Wishing You All A...

Over Two Months...

Since I've updated. My how time flies. Its been a bit busy around here. Still remodeling, 3 rooms completed and now we are on hold due to the Holidays. Still doing Callanetics, can you believe I've kept this up for 10 weeks which by the way is only equal to 10 hours of these exercises. Sounds bad but they are not easy and yet I still enjoy doing them, maybe I should have been a ballerina....just kidding. I divided the hour up into 4 parts (which the book suggest for beginners) and I have been doing 1 part 4 times a week. This takes me anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour each time, therefore I've really completed 30 to 40 hours of exercise. The books says "10 Years Younger in 10 Hours". Its working folks, I can't say that I look or feel 10 years younger but I do feel better and compliments from the husband are very helpful. : ) Now that I've completed the 10 Hour Plan, I'll move on to the 15 Minute Maintenance Plan. I'll see how it goes and if I'm not happy with the results I'll switch back to the 10 Hour Plan after the Holidays. OK! enough about my exercising but as you can see I'm pretty happy with myself for sticking with the plan.
Thanksgiving was spent with a few family members, it was awesome having them over, its been way to long since we've all been together.
Other news, I am now working 4 days a week instead of 5 and loving it. Its amazing how much I can get done with one extra day at home. It makes for some real nice weekends. We are training a new girl at work as I am preparing for retirement in 19 short months. After the first of the year I may only be working 3 days a week, more spare time, what shall I do? : )
The husband and I went shopping today for a few more Christmas decorations and can you believe that the stores are already breaking down their Christmas displays...seems a bit early to me. We did settle for a couple of items but not the ones we were shopping for. : (
Next weekend I'm having the girls in the family over for a Christmas get together. We always do a craft together, this year we will be making fabric flowers. My daughter and I have 3 different types in mind and we are thinking that each girl can make a couple to take home. We'll be having some snacks, some laughs and of course I'll be wearing my Christmas shoes, just for you Charlie. : )
How's your Christmas shopping going? What's on you list this year? Me, I'm a little over half done with my shopping and hope to finish up on Friday while enjoying my day off. : )  My list includes some new perfume (Chanel No.5, its his fault), a gold chain necklace, new cookware and a couple of surprises. You'd better get busy people, 23 more Days til Christmas!!!

P.S. If you are a Rod Stewart fan. Run...don't walk to the store and pick up his new Christmas CD Merry Christmas, Baby. I LOVE it and have listened to it every single day since Thanksgiving! I believe you will too!

xo,
Susi

A Few Things I've Learned This Week...

1. Callanetics is not as easy as it seemed 20+ years ago.
2. I am very much out of shape.
3. One thing a nurse should never, ever say to a patient is "you will be put under with propofol, the same stuff that killed Michael Jackson." She went on to say "if the drug is used right it is a very good drug." Thank you nurse Angie, you'll be lucky if I show up next month.
4. Remodeling is a pain in the......well you know. It is impossible to keep the house clean.
5. Some people need to learn the difference in borrowing and giving!
6. I have way to many crafty items. I may need an intervention. : ) No really!!!
7. If you put a penny into a vase of cut tulips they will stand up straight and not be droopy. I have not tried this but I hear it is true. I'll give it a try next Spring.
8. I should try to make more of the things that I pin. Isn't that the whole point of pinning anyway. If you do not pin.....maybe you'd better not start....it is addicting.
9. I should upload pictures from my phone atleast monthly.  My phone is 22 months old and I have over 3000 pic on it at this time. Tonight's the night! 
10. I know that in about one hour I will be drinking a wine cooler or some.

Have A Great Weekend,
Love & Hugs,
Susi
 

A Funny and Some Fudge...

A couple of months ago our other Grandson whom we get to spend very little time with (we'll call him N and he is 10 years old) stayed overnight with us. The next afternoon N and I were waiting around the for the husband to get home so that we could take N out for Lobster (which was quite interesting by the way). N walked into my craft room and noticed my crocheting basket. He looked at me and said "if you have some yarn and some straws I can make you a belt."I said "OK,what kind of yarn and how much do you need". He said "I need that kind of yarn that smells like pig". I had no idea what kind of yarn this was so while trying to catch my breath from laughing so hard I showed him some different kinds of yarn and asked if any of them would work for the belt. He said "no those will not work, I need the kind that smells like pig." I told him that I had no idea what kind of yarn he was talking about but that we would try to figure it out. He also showed me how to measure for this belt. I did not get a picture of him showing me how to measure for it because honestly I was laughing so hard that I could not have held a camera still enough to take one. I still laugh everytime I tell this story. I'm laughing right now as I type this...maybe you had to be there but everyone I've told this story to has LOL.
My daughter brings this story up often and so the other day she kindly volunteered to let me take a picture of her showing how to measure for the belt. Note: you measure like this and double the yarn that smells like pig. I'm have no idea why she's making that face.

