Great, just great...

I'm in BIG trouble!!!

http://news.yahoo.com/sugar-dumb-us-scientists-warn-190918006.html

In the news...

Almost every day I peruse the headlines in the news and look at the silliness that pops up on Yahoo and the MSN home page. Mostly, you can figure out what's going on in the world by reading the headlines. Sometimes, the headline is good enough  to make you want to read the article. It's so funny what's considered news. Anyway, I didn't read the articles attached to most of these, but they were some of the wackiest I saw;

* Butt dials account for 38% of 911 calls.

* Discovered Mayan calendar goes way past 2012.

* Hip, or About to Break a Hip?
Is a 45 year-old pursuing a dangerous sport like skateboarding embarrassing and risky or inspiring and life-affirming?

* Mom has unlawful sex, baby with daughter’s boyfriend, 16.

* NJ test asks 3rd graders to reveal a secret
Some New Jersey parents are upset about a standardized test question that asked third-graders to reveal a secret and write about why it was hard to keep.

* Phoenix-area man hits $1 million jackpot six times.

* Bloomington cops shoot naked gunman near IU campus.

* Tattoos are part of a growing pet grooming industry where a standard cut, wash and nail trim no longer will do. Groomers routinely offer teeth cleaning, mouthwash and spa treatments complete with blueberry facials and pedicures as services – part of an estimated $58.2 million that Americans will spend on their pets this year

* Chris Brown's new gig: Pit bull salesman
 * Kardashians stick with 'reality'

* Guy shoots girlfriend on hog-hunting date.

* Woman donates kidney to boss, gets fired.

* Six-year old arrested for assault on principal

* Canine Custody Battle Costs Man $60,000

And the funniest thing I read today is in regard to Howard Stern taking over as a judge on some show called America's Got Talent;
The night's biggest insult was leveled not by Stern but one of the rejects. When Stern told the guitarist who butchered "Proud Mary", "I’ve been in radio 35 years and you're too weird for my show,” the guitarist shot back: “That might hurt my feelings if I respected your opinion.”

I don't feel a need to comment on any of these because you can probably make up your own funny stories about them :-)

Mom's and stuff

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and if you're a Mom, I hope you felt loved in every way that mattered!

Friday night, we took Mom to an Indians game. Bill always says that baseball is as boring as watching paint dry but he says he had a nice time. It was a perfect night out. Not too hot, not humid, no clouds in the sky. And Victory Stadium is pretty nostalgic. They did an excellent job on it. Plus, there were fireworks after the game - which we won by the way!

Saturday, I didn't wake up until a little after NOON. And then it was only because Bill came in to make sure I was ok. I popped right up after I looked at the clock! It's been yeeeeeeears since I slept that late! That was weird. Anyway, the rest of the day was filled with regular house things and a trip to Hobby Lobby to get a mat for my last quilled artwork. I'm SO happy with it;

Sometimes when I look at it, I can't believe *I* made that!

Sunday, Mom came over to our house. We took a little trip to Ace Hardware, where they were having 20% of perennials. She bought some more flowers - she's gone hog wild this year! Oh, and I bought some too. Don't laugh. I might actually be able to keep them all alive this year. Mom says I only have to water them :-) I tried to pick things that said hardy. It appears that I've made a total commitment now! This is what I ended up with;

If it seems like I'm failing, I'll send out an SOS to da mama.

Next was dinner at Cynthia's Cantina, where chicken enchiladas were the house special. Yum-O! I make pretty yummy enchiladas if I do say so. And something low fat and healthy for dessert...homemade strawberry smoothies.

Love you Mom, you're the BEST!

It was a downright wonderful weekend!

Old stuff

I'm SO happy in my new library/craft room! I can hardly wait for the next 1/2 price book ($3 or less) sale!

As I've been unpacking old stored boxes, I've found a lot of loose pictures. Guess I better add that to my list of things I want to do...put them all in an album. (on a side note...sometimes I wonder why I want to do that. Who am I going to leave them to? Isn't that silly?)

Anyway, some of them are so fun! Like this one, taken on our honeymoon;

Those suckers were much heavier than you would imagine.

Then there's this one with my brothers Dad;

I look so girly considering I was totally a tom-boy a few years later! And what happened to the blond hair? Hey bubba!...you have your Dad's eyes :-)

And this handsome guy is my bio Dad;

SMOKIN HOT

First of all, let me remind you, it's MY blog and I can say and post whatever I want.

Next, you know I love Hugh Jackman.

