Blessed

Just this evening,I stood on my back porch,Rooibos tea in hand,cigarette in the other and stood in awe of how blessed I am with this life I have. I thought back on the last 3 days and all the awesome things that it produced. Vern and I cleaned the garage and finally began the process of preparing for our future yard sale. 4 hours of work,one load to the dump and a whole lotta reorganizing, created a nice clean garage and a new work/craft bench for me! I LOVE IT! I converted my old salon backbar into a work space and it even has a built in dog bed (shampoo bowl) for Max! I am so happy to have a place to put all my crafty stuff and work on projects,it is truely a dream come true!
We also got started on a few projects for my Parent's upcoming 50th anniversary party. I sorted through hundreds of family photos and began the process of making a slide show..to music..on DVD..for the first time..that we will give my parents and other family members as a gift! No pressure. ;) So far I have found a great collection of forgotten photos that I am so anxious to share! They are all organized and ready to be scanned. The photo scanner,a disaster and a whooole nother' story..thank GOD for Vern as he saved me $100 by digging an old one out of the closet and hooking it up.(the printer is shot but the scanner works great, brilliant!) I don't know what I'd do without that man!
Speaking of Vern...He has been working on a way to make some spare antique cream separator parts into a fountain. Tonight he began the final assembly. Midway through he called me into the garage. "We need to give this to your Mom." I melted <3 Let me backtrack a bit and explain. Last time we went to Idaho, my Mom gave us her antique cream separator. She loved that thing and it sat in the corner of our dining room for 30+ years.We brought it home and Vern cleaned it up and ordered some of it's missing parts on ebay in our attempt to make it as complete and functional as possible. We ended up with some much needed parts and accessories and a few spare parts. One fountain pump,a cottage cheese lid and some scraps of medal later,it's a gorgeous fountain.This is why we would be honored to share with my Mom a smaller and one of a kind memory of the antique she loved so much. And,as I have said one hundred times before about this man of mine,I am so very blessed.
Letting go gets easier with time. I am so grateful that I am in a happy place in my life that makes it easier to let go of "stuff".While in the process of cleaning the garage and going through photos this weekend I also had to face,yet again, the 13 years spent with Ryan and the heart breaking memories of losing David. It was everywhere. But this time it was different. Now I realize that keeping every writing project or coloring page David ever made isn't going to bring him back. And for a rare moment I feel like "normal Mother" as I realize all women with children probably feel the same twinge of pain when they see those tiny clothes and scribbled "I love you's" from a child that is grown and will never return to that small sweet little person you try so hard to preserve in those boxes. As for the memories of Ryan,they don't hurt anymore. I learned something by going through 60 years of family photos,we all have an "ex". A person or time in our life that was unpleasant or embarrassing. For me, it is someone who reminds me of how far I've come and it overwhelms me with the gratitude I feel for all the blessings I have now.
By now my tea is cold and my cigarette is long burnt out. I took a deep breath and it smelled like Alyssum and rain. Our beautiful yard in bloom,our furbabies perched on the porch,not at all excited about having to go out in wet grass (imagine that? And these poor dogs live in WA?! One would think...?). My new craft bench calling me to come play,a handsome man that loves me to kiss goodnight...and I am still standing in awe of how blessed I am with this life I have ;)

Out

Maxine passed out in my arms after a long day at the Vet. Spayed and teeth cleaning wears a girl out!

Who Me?

