girls" blanket.)

My mom made me this one. It graces the foot of my bed. The material she used matches the quilt square on my quilted bed cover.

 My sister made me this one in honor of the Great Smoky Mountains.

 My mom and sister came down one weekend and we worked on crafts. This was my first attempt at primitive stitchery. It was fun. I've made a few things since then, but haven't stuck with it like they have. It's a great winter craft.

 These are just two green ones I have that I haven't done any stitchery on yet. Haven't decided what I want to put on them. But I loved the colors and they were on sale for $3.00 each so I HAD to have them.

Those are my blankies. Thanks for letting me share.

Hope you are having a great day....

I hope everyone is having a blessed Sunday. I'm having a wonderful day so far. After church, one of my granddaughters came home with me for the day. Two of my nieces from West Virginia came by for a visit.

This is the first chance I've had to get on my blog since Saturday morning. My day has been so good, it reminds me of the song "This is the day that the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it."

See you tomorrow in blog world.

Dr. Seuss was a genius....

Has there ever been a person who has not at one time in their lives, loved Dr. Seuss. The man was brilliant. He could get across life lessons with a little nonsense thrown in.

As an adult, I have come to admire some of his more famous quotes. Here are a few of my favorites and what they mean to me....



"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

Life will get you down. Things will change. Don't let the changes upset you or depress you. Remember the good times and let the happy memories bring a smile to your face.

"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells."

This one makes me think that laughter IS the best medicine. I can be so silly sometimes that I bet my brain cells are doing a happy dance.

 

"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple."

Sometimes we look too much for hidden meanings. We need to learn to take more things at face value instead of trying to pick it to pieces to see what it means.

 

"How did it get so late so soon?"

Don't come to the end of your journey just to realize you let life pass you by. Squeeze every single moment of joy from life that you can.

 

"I’m glad we had the times together just to laugh and sing a song, seems like we just got started and then before you know it, the times we had together were gone."

This one is so important. Live your life with passion. Squeeze every moment from it. One of my clients always ends his talks with "Love what you do, love why you are doing it, and love who you are doing it with."

"Why fit in when you were born to stand out?"

Why settle for second best. Be the best YOU that you can be and you will have succeeded in life.

 

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

This has to be my all time favorite one. It is so true. We have got to be true to ourselves and not act like something we are not. We can't be what everyone wants us to. The people who don't like us and cannot accept us the way we are, are the people whose opinions should not matter in our lives. But those who love us DESPITE what or who we are, are the very ones who should matter the most to us.

 

Thank you to my wonderful readers who allow me to be ME and come back to visit everyday!

Garage Sales leads to sweet memories

I have been having a yard sale this week with a couple of my friends. It's been a huge success so far. Since I didn't have time to go through everything last week to get ready, I decided yesterday to clean out a closet to get rid of some more of my stuff and give us some new stuff to put out today. In the process, I came across a Rubbermaid container that I had forgotten about and opened it to see what was inside. Guess what I found? Memories. Lots and lots of good memories. Needless to say, the memories went back in storage but I did take some photos to share on some of my favorite items.

This is a quilt that was made by my grandmother. It always graced my twin bed when I was little. I spent many a cold night up in the old home place under this quilt. My sister had a matching one. It was my favorite. We used to set and look at the pieces and name whose dress or shirt or p.j.'s the material came from. It's raggedy and coming apart at some of the seems, but what sweet memories are wrapped up in it.

 My mom made this afghan when my twins were little, which would make it over 30 years old. My daughter loved to snuggle up under it when she would visit her Mamaw. Somehow, over the years, I talked Mom out of it. I'll pass it on to my daughter....some day. Just want to keep it for myself awhile.

 This little feller just made my heart stand still. This is Pugsly. My baby brother Andy had got this dog when he was so tiny. He loved Pugsly and lugged him around everywhere. I have no idea how I ended up with him, but was so very glad to find that he was still around after 40 some years. I see he has a rip so I need to stitch him up. I can close my eyes and picture a curly haired little boy snuggled in sleep with his arms wrapped tight against his Pugsly.

