Merry Christmas everyone! We're spending a quiet day at home. Just the three of us and two dogs. And, just in case you're wondering...DAM has been humming all morning. She even broke out with a few lyrics! Instant insanity!

We just had...

The cutest family of Christmas Carolers on our porch singing Jingle Bells in this cold weather! They were so cute. Mom, Dad, and three little ones. They introduced themselves as the neighbors down the street that come trick or treating here every year and they wanted to repay us for being nice to their kiddos. And, they brought us treats! How sweet is that! Did I think to grab the camera and take a picture? NOOOOOOOO. I really need to get with it.

Help!!!

I'm in need of some help, and I know all of you out there can help me out with this one...

I need some Princess quotes for a little princess book. Just throw them out there, I need to get this project done. Joy, I know you know some. And Suzette, you're the queen of quotes, I'm expecting a lot from you! (No pressure though). Let's see, who else... Tina, how about a cowgirl princess quote? That goes for you too Carlene! Tanya, would something from "Gone With The Wind" work? Sheri, you have a little princess of your own, what's your favorite quote? And Judy, how about some help with this one, you're little grand daughter is quite the princess. Once I get this Little Princess project completed I'll put pictures up. Thanks guys!

I have been a vewwwwwy baddddd bwogger.

You have to say that in your very best Tweety voice...

I promise to remedy that this week. I have tons and tons of really good excuses, but none that you would want to hear about. Honest!

My baby turned 20 years old today! Happy birthday Catie. I don't see how this is possible since I am only 29, but hey, it works.


Dear Aunt Myrna (DAM) is still here. Haven't seen the mouse lately. Maverick is still kicking and me, I've been working, working, working. I got to take a class with the wonderful Mike P. today. It was such a nice break. And what a fun group of ladies were there. I'll post pictures tomorrow. Mike is an amazing teacher. Taking a class with him is a "must do". Then you add characters to the class like Lisa S, Gretchen, Becky, and Linda all sitting at one end of the table and you have a creative party! So inspiring it made me come home and blog!

We're home!

Quick trip, no pictures, lot's of driving. We started out Friday morning at Sky Harbor. Boarded the plane and sat...and sat...full flight, no 2 seats to be found together. And we sat. After about 30 minutes the pilot informed us that the plane was not going anywhere due to a computer chip problem. Better to find that out on the ground than in the air. Get off the plane and sit and wait for another plane. Just where do they stash these extra planes? Only took them about an hour and we were back on the plane again. Bumpy flight to Ontario. Santa Ana winds and fires everywhere. Long drive from Ontario to Apple Valley. Rush hour traffic. Good thing Jason knows short cuts! Got to spend a few hours playing with the grandkids and we were off to the motel. Up early and back to the house to pick up Jason to take him to LAX. There were alot more fires burning by then. Freeway were closed. It's a good thing we left early! Dropped Jason off for his 15 hour flight to Thailand. Now we're off to Hollywood to see The Peddlers oldest son Jimmy. He has a place in Los Felizes that is just gorgeous. Up in the hills where the old time movie stars used to live. From there, out to lunch at a real Hollywood outdoor cafe. Great people watching opportunity there. So diverse! From there Jim gave us a great tour of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, all of the theaters, The Chinese Theater. It was fun, and he's quite the tour guide.
From there we were off to Yucca Valley to see Catie and Adam. About a two hour drive unless you count the time we spent parked on the freeway because of an accident. Made it to Yucca and had dinner with them. The Peddler loved the restaurant but the rest of us didn't. Japanese food is definitely not my thing. Especially Sushi, which The Peddler loved. Yuk! Breakfast the next morning with Catie and Adam at Route 62 Diner. Yumm! I saw someone I had known since Junior High. Boy, did he look old! Can I really be this old? Finished breakfast, said Good-bye (which I hate) and 6 hours back to AZ. I told you it was a quick trip and lot's of driving!

DAM did good. She apparently didn't see the mouse. Maybe he moved out on his own! Maverick is still kicking. I guess you could say all is good!

And, I almost forgot...

DAM is staying by herself.
The mouse is still at large.
Maverick is still hanging in there.

Might be an interesting few days for her! hehe

Taking a short break...

