Jiggety-jig

Made a quick trip home over the weekend.
Hubby's former co-workers had a reunion, and he wanted to be there, to reminisce and also to network.  (The company he used to work for is going to be bringing his department back, and he would really like that job back.)

We got home Friday night.  Saturday morning, the girls and I went shopping.  We had a fun time at the little LDS book store in Spanish Fork (that also carries lots of cute clothes.)  Then we went back home and called the grandkids to come down and visit.  We were having so much fun with them - the longer we visited, the less important the party became to my husband.  We ended up not going.

The little girls are growing so fast this year - it's apparent every time we see them - I swear they're six inches taller this time.  I miss them so much!

Sunday, we went to our favorite little diner in Sanatquin for breakfast - when we walked through the door, the owner's wife nudged him and said, "look who's here!"  LOL  it's nice to be noticed, and to be missed.  (And they know all of our usual favorite meals :-)

All too soon we had to head back down the road...

It's rare to see clouds in the sky over Vegas, but these were kind of pretty with the sun setting slowly in the West...

Monday, we got the word that Melissa had won the title of Employee of the Year at work!  Along with that, she got a bonus, a big raise, and a cruise for 2 to Bermuda!
She will be taking her little sister (who is working for the same company now, and is also loved there.)  I am so happy for them both!  Melissa has worked so hard for so many years, and has really proved her worth.  They both deserve a fun vacation.  :-)

I'm back in my gilded cage now.  Scrounging for projects and trying to be content until the next time...

My son gave me a copy of his book for Christmas, so I am finally getting to read it.  I am enjoying it so much more than I expected to.  (I was expecting it to be something like Star Trek - not my genre.)
I have some pretty talented kids, if I do say so myself!

Just a fun little something - some total stranger randomly reviewed my tumblr blog the other day.  I ran across it by accident while I was scrolling through some pics.

This is what he said:

 granny54 runs a tight ship. No, I don’t mean she gets soused and goes sailing. Well, maybe she does…….I dunno.
But I DO know she brings back some amazing pictures from a diverse base. In a Perfect World is her hangout, and if you land there, you’ll be there for a while. Some really great stuff… and it’s like, laid out by a designer and colorful and just gives you the impression that she invited you over for tea to watch the snowfall outside while a grand fire burns in the fireplace.
Grace, charm, and wit. granny54, where are you?

(Granny54 is my username, and my blog is called "In a Perfect World")
I spend an obscene amount of time gathering images to post there, so it's nice to be noticed, and to have someone who gets what I'm trying to do there and appreciates it.

FYI, since I've been doing this, I have saved a boat load of money on magazines - don't need them anymore, I'm making my own!  It's a frivolous useless hobby, but it's time consuming, and I have lots of time to consume...
By the way - I have never been soused,  ...or sailing for that matter.  Ha ha.

I took this photo of this cactus plant on my walk the other day, because I thought it was such a cute specimen - soft and fuzzy looking.  However, I did not notice that there was doggy doo all over it.  Eeew!  Sorry :-(
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Christmas...

The Christmas season has come and gone - it was a strange one, completely lacking in all the things that the season has come to represent to us.  No snow (didn't really mind that one, although I do enjoy looking at it,) not being with family to enjoy all those little things that make the season so delightful, like baking, watching the old Christmas classics, and just feeling the warmth and comfort of being together.

Wayland, working in retail this year, has been extremely busy, and for, I think the first time in his life, was a bit of a Grinch.  December is rodeo time - big time down here, and since he caters to that crowd, he was running ragged...

One night, after he got home from work, he said "let's go for a ride."  He wouldn't tell me where we were going, which would have been helpful, because he eventually got lost.  He gets really nervous really fast when he doesn't know where he is, so we ended up having to go back home to pull up the map on the computer... (Which makes me a little crazy.)

We found our directions and headed out again - to the Las Vegas Speedway to see the Christmas light display. 
We sat in line for almost an hour, but Brad called us just as we lined up, so he kept us entertained the whole time. :-)  It was a bit costly for a drive around the track, but it was fun, and the first festive thing we had done all month.

It's hard to take pictures of lights, at night, in a moving car, so this is as good as it gets...

We decided at the last minute to run home to spend the holiday with the kids - Wayland managed to arrange just a couple of days off in a row, so on Christmas Eve, we headed home to Utah.  Luckily, the weather was good, and the roads were clear.

We arrived around 7, and the kids were already assembled at Jeff's house for the Christmas Eve party, so we went directly there.  They fed us a yummy turkey dinner, then we got to watch them exchange gifts...

Meanwhile, at home, the girls had decorated our house so cute - we just went from room to room pointing things out and oohing and ahhing.  So much fun to see what someone else can do with the old decorations in our space. :-)

Christmas morning at our house;

Puppy loves Christmas - he always wants to know where his treats are...

It tickled me to see that Melissa had used the yarn people on the little trees in the corner.  Those things are ancient - I made them eons ago, when she and Jeff were small, so that they could play with the decorations on the tree and I wouldn't have to worry about them breaking them, or them getting hurt.   I packed them away when they got bigger, and we never used them again.