 I loved Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop growing up. I have a Lamb Chop puppet and my daughter bought me this beanie baby when they first came out.

 These roosters belonged to my Mamaw Eden. She had a lot of roosters in her kitchen. I had forgotten about having these. My kitchen is in French Country style so I also have a lot of rooster stuff. These did not go back into the memory box. They are now gracing the top shelf of my bakers rack.

 In 2001, my husband was working for a company and one of the summer hires was a sweet girl from Russia. She had transferred here to work just for the summer. He is so patient and kind when training employees and really knows how to treat them. She was so happy that she got to work with him that when she got back home to Russia, she sent us this beautiful set of nesting dolls. I just love them and they really meant a lot to me and Allen both because she was such a sweet girl.

 I just love going through my old memories. The walk down memory lane is always so much fun.

It's a good thing I can laugh at myself....

One thing I loved growing up and still do is Mommy's pancakes. She makes them from scratch and fixes them in an iron skillet and they are to die for. One morning, when I was about 7 or 8, we were having pancakes for breakfast. I was just a few bites into my last one and asked Mommy to fix me another one and she said that was all the batter. My brother had half of his last one left and said he was finished that I could have his. Instead of finishing mine first, I greedily grabbed his plate and raked his remaining pancakes onto mine. I took my fork and stabbed a piece of pancake to get back to my task. I put it in my mouth and began to chew....then it happened. It was horrible. I had forgotten that Jack liked to eat his pancakes with molasses instead of syrup. I despised molasses. Oh, the face I must have made as I dashed for the bathroom. My brother thought is was hilarious and I returned to the table with one of those "if looks could kill" faces. The bad part was, since I had mixed it all together, now all the pancakes would have the gag-nasty flavor of molasses. He cracked up; I got mad. I'm not sure if I stormed off mad or if I cried because of ruined pancakes. But I can assure you, I never made that mistake again. And I definitely have never tried molasses again.

A few months later, Mom was outside burning the trash in the big drum Daddy used for that purpose. Now, those of you who know me well, know I am not known for my patience. And my lack there of has had adverse effects from time to time. Well, this particular morning, I wanted my Cheerios and I wanted them right then. I hollered out the screen door "Mommy, can I fix my own Cheerios." Mommy hollered back that she would be there in a minute. But I wanted my Cheerios right then and begged her to let me fix them by myself. She relented and agreed. Then she yelled back down the hill, what to me sounded like "be sure and use the green carton of milk."  When actually, she was reminding me NOT to use the green carton. But little Miss Impatient was also known as little Miss Doesn't Pay Attention Well, so I poured a bowl of Cheerios, covered them with a scoop of sugar and proceeded to pour the milk from the green carton. I was so proud. My first time of fixing breakfast for myself. I could now tell everyone I had "cooked" my own breakfast. I carefully carried my prize to the table and sat down to eat. One bite into them and I knew I had not listened very well. Have you ever tried Cheerios in buttermilk? Well, don't. Oh how gross! Of course, I didn't like buttermilk any better than I did molasses so it was not a good morning. Mom came in around then and I got a lecture on being impatient and not paying attention.

Now, I guess everybody knows why I don't like to cook. I thank God daily for marrying a man who is not only a fabulous cook, but he can tell syrup from molasses and knows the difference between milk and buttermilk.

Do you remember "It's MINE!"

Do you remember being a little kid and getting mad when somebody took something that belonged to you. We would stomp our feet, get angry and yell "It's MINE!" If that didn't work, we would have a temper tantrum. Or as we call it in the country, "throw a fit."

Do you still have those moments as an adult? I'm ashamed to say that I do. I recently had someone try to take away my joy by critizing my blog and belittling my right to post what I want to post. My faith was even brought into question and it really upset me for over a week. Well it's MY joy and I want it back.

I have always believed that our blogs are exactly that OUR blogs. We do not write to offend or upset anyone, but if we write what God places on our heart and it offends someone, it wasn't intentional. It just may have been needed by someone that was reading it that day.