The Peddler and I are headed to California to see his boys and grandkids tomorrow. Leaving on a jet plane and driving home. His youngest son is going to work for the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi so we will be bringing his truck home with us. He's actually going to see all three of his boys this time. That doesn't happen too often. Hope everyone has a great weekend. The weather is beautiful here!

Looks like...

Cristine has been busy taking pictures. She has her own little studio at home. Boy do I miss these guys!

To The Peddler! Love you babe!

Better stay tuned...

Cuz there's a mouse in the house, and I don't mean Mickey

I mean this kind of mouse. I've seen the little guy twice but haven't been able to get him. He even has avoided the traps. And, if you weren't reading this blog when this happened, you'll know why I find this extremely amusing. hehe


.

My sweet step-son Jason...

Brought these flowers to me at work the other day. He always remembers my birthday! And, he included a gift card. Jason and I have always had a good relationship, even through the difficult times (getting him up to go to school) he respected me and listened to me. Now Jason is 28, all grown up and talking to him is like talking to a friend! Thanks Jason!

So...about the chickens...

There is no chicken coop yet. Because...the Peddler has been very busy working on other peoples houses. You know, the plumbers house has no plumbing kind of thing. But, he has promised and I know he will deliver. It's just been a crazy couple of weeks. Family, taking care of DAM, you know!

Oooooooops! I've been MIA

And really for no good reason. How's that for admitting laziness? Maverick is still hanging in there. The Steroids are keeping his appetite up. So much that he decided he would try bird seed. Yup, he's poopin birdseed! Now that's a visual.

The Peddlers son who has been in Iraq for the last three years has been here visiting. Oh, I guess that's what has been keeping me busy. He's got so many stories to tell. He also traveled to Thailand many times, New Zealand, and Egypt. His next job takes him to Vietnam working for the U.S. Embassy. This guy loves to travel! He'll be heading to California on Friday to visit the rest of his family. I think he has about a month before he leaves for Vietnam.

So, that's it. A little update of sorts.

Did you ever wonder...

What life would be life if someone who you only saw every couple of weeks suddenly wasn't there? I don't even have a picture of her. And no, she's not dead. But apparently she is very sick. This person goes non stop. She's a wife, mother, school volunteer, errand runner...any way, you get it. As far as I am concerned her most important job (I'm being totally selfish here) is caretaker. She comes every two weeks and does the most thankless job in the world. She takes care of DAM! Here's her list of thankless tasks

She changes the hospital bed, which by the way, has more gadgets on it than our T.V.
Does her laundry
Cleans her living space
Dyes her hair (I know, why?????)
Clips her toe nails, eeeewwww
Get it....
She does all of the things that frankly and honestly, I don't want to do.

And now, (selfish me) she is sick. How sick, I don't know. Her husband called and said that she is unable to be DAM's caretaker. What? My world is spinning out of control here! Not really, but I spent the morning changing the freakin bed. Should be simple but there are clips that hold sheets in place and bars that keep you from rolling out, and buttons for every position imaginable. Try getting a sheet on around all of that! Now on to the laundry! Whhhaaaaaaa!

I'm totally feeling sorry for myself here. Aren't I just a big baby?

Wow!!! What a weekend...

I got to spend time with this one

And this one

And these two

Such a big, strong son-in-law

And these two

So spontaneous, these guys!

They learned how to shoot a BB gun

They climbed trees

They learned to shoot army style thanks to Army Dad!

Mason, waiting his turn

"This is my favorite car Gwammy".

me... "the blue one?"

"No Gwammy, the wed one". Love hearing a three year old talk!

Lots of Guitar Hero got played. Tucker is quite the drummer!

And, they had a sleep over!

More later, I took tons of pictures!

Raising Chickens class....

Was a yolk! Never found the place. Spent an hour driving around downtown flipping scary Phoenix and never found the place. It's a good thing The Peddler is understanding. Maybe I should just settle for a good chicken book and take it from there! Seriously, how hard can a few chickens be? Kristin? Anyone?

Chicken class tonight! Can't wait.

Update...