I'm not a fan of this chap, I don't find him particularly handsome, I don't watch soccer. However, what could be more beautiful than this!!!...

Seriously!

wow, Wow, WOW!

Last night we went to see Yanni, live. I love his music. And like one of the reviewers said, sorry, not sorry. Passionate, powerful, dynamic, moving, joyful...and more. Plus, he's charming and a real delight on stage

Here are just a couple review snippets;

"According to the weird looks and Facebook comments I’ve been receiving, it’s not normal to fill your Spotify playlists with Yanni songs, nor devote evenings to his show. Forgive me for my ignorance. Or, as my friend Lauren would say, sorry not sorry.



***************************************************************************
"He performed with his 12-piece orchestra for more than two hours with music from all walks of his career. There are few modern-day composers with a unique sense of music and style which is truly their own. To compare new-age music with classic rock is a stretch, but for Yanni, it is possible. This Greek composer marries contemporary new-age spirituality with today’s pop attitudes and delivers a unique sound which puts him in a class of his own. As far as contemporary new-age music goes, Yanni is a step above the rest.

What pleasantly caught me off guard Monday was the amount of genuine fun and energy there was on stage — not just by Yanni playing his multiple keyboards, but by all 12 people in the orchestra. I have always known that Yanni, as a composer, created all the music — not just for the ivory keys, but for all the instruments on stage. I have never seen one of his live performances before. It was a real treat to see him demonstrate that he has a complete connection to his music — and is able to show it in a very unique and entertaining way."

I want to go again, and again and again and again!

If YOU ever get an opportunity to see Yanni live, please! go, you'll LOVE it I promise.

Other things...

Mom and I did the Race for the Cure a couple weeks ago. Attendance was down by almost 15 thousand people over a few years ago ~ but you couldn't tell;

That's A LOT of people!! It didn't rain but it was a little chilly that morning.

Yesterday I was in Target buying the containers that go in the new cubby's. Remember when I told you about the card display banner that was done by quilling? I got a picture of it;

It's a pretty simple design but it's sooo pretty! Neato!

Tonight, the man, the Mom and I are going to 'An Evening With Yanni'. I like Yanni. I like BIG music. We're looking forward to it.



MY room!

I've always wanted my own craft room. I've always wanted a library. Unless we win the lotto, I'm not going to have both, so I'm ok with combining them. Finally, after decades of wishing...I have my very own craft/library room!

It started out like this;

A darker bright blue, with a professionally glued on border. People, don't glue stuff to the walls ~ it's bitch to get off!

After the border was taken off, painting was next;

Whew. After a coat of primer and two coats of paint, it's done! Man, that was hard.
I loved walking in to a big, bright, white room.

Bill spent all day putting my bookcases (4 of them), and 2 cubby units, together. Then came the joyful chore of filling it all up!!!

It turns out that I have A LOT more "stuff" than I thought I had! It's going to take me awhile to unpack it all. I spent almost the entire weekend in there. I think Bill was feeling a little neglected. Today, I'm exhausted! I ache all over. But I'm sooo HAPPY!!!


I notice stuff

Not always, but sometimes I notice stuff. Spring is wonderful time of year to notice. Every year it seems like the trees sprout leaves practically overnight. I love that. And just one single day after you've mowed, you need to do again because the dandelions are a foot tall again! This morning though, I noticed for the first time, how green everything is. I walked out the front door and said, WOW! Everywhere you look today it's pretty, pretty, pretty!

I ROCK

A big corporation hired several cannibals. “You are all part of our team now,” said the HR manager during the welcome briefing. “You get all the usual benefits, and you can go to the cafeteria for something to eat, but please don’t eat any of the other employees.” The cannibals promised they would not.

A few weeks later the cannibals’ boss remarked, “You’re all working very hard, and I’m satisfied with you. However, one of our secretaries has disappeared. Do any of you know what happened to her?” The cannibals all shook their heads, “No,” they said.

After the boss left, the leader of the cannibals said to the others angrily, “Right, which one of you idiots ate the secretary?”

A hand rose hesitantly in admission. “You fool!” said the leader. “For weeks we’ve been eating managers, and no one noticed anything, but nooo, you had to go and eat someone important!”

this is my world

I love that one! But...my own boss didn't do a thing for me. Not cool. However, a boss in a different department that I help out occasionally, and Chucks daughter, had lunch for me and gave me a nice gift card. That was awesome!