If I have ever offended any of my readers, I do apologize. That is not the purpose of this blog. It not personal except to me. It is a place for me to write what I feel, what I think, what I enjoy and hopefully bring a little guidance, a little smile or a little pleasure to my readers. Maybe even a little laughter.

I know that when I read your blogs, it always seems to lighten my load. Young mother's who blog bring back fond memory of the days when my twins were growing up. Grandmother's who blog provide me with ideas of things to do with my grandchildren. Christians who blog inspire me, provide me guidance and help me face difficult days simply by the gift of their blog for the day. Crafters and decorators help me with thoughts for new projects or ways to spruce up the house.

So, I guess we each blog for our own personal reasons. If something hits home and I feel like it was meant for me, I hope I can realize that God thought I needed to hear it or I wouldn't have read that blog that day.

So my apologies if I have offended any of you and my thanks to God that HE is faithful and He alone can give back my joy.

Praying.....

...The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. - James 5:16

I believe in the power of prayer. I know God can work wonders. We see miracles abound around us every day. Some small and some huge. I love the words James uses effectual (Producing or sufficient to produce a desired effect; fully adequate) and fervent (having or displaying a passionate intensity).

When we pray, do we pray fervently with faith believing. Do we fall down on our knees and pour our hearts out to God? Do we constantly whisper His name throughout our day asking Him for guidance? I personally believe He hears either way. I think the minute we utter His name, His arms open wide to receive our request. I have some friends who are going through some very tough situations and could use some help from my prayer warriors. I'd like to ask my blogging friends to please pray for some special prayer requests.....

I have a dear friend who suffers from severe arthritis. About a week ago, she started having some horrible pain in her hip and couldn't put any weight on her leg. Walking became impossible. They submitted her to the hospital and ran a multitude of tests. They discovered she had a broken hip. She had not fallen so they did not suspect that at first. They were doing surgery last night and I haven't heard the results yet, so please remember her and pray for a speedy recovery.

 

 One of my best friends growing up has twin sons 19 years old. One of them has a type of blood cancer. He went through a series of chemo back in the fall and winter and was doing much better. A recent scan showed that the cancer was back and had spread to the top of his lung. We did get a praise report when they found it was not in his bones as they had feared. This young man has been undergoing aggressive chemo since last Friday. Once he completes the chemo, he will be receiving a blood stem transplant from his twin brother. Please pray for both these boys. They are both good Christians. When he found out the cancer was back, his reaction was "Well, I've been fighting a battle. Now I'll just have to fight a war."

One of my cousins has a cousin on the other side of the family whose son has been in the hospital since early January. He has an extremely rare brain disease that he was born with. He is only 18 and has had over 80 some surgeries. He has to have constant monitor on the shunts in his brain. They have had to externalize them and let him heal and then go back in and internalize them. He has been going through this now for 5 months where they will do the surgery, the shunts will start to leak and they have to go in and externalize them again so his brain can heal and then put them back in internally. He has kept a very blessed positive attitude all through this and is an extremely strong Christian. Please remember him in your prayers.

When I sit back and look at the illness, sickness, financial situations that we all face, it is amazing to me that we let the "little things" get to us sometimes. We have so much to be thankful for and I for one give God the glory for the all the good He has blessed me with. Thank you for your prayers.

Happy birthday to my grandson, Caleb

Eight years ago today, my second grandson was born. He tried to come a 5 weeks early. His mommy was back and forth to the hospital every other day for a week. When they finally couldn't stop the labor any more, Caleb Michael made his appearance. He has been going full speed ahead ever since.

From those days as a smiley little toddler....

 To the days as a typical boy

 A loving big brother

 A pretend semi-truck driver

 Hot from playing outside

 And a typical boy that can't stay out of the mud,

He has always had a uniqueness about him that we always describe as, "That's pure Caleb."

Happy birthday Caleb. I hope you have the best birthday an 8 year old boy can have.