It looks like these two are going to trek to Arizona too! A little family reunion. Where do you put 6 extra people in an 800 sq. foot house (that's our living space) with one bathroom? Who cares! The more the merrier!

Guess who's coming to visit this Friday?

That's right the Army is giving this guy a four day weekend and they're driving here from Colorado to visit. A short visit, but I'll take what I can get!

They're coming so Cristine can visit this old man, Maverick. He's not doing very well and this will probably be the last time she sees him. He's almost 14 years old now which equals 98 in dog years. He's feeling his age. But, he's still here and will be so happy to see Cristine! And I'll get to love on these two little guys! It's gonna be a great weekend!

Remember the shelves...


that The Peddler was working on in the backyard? Here they are in their new home. They look like ordinary book shelves in this picture don't they? The next picture will put their size into perspective.

Here's their happy new owner! Enjoy them Colleen!

I Stepped Outside of My Comfort Zone...

And took Sandy's Acrylic Overlay class. It was amazing! I have never painted anything and look at what I created. I love her. She's known as the "tiniest cowgirl". Fun, fun class. I highly recommend it. Mystic Paper will be scheduling it again soon.


I'm thinking I need one of these to run back and forth to the store and back. Great gas mileage. Julie reports that $2.00 fills it up and I only live 1 mile from the store. What do you think? I don't think The Peddler is buying it.

I think...

This is where I am going to get chicks from. And, I think these are the kind I am going to get. Let me know what you think.

And...here's a tease. I took a class today. One of the first that I have taken in a long time. I thoroughly enjoyed it! And...it was a class that I thought I would suck at. So, I stepped outside of my comfort zone and went for it. And... I loved it! I loved what I made. That doesn't happen very often, at all. I'll tell you more tomorrow with pictures!

Here's to a great Sunday!

About The Chickens...

Wow, that really got some attention! I am taking the class to find out just how much work this will be and just how many chickens can supply a family of 3. Yes, I still feed Dear Aunt Myrna. This whole idea came about when we were at a going away party for the Byards across the street from us. Kristin Alber was there and they have chickens so we started talking about it. She told me some things I didn't know about commercially raised chickens. All I am going to say is "poor, poor, chickens". It was so so sad. And then I went home and did my research on the internet. Let's just say YOU REALLY CAN FIND ANYTHING ON THE INTERNET. Hence, Kim now needs her own spoiled rotten, happy chickens! At the same party our other neighbors, Justin and Lisl brought their homegrown cantaloupe. Boy, was it good! They have a raised bed garden and that's what I want. I'll start small with a little broccoli and carrots and see how it goes. From what I have read they can both be planted now so I really need to get The Peddler busy. And starting October 1st day old chicks can be shipped. They actually ship them through the mail! They have to be a day old though, because they feed off of the yolk sack for their first three days of life! Who knew? I'll keep you posted!

Lately I've been posting about things I love...


And this post isn't any different except for one thing that I will get to later. For starters, I love my backyard. It's lush and green. And I love this guy with the crazy mask on. And I love that he loves what he is doing. Working with his hands. Building things. Not flying all over the Country being Mr. Corporate man. He's building some custom book shelves for a friend. They're turning out great Colleen!

What I don't love is the smell of lacquer at 6:00 A.M. when I'm trying to sleep on what is the first night that we can sleep with the windows open. Windows that open into the backyard! He's polluting my backyard. This is the same backyard that will, hopefully soon, have a chicken coop with four happy chickens laying eggs. I am actually taking a class next week to learn how to keep happy chickens in the Desert Southwest. I also hope to be growing edible things in this backyard. Things like carrots and broccoli which won't be polluted with pesticides and lacquer!

This is something I love. A simple little birds nest. Look at the work those little birds put into their homes. And they do it every year! Do you think they get together towards the end of Winter and complain about having to build a new house? Maybe they have the competitive spirit and have to build a better nest than the Jones's.

And here's another one. I think the bird that build this nest was going for strength. He used a lot of mud on the final layer. Jennifer found both of these nests on the ground while she was walking over to our house and she brought them to me! Thanks Jennifer, I love 'em!

This is a tea that I dearly love. So much that if I don't have this tea I can be cranky. I didn't have my beloved tea for two days. Three stores later I finally found some at Sprouts. Thanks Sprouts, I couldn't have gone another day. I'm on my third cup of the morning.