Format

• Until life slows down a little,it will have to be blogged about in bullet format.
• The furbabies are good. Maxine survived her spay and teeth cleaning and Chipper is almost completely healed from his scratched eye and ear infection. Just a few more appointments and then hopefully we are done with the Vet for awhile! (She's great and all,it's just expensive!)
• We are junkers. There I admitted it. Not garbage,not hoarders,Junkers. But...Anything rusty,chipped,weathered,galvanized or just old and deserves a new life qualifies. I even have antiques coming from a gal on the East Coast! That's another thing I love about junking...the stuff has a story. Even if it's just a great story of where I found it,how I repurposed it or how little I paid for it...that just doesn't happen at Ikea.
• I am in the midst of some seriously exciting party planning for my Parent's 50th wedding anniversary. Thanks to my recently found love of party planning I am exploding with more ideas for perfect food and deco than one weekend of parties can handle! Plus I am finding more and more ways to premake food to keep it easy yet gourmet and decorations on a thrifty budget that looks like a million!
• I (We) recently purchased a new laptop. My very first brand new computer. It is so smart...crazy smart..but that's good because I am not the best at this computer thing. Now I finally have a place to store all of my recipes,photos,music,files etc. plus a great tool for helping me keep my business organized. *Sigh of relief*
• The new health regime is going great! After 3 weeks of ups and downs I am finally "melting" away and feeling great! It just took me some time to learn how to make it work for me in a way that I can be successful. Yes I'd love to lose weight faster but for now I am satisfied with losing 10 lbs in 3 weeks and all my clothes fitting better.
• I think that's it for now...it's getting to be that time of night when logical typeable thoughts escape me. Nighty night ;)

A Few Little Goodies

Motivate

Do it.

Get up and make it happen.

No excuses,

no waiting.

Now.

Dig deep,

find your strength

and breath.

You got this.

You CAN do this.

You WILL do this.

Start to finish.

No shortcuts,

no cheating,

no doubts,

only 100% commitment,

loyalty

and dedication.

Because more than anything,

you need to prove it to yourself that you can do it.

With great sacrifice comes great reward.

Do it.

Happening in our lives lately...

Many trips to the Vet. Chipper had scratched his eye playing in the wheat fields of Idaho (just when I take a moment to quit being a control freak and let the kids run and have some fun in the country) so it was a week of eye drops for that,all healed. Then his on and off ear issues required another round of ear meds for a few weeks,so far so good on week one,recheck in two weeks. While we were there we also had his yearly boosters and wellness exam done. Chipper needs to lose 1 1/2 pounds and he needs his teeth cleaned and one pulled,poor guy! As for Maxine,she also needs her teeth cleaned but not as badly,we caught hers before it got bad. She also got her yearly boosters and check up and these days she is weighing in at 5.7 pounds,just perfect! The part I dread... Maxine goes in for her spay on Monday. *dramatic sigh with frown*. I ask you all say a little prayer for us on Monday as our baby girl goes in for surgery. I have been reassured she will be well monitored and given the best care....and I know millions of dogs have this done everyday but..but...As a Mother,I worry just the same,this is my baby.

EBay. How much fun is that?! Wow,watched Vern bid on a few parts for our antique cream separator last week. Until then I never really understood exactly how EBay works. The first auction we bid on was heart wrenching as the item was bid out from under neath us at the last second = TOTAL BUMMER and me not too crazy about the "unfairness" of it all. "I really wanted that sign! Not fair! That guy was mean! He can't do that!? EBay sucks..."So a few days later we bid on a different item and returned the favor,sweeping in to grab it for cheap at the last minute=VICTORY and me anxious to hunt down all sort of great stuff for low prices!

As for my new healthy eating plan I lost 7 pounds and 11 inches the first 4 days! Yay! I was told the first 4 days were the worst and thankfully it was true. Day 5,6 and 7 have been a breeze (for the most part)! The evening headaches are finally gone, the cravings are minimal and the numerous ounces of water are getting easier and easier to drink. Today I forced myself to get off my butt and walk and as always,I was so glad I did. So glad in fact, that with Vern's encouragement, we took another walk this evening! Two "work outs" in ONE day...who am I???!! ha ha (And yes I am taking weekly  "before" photos that I will post someday with all my fabulous "after" photos)

And a little funny in my world I thought I'd share...I think I am the only person I know that would purchase "50 Shades Of Grey" and my monthly birth control refill in the same transaction in my small town pharmacy. LOL! Didn't even phase me until I walked out and then had a good laugh.
Disclaimer: I don't usually read smutty books,heck I don't usually read books period. BUT,I cannot deny my curiosity of the popularity of this book. It just seems like everyone is talking about it...and I want to know what all the fuss is about. I will let you know what I think of it...if I ever start or finish it.