 

 

By the way, while at Wally World later that day he showed me the pig smelling yarn he needs to make the belt. It is...........have you guessed already?.......TWINE. I had to smell it but I didn't really notice a pig scent but then again I've really never smelled a pig. You know your going to smell some twine now to see if it smells like pig.....aren't you. : ) I still have not got him the pig smelling yarn/twine or the straws to make this belt but I plan to because now I really want this belt. I'll share pictures once I get it.

Moving on... 

I think I've talked about pinterest on here before and how I pin so much stuff that I'll never have time to make. Well, I finally made something I pinned. All it took was 3 ingredients (I already had on hand), 5 minutes to mix and about 15 minutes to chill. The husband liked it so I took it to work to share and it was gone just about as quick as it was made.

 

                                                                               source

We're heading into my favorite of all seasons here in the US. There's already a chill in the air and I'm hoping that the drought over the summer hasn't ruined our chance for some of the lovely Autumn colors. I already have plans for a couple of festivals and a Halloween party for the kiddos. : ) Later, I'm heading home to clear out the craft room and maybe have a drink or two.

Have A Great Weekend,
Love & Hugs,
Susi

 

 

 

 

Two Months...

Wow! I just realized that it has been two months since I've posted anything. So this post may get a little long but I want to document things for future reference.

7/1 We are still busy working on our bedroom. The husband has very little time for work at home.
7/2 We are going through a union audit at work...it is taking forever.
7/3 I celebrated another birthday in which I'm struggling with at this time.
7/6 Got a call from my sister in Tennessee. My Mom had been in the hospital for a few weeks and while things were looking up she took a turn for the worse. We arrived around noon and she passed away around 6 p.m.
7/7 My sisters, brothers and I went to the funeral home to plan my Moms funeral. She had part of it taken care of beforehand so there were just a few things left for us to plan before her funeral.
7/10 My Moms funeral was today and I had the family over to my house for awhile afterwards.
7/14 I completed a mini album to document this year, starting in July 2012 and ending June 2013. It was a mini that I came across over at WCS.
7/18 I had my hair cut and colored today. Feeling a bit better, atleast the gray is gone for now.
7/20 Deuce has a grooming appointment today.
7/21 My sister and I visited an Ikea store for the first time today. OMG! I LOVE that place! I will be returning in the near future. I purchased a bed frame, curtains, curtain rods, a down comforter, an Expedit shelf for my craft room and lots of other goodies. She also purchased a few things. Good thing we took the husbands truck. I think she enjoyed our trip as she has already made another.
7/24 The husband visits the dentist for a cleaning and ends up scheduling a surgery for next month. I will not go into details here, I don't think he'd appreciate it much.
7/31 Home from work today...not feeling well.
8/1 Playing along here this month.
8/3 Vacation day today. The Grandson and I went out to lunch at our place (The Cheesecake Factory) and did some school shopping. We also took his Mom along with us this year.
8/4 My sister that lived with my Mom is in town visiting for awhile so we had a cookout to do some catching up.
8/6 Still working on the union audit....ugh!
8/7 Exercising again...I don't want to talk about it though!
8/9 Clearing out another bedroom to start work on...my poor craft room is a wreck, you should see all the stuff I had to move just to sit at my desk to write this post.
8/17 Deuce has another grooming appointment today. I want to be my dog...he has it GOOD!
8/18 Bedroom furniture shopping today at Simply Amish. We walked into the store and I immediately turned to my husband and ask him if we could just refurnish the entire house...his reply...I don't think so.
8/20 Husband has oral surgery today. All went well and he hasn't even taken any pain medication. He's a tough one.
8/21 My Granddaughter turns 4 today......already. We celebrated her birthday dinner at a brewery...I know this sounds strange but she wanted carrot cake and they have the best there is! They also have a wonderful dinner menu. Oh...and lunch specials....Yum!
8/22 Another cut and color today. No more gray for now.
8/24 I took 1/2 day off work to visit with my sister, she will be leaving for Tennessee soon. :(
She may be coming back in October...I hope she can!
I also started using Wen cleansing/conditioner on my hair today. Its good..very good.
8/25 I ordered a couple of pieces for the bedroom from Simply Amish today. : )
8/25 My Granddaughers birthday party is today. Lots of little ones, a bounce house and cupcakes...what else could a kid ask for...atleast a 4 years old kid.
8/26 One last get together before my sister leaves for Tennessee. This time at my other sisters house. Sometimes its nice to not be the hostess. : )
8/27 Husband's first recheck appointment with oral surgeon today. Everything looks good but the stitches have to stay in for THREE MONTHS....WHAT! that sure seems like a long time to me.
8/28 Union audit....ugh....ugh...ugh! Really!
8/31 Long lunch with my BIL and daughter today at the brewery and the boss (my husband) let us girls leave work 45 minutes early today to start celebrating the Holiday weekend. : )
I think Isaac is going to give us some much needed rain this weekend. I took this picture of the sky before lunch today.