I have tried a lot of different Green Teas and I can't find one that tastes like this one. It has to be the Antioxidant Tea. It's got a tiny hint of citrus to it and it is THE BEST!

One more thing I love...Fridays! Not because I ever get the weekend off. We're always at the store. But the weekend means that most likely everyone that comes into the store has the weekend off and they are happy! So, happy Friday. We hope to see you this weekend!

A Long Time Ago...


I worked for a Cosmetic Dentist in Palm Springs, CA. He was, to say the least, eccentric. Eccentric and oh so smart. That man knew how to earn money. And, he knew how to train us to help him make that money. One of the things that I retained from my work years with him was this...

Every work day started in his office going over patients and procedures. There was a glass tower at the end of his huge glass conference table with three places on it. In those places were a bowl of wooden cherries, a statue of Venus de Milo, and a man made from nuts and bolts. Those three things were what he based his view of how to "live" life.

1. Life is a bowl of cherries

2. Look for the beauty in everything

3. Find humor in something every day.

So, here is the picture of my "humor". It's a Beanie Baby Mouse to remind me of this hysterical time with DAM. And, of course there was the following day. This little guy sits right on top of my computer monitor and makes me smile. I'll be telling more stories about my work "experience" there. It was pretty wild!

And these are the other pair of button baby shoes that I have. I love my little shoes and should probably start searching for more to add to the collection! That's a nickel beside them so you can get an idea of the size.

A few more things I love...


My hand carved wood duck decoy. I found him at a yard sale in CA. Couldn't bring myself to spend the money on it. A couple of days later I landed in the hospital and while I was there the Peddler tracked it down and bought it for me! As you can see I think he's been shot a few times. It gives him such personality!

The artist signed him, but I have no idea who this is.

This is another pencil sketch. The artist is Virgil Stephens. I had bought a sketch from him before and when I saw this one I knew I had to have it. He drew this the day of the attacks on the World Trade Center. He said it was how he dealt with everything he was seeing. Virgil even sent this to me before I paid for it. I was one of the first people to respond to him about wanting it and he said he needed to keep busy that day so off to the post office he went.


He drew some "hidden" images in this one but the only one I could find this morning was the flag in the mountain. Can you see it? I'll have to spend some time studying this again and find the others.

Off to work. Have a great day!

I thought I'd show you...


Some of the things around my house that I dearly love. These tiny baby button up shoes are my favorites. I have quite a few pairs, but these are my favorite. To get the perspective of their size, they're sitting on a ladies hankie. I wish these little shoes could talk, I'm sure they've seen alot.

This is my favorite pencil sketch. It's called "Dog Gentle" by Bill Anton. I saw this in an Antique Store in Northern AZ when we first started visiting. When we found out that it was definite that we were moving here Rick was sneaky and made a trip without me and got the picture as a house warming gift for me! So sweet.

This is a watercolor that I found at a swap meet in Victorville, CA. Again, it's the cowboy thing!

Watercolor and pencil are my favorite mediums for art. Something about how light they are, I've never really liked heavy oil.

That's all for tonight!

How did your morning start?

Mine started at 3:00 A.M. with this one barking. Well, not really barking, she sounded more like a trumpet. Why? Because this one gets up at that time. EVERYDAY. And gives the dogs a "cookie". Abi has decided that she needs to make an official announcement when that happens. I let it go and went back to sleep. I'll deal with that later.

This is what started at 6:30 A.M. It seems that the City of Mesa has no "noise law". It's now 7:45 A.M. and the jack hammering has finally stopped. Now it's time for the back hoe. What the hell are they doing? I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that they cleaned the sewer lines yesterday. They do that by blowing air through them. Except they forgot that our street only has a six inch line, not an eight inch line. The end result was sewer water blowing out of my toilet and all over the bathroom floor. Nice! I promise I won't be cranky today...repeat after me...I promise I won't be cranky today.

Hope your day started much quieter!

Bingo Card Swap...

Here's my card for the Mystic Paper Bingo Card swap. There have been some amazing cards turned in. Can't wait to get them all!