New stuff

I started a new quilling project! I'm not sure if it's going to work out but I'm giving it a shot.

It started like this;

I wanted it to be colorful because of the paper and not paint. But then it seemed too busy so I compromised a little;

So far I think it's OK. It's going slowly because I didn't really think so much about the colors before I got started. I wish I was better with colors.

The next time you're in Target, check out the banner above the Mother's Day cards. That's quilling! It's great looking! Even my man noticed...he said "Hey! Look at that!" I was already looking but it made me feel good that he noticed it as well.

Mom and I went to see Bill Cosby yesterday ~ OMG!!! I can't even remember the last time I laughed so hard for so long. He was HILARIOUS!! I loved it! I wish I could remember just a fraction of the things he said. But even if I did, it wouldn't be as funny if I told it. Cosby has his own style of delivery. He was the first comedian I ever knew of and I have to say, it was pretty refreshing to see a non-cussing stand up show.

Today is my last appointment w/the ENT. It's my last chance to say whether I love my new hearing or hate it. Of course I'm going to say I'll keep them. It's turned out to be really great to hear!! Poor Bill though, he's getting so frustrated at me reminding him to shhhhhhh, with the speaking volume. It's an adjustment for him too. And today *I* get control over their volume. The last time I went in, they turned down the treble and turned the volume up. I think I'd like a little less volume.

Tomorrow is the annual boob squishing and Saturday is the Race for the Cure. Cancer sucks...but faith, hope and love are amazing blessings!

Instead of, part 2

Instead of driving to Nashville and hanging out on Broadway and going to a BIG country music concert Tuesday, I painted the future library/craft room, shopped for bookcases and bought a new little TV. Now we have 2 TV's. I'm not sure why we want two TV's but my other half thought is was a nice idea. I'm wondering now if it's because he might want to hang out with me in the future library/craft room and now he'll have something to do? Hmm, that's an interesting thought.

Instead of driving home Wednesday, I took the day off. Well, mostly. We went to CostCo and Hobby Town, where I found some awesome coloring books and a glue bottle with a tee tiny hole in the tip ~ for quilling!

Whew. It was a pretty productive staycation and I'm going to LOVE being retired someday!!

Instead of...

A couple weeks ago, Greta had some crazy physical problems that turned out to be a spinal cord injury! Poor sweet Greta. She was so pitiful and I was SO stressed! Our instructions were to 'jail' her for 2 weeks - plus meds.

Instead of going on vacation, we opted to have a staycation and look after her.

Instead of taking a 10 hour drive to the Ozarks to visit family, Wednesday we went to Menards, Lowes, Home Depot, lunch, back to Menards and removed the remaining wallpaper border in the kitchen.

Instead of hanging out in the Ozarks, where it's probably really pretty in the Spring, enjoying great company, the best stories, super yummy home cooking and tasty wine, Thursday we went to Hobby Lobby, Kohls and Walmart, patched the walls in the kitchen, gave Pepper a haircut and removed 1/2 the wallpaper border in the future library/craft room.

Instead of more of the above Ozarks fun, Friday we went to breakfast with Mom, the man went home and Mom and I went to Walmart, Menards, Kohls and SteinMart. The rest of the day was laundry and cleaning.

Instead of another great day in the Ozarks, Saturday we patched the wall in the future library/craft room and did yard work. But Greta is doing MUCH better. Except she's still seems hesitant to jump up on anything all the time.

Instead of spending our last morning in the Ozarks and driving to Memphis where we would have spent the evening strolling down Beale Street, Sunday we went to Easter Brunch at the Ritz Charles. I usually make enchiladas on Easter but I wasn't really prepared to do that this year so eating out seemed like a nice idea. Then we came home and watched War Horse.

Instead of driving to Birmingham to go to the LARGEST motorcycle museum in the country, today we'll be working some more in the library/craft room.

So far it's been a productive staycation and I'm not sorry that we chose to stay home and watch Greta ~ but traveling would have been fun too.

ART

If you've ever painted, drawn, sculpted or otherwise created any kind of art work, this artist will blow you away. Really, after you seen this man's work, you'll be so humbled that you'll never want to create another anything! OK, that's an exaggeration, but still...

His name is Paul Cadden and these are PENCIL DRAWINGS!!!!!

A, B, C, D, E, F...

I finished the latest monograms for a woman at work;

Plus the 'B' I already did for her;

She's giving them to her children for their birthdays. I offered to do them in any color she wanted, but she wanted them to be the same. The customer is always right...right?