 

 

P.S. I hope to return to weekly blogging next month.

 

Have A Great Weekend,

Love & Hugs,

Susi

Five on Friday...

The Bedroom is painted! I love the new color.

My Grandson & I stopped by Pets Mart last week. I found something I wanted to bring home. However, I did not!

I've missed Don Williams music and was excited to receive his new CD last week. Keith Urban sings a song with DW on the CD.  It is AWESOME! I'll bet you are not surprised that I think so!

I tried some new eats at Cheeseburger in Paradise this week. Fish Tacos...they were yummy.

We NEED RAIN, the grass is dry, the flowers are dying almost as soon as they bloom, the leaves are falling off the trees in bunches, spiders are making webs right on top of the grass...everywhere and I do not like spiders...at...all, firework shows for the 4th are being cancelled ( I Love Fireworks) and for some it's too HOT! But for me...I'm happy to finally not be cold! Our high temperature yesterday was 104 degree. It went up a bit after if did this screen shot.

Have A Great Weekend,

Love & Hugs,

Susi



P.S. I'll fix this mess later...blogger is giving me fits today!
Update...this is as good as it gets...blogger still giving me fits....argggh!

Twelve On The Twelth...

(L-R)
1. Breakfast 2. Reader 3. Potty Break
4. Check Scanner 5. NewI Pad 6. Lunch
7. Where I Work 8. Me 9. Cut Proof Gloves
10. The Road Home. 11. Amazon Order 12. Bedroom Ceiling

Five on Friday...

1. I think its safe to say that I've totally given up Diet Coke and Orange Juice. The OJ did help me to break my Diet Coke habit but it has alot of sugar and in the end I've decided that its not good for me either. This week instead of drinking OJ I'm eating an orange first thing in the morning, followed by a breakfast bar a couple of hours later and I've been drinking lemon water. And the best thing about all this is that I've cut out almost all snacking. I also seem to have more energy at the end of the work day so maybe I'm on the right track...Finally! Long time habits are hard to break but so far I've broken two, one being nail biting and the other being Diet Coke. Yea Me! : )
2. About that Sleep Number bed that we purchased a couple of months ago. I LOVE it, however I do wish we would have bought a king instead of a queen. Before sleeping in the new bed I was having some hip pain and I thought that I might have RLS but after a few nights in the new bed my hips and legs totally quit hurting. The husband, well he's never gonna be happy with any bed and I'll just leave it at that!
3. Here's a website with alot of good fashion advice, not that I'm a fashionista or anything but I think anyone the slight bit interested in fashion will enjoy it. Here's another good one. Enjoy!
4. I've been scrapping an album for a friends son this week. I plan to ship it out on Monday. I forgot how much I enjoy scrapping so I need to set aside some time to do so, we all know I have plenty of unfinished project to complete. : )
5. Looks like we will FINALLY be starting the remodeling around here. The drywall guy stopped by today to give us a price on replacing our bedroom ceiling. At this time it is wood with ceiling tiles in the center and I've grown tired of it so we are just putting up new drywall and painting to lighten it up a bit. We will also be removing the chair rail, painting the walls and trim and installing new carpet. : )  We are doing one room at a time so this place is going to be total chaos for awhile and yet, I'm so excited!

Have A Great Weekend,
Love & Hugs,
Susi

Five on Friday...

1. My daughter introduced me to a new food site. Take a look. Lots of good for you yummies.
2. I've started exercising again...I really shouldn't talk about it because I will probably jinx myself.
3. I'm trying to be excited about NOT moving but the husband is being ho-hum about everything these days. We have drywall work and painting that he needs to take care of before I purchase new furniture.  At this point I'm just frustrated with it all!
4. I have plans to visit an Ikea store very soon but I have to go to another state to do so. I've considered ordering some items on line but their shipping costs are outrageous and some items cannot be shipped. BOO!
5. Mothers Day is this weekend. The kids are coming over to cookout. All I have to do is make a Texas sheet cake. : )   I wish you all a Happy Mothers Day!

Have A Great Weekend,
Love & Hugs,
Susi

Five on Friday...

1. I love the quote that Ali had on her blog today. So I thought I'd share it with you.

To be a photographer,
one must Photograph.
No amount of book learning,
no checklist of seminars attended,
can substitute for the
Simple Act of Making Pictures.
Experience is the best teacher
of all. And for that,
there is no guarantee that
one will become an artist.
Only The Journey Matters.
~Harry Callahan~

2.We have our Sleep Number bed set up but I still need to pick up brackets for the footboard. I love it! The husband not so much but he is slowly getting used to it. It is a bit smaller than our last bed but there is plenty of room for the three of us (my husband, our dog and I) and it is very comfortable.

3. Guess what? He changed his mind about moving. : ( Surprise, surprise, I knew he would. Now he is talking about looking for a condo in St. Augustine, FL. We shall see.
So it is on with the redecorating which I'm very excited about. My sister and I went shopping last Friday and we found this furniture store. OMG... I fell in love with practically everything in the store. So on Sunday I took the husband there to look around. He was very impressed and I know he loves it as much as I do. Lookout checkbook!

4. I've been using homemade cleaners for three weeks now. I love that I can choose the scent by adding my choice of essential oil, plus they are much less expensive than the commercial ones and I am very happy with the results. No more commercial cleaners for me. What will I do with all that extra money. (See #3). : )

5. I have been on the hunt for some good fitting jeans. For several years now I've purchased pretty much all of mine from the Gap. The last ones I purchased fit good at first but after wearing them for a few hours they start sagging in the rear and trust me this is NOT a good look. So after trying on a few pair that the clerk suggested I broke down and purchased this pair of Lucky Brand jeans. I have yet to wear them so we shall see who is Lucky...the buyer or the seller. Hopefully, both! Do you have a favorite brand of jeans? If so, please share.

Have A Great Weekend,
Love & Hugs,
Susi

Hello...

Anyone there? I seem to have lost track of time and haven't posted anything in awhile. 
Last week my dog grabbed something off the ground during his walk and ate half of it before the husband could get it away from him which resulted in a call to the vet. Two pills and 24 hours later hes just fine. Flat worms gone!

The husband and I purchased a new bed. We should receive it next week. Good sleep is on the way. However, we downsized to a queen and I need to get a new sheets, pillow cases and a headboard. I'll be shopping for the sheets and pillow cases this weekend.

The weather has been great this week. Temps in the 80's.





The flowering trees are Beautiful.



And while out shopping with my daughter this week. She suggested I eat something other than candy in the afternoon when I get tired. She suggested protein bars, I love them and they seem to do the trick.



I'm giving the homemade cleaners that are all over the internet a try this weekend. My daughter uses them and tells me they work well. Anyone else?

Have A Great Weekend,

Love & Hugs,

Susi

Holy Hail and Other News...

We had a bit of a hail storm about an hour ago. The husband and I rushed out to move our vehicles inside the warehouse. I also received a call from our home alarm company telling me that our glass break alarm went off and that dispatch was on its way. I immediately called them back to stop the dispatch as I'm pretty sure the hail storm was the problem.
This was the view out the front door of our office.

I hear it was much worse at home. I will see when I get home a little later today. Fingers crossed!

In other news...
After talking to the husband about some home improvements that I'd like to do we (his idea and it was a brief discussion) have decided to look around for a new house. We have lived in the same house for about 27 years. I've mentioned moving before and I received a flat out "NO" from him!!! The plan is to start looking around by the end of the month. Hopefully, he doesn't change his mind. I'm SUPER excited but first we have to sell our house which means I have alot to do to get it market ready. In the meantime, I may still shop around for new furniture and such.
I have my Granddaughter for the weekend so I'll be busy playing store, watching movies, bouncing at MonkeyJoes and going out to dinner.

Have A Great Weekend,
Love & Hugs,
Susi

Hanging In There...

Remember this post. I have actually been working on those 5 things for the last couple of months. Here's a little recap.
1. Passports...no progress yet but I still have plenty of time and I will get them this year.
2. Purging the entire house. One room ( my craft room) and one closet (coat closet) left to go. The coat closet will probably take 15 minutes tops. I just haven't got around to it yet. The craft room, well that will probably take a couple of days. But my dear daughter did remind me that I have 20+ years of crafty stuff in there and that it really isnt' all that bad. Thanks Charlie!
3. Changes around the house. My husband totally agrees with me on this and has suggested new carpeting, new living room furniture and a new washer and dryer. I was thinking smaller changes but I may just have to take him up on all of the above. I still have plans to recover our dining room chairs, get new lamps, new bedding for both bedrooms and a few other small items.
4. Working on me. I pulled something in my back, so no exercising for the last 3 weeks and even though our winter hasn't been bad I've still had a case of the Winter Blues. You'd think after all these years of living in the same place I'd be used to it but that is just not the case. My back is better now so I'll start exercising again this week, the sun has been shining a bit, the days are getting longer and I couldn't be happier. : )
5. Four new things...taking a photo a day (mostly with iphone), I got frustrated with my camera at the beginning of the year, all my photos were real dark. I finally figured it out, I somehow changed a setting in my menu to underexpose by -2 but I have no idea how I changed it or how I figured out what I did and how to fix it. But it is fixed now and I plan to start using it again. I am also doing Project Life, I've uploaded photos for January and sent them to print, I should receive them early next week. My daughter and I are getting together next Sunday to work on our albums together. I sort of forced her into it and now I must follow through. Maybe one or both these will make my list of four new things next January, we'll just have to wait and see.

Other News...
My daughter and I have moved back into our newly remodeled office. As soon as we get everything unpacked I'll share a few pictures.

Also, I'd like to take a digital scrapbooking class (I have PSE10) but have no idea where to start. If any of you know of a good starting place, please share. TIA.

Happy Valentines Day...

I hope your day is filled with Love!
I received some beautiful flowers from the husband. I struggle so he will be receiving the usual, a card and some chocolates. What do you get your man for this special day?

The Office and A Bride...

Our offices at work have been torn apart. My daughter and I had two small offices and hopefully within the next week we will have one big office. The wall is down (it was between the two windows) and drywall should be going up this week. We are sharing the bosses office at the present time...not fun...too crowded!



















This weekend we had our Granddaughter overnight, did a little shopping and had lunch together. Here she is modeling one of her purchases from out little shopping spree. I sent this picture to her Mom and her response was "are you trying to give me a heart attack???" LOL

I hope you've all had a Great Weekend!

Love & Hugs,

Susi

I've Been Busy...

Working, exercising every day, eating better, purging my entire house (little by little), taking photos for Project 365+1, learning about "exposure" (I think I've got it figured out), taking photos with my iphone for Photo365, scrapping a little, trying to learn to edit photos in PSE10 (I plan to upload some this weekend), watching our Grandson play Basketball, having lunch with our Granddaughter, reading some photography class materials, enjoying our mild winter weather (well, I was until today!), thinking I should get some photos printed for Project Life, and I've been doing all this to try to keep from getting the Winter Blues! So far, so good! : )

Be Happy,
Love & Hugs,
Susi

Four New Things...

Four new things is something I started doing last year.You can read about it here. In 2011 I did this, tried this, did, tried and learned many things by doing this, and I did this. Very different this time around but I still learned a few new things. I wonder what this year will bring. We shall see!
I haven't gotten off to such a good start with P365+1 this year. I really haven't taken any decent photos yet! However, I do have some photos I can use for Project Life, so not all is lost. I probably should not have started out using a new lens (the Nifty Fifty). I've tried it out a couple of other times here and there but obviously not enough. I switched back to a lens I'm more comfortable with for the time being and I've been reading through some of my photography class notes for a little refresher. I do plan to use the Nifty Fifty again but first I need to practice with it a bit more.
I have set a couple of my plans for the New Year in motion. I've started to purge my home of unwanted things but I still have a long way to go. And I've also been working on Me. I've done some type of exercise every day this year and guess what, I still don't like it but I am already seeing results and feeling better.  All in all, I'd say my New Year is off to a pretty good start. How about yours?