One day, my sister emailed me and asked if I had any surplus decorations that I could send to her new daughter-in-law to use in her pre-school.  I immediately thought of those, since they are "child safe" and packed them up to send her.  When Melissa saw what I was doing she got very upset - she made me pull out one of each kind for her to keep in her cedar chest.

Not too long after that, my nephew got divorced - and my kids wanted the ornaments back... so I won them back in the settlement.  Ha ha...

I made the things myself, and they are nothing special or glamorous in any way, but my children sure are attached to them.  They were the first thing my son commented on when he came into the house.

Go figure.

Anyway, Christmas came and went way too fast, and we headed back home. 
The following Tuesday, Wayland's Sister and brother-in-law drove down to visit.  Wayland has been in the middle of inventory all week, so it has been up to me to entertain them and see that they had a good time.  It's rather daunting, since I haven't been anywhere myself - don't know what's out there, or how to get there, but we did manage to see a few things...

We took a drive through Red Rock Canyon.  I have only been through there once, and it was during the government shut-down, so I didn't get out of the car at all.  It was kind of fun to see it again under less restrictive terms.  Couldn't believe the traffic everywhere though...

As we drove through the park, we saw the signs everywhere warning visitors not to feed the wild donkeys.  Everyone I have talked to, said that they have never seen any wild donkeys on that road - so we started joking that they didn't really exist.  But as we pulled out on the road to leave the park - Mark spotted some on the side of the road...

We pulled in to a gas station across the street to get photos.  My camera was dead, so all I had was my phone, and I couldn't figure out how to zoom it - so I ran across the road to get a closer look - and nearly got killed on the way.  (Can't believe the traffic down here around New Year's - it's nuts!)

Our company stayed here till Saturday.  It's always so sad when people leave and the quiet takes over again.

I hope this new year will be kinder than the last one was.

Happy New Year!
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I've been away for a while for two reasons - one, one of my children wasn't able to come for Thanksgiving, and I didn't want to rub salt in the wound by raving about it, and two, I have had a dickens of a time getting those photos off my camera for some reason.

We weren't able to go to Utah for the family Christmas party last week, so in some cosmic sense, I guess things have come into balance once again, so I'll report on Thanksgiving...

We had such a great time with the family - it's been several months now since we've seen anyone, so it was good to have them all here.  We celebrated all the Nov. - December birthdays;

The oldest Grand daughter is learning to play violin this year - she brought it with (homework) and she serenaded us for a while...

She's really pretty good :-)

Thanksgiving day was fun - I had lots of help in the kitchen, and when it was over, everyone excused me to go take a nap, and they cleaned up!  Yay!

When it was all over with, Grandpa brought out the Christmas tree - he's been waiting for weeks for his little girls to come and decorate it.

Grandpa, relaxing with his girls...

My son's family left on Saturday, but my daughters stayed until Sunday.  Melissa had lots of fun decorating the rest of the house with holiday decor.  My house is all festive now, and ready for the holidays.

The tree in my living room

Wayland claimed this corner for his Santas...

The little tree in our bedroom;

December is Rodeo time here in Las Vegas.  The big National Finals Rodeo goes on for a couple of weeks, with all kinds of festivities.  Wayland has been very busy at his store, since he caters to that crowd.  The girls, getting their cowgirl on in daddy's hats...

There is a big Western Show at the convention center during the rodeo, and Wayland's store had a booth there...

Other than that, I have been painting like crazy getting some things done that my sister "ordered" shipped them out today...

I can't believe this, but in my rush to get them done and out of here, I forgot to take pictures!

Curses.

I did get these, however - the canvases came in three packs, so I did all of them...

Besides all that, I've been working really hard on billiongraves.com (a genealogy website where you input information from headstones - very cool, and more fun than playing solitaire for hours...)

That's our December.

I can't believer that Christmas is almost here already, we are hoping to be able to run up and spend Christmas Day with the family, the last trip didn't pan out, so knock wood...  Hubby only has the 2 days off, so it will be a quick (and short) trip, but worth it.

Happy Holidays!

Starting Over...

I finally got to interact with my new church group this weekend.  We've been here less than a year, and were just getting to know the old one when the apple cart rolled over and all the boundaries changed - so, here we go again.

Saturday, the women's auxiliary (Relief Society) had a "Soup-er Saturday" where they made crafts, did service projects, taught classes and had a soup cook off.  It was all kinds of fun - this new ward has lots of good energy and were so friendly and welcoming to all of us "oldsters" from the senior community.  Does the heart good...

I hadn't signed up for any of the crafts, so my friend and I went to do the service project - which was making pillowcases for a center for families in crisis.  They used a really interesting technique (the "hot dog roll") and it was kind of amazing - wish I'd known about this when I made those pillowcases for the girls this past summer!  No seams showing anywhere.  Brilliant!

After that, we went to some of the classes - one lady taught one on organization and time management.  This would have been so relevant about 40 years ago - but I had a hard time making it apply to me at this stage of my life.  I have no schedules, no deadlines - I don't even have anyone who cares if I do anything or not, so I'm afraid this was wasted on me...

The next class was on bread making.  I watched and listened so carefully, because I have always loved home made bread, but have never been able to master this art.  The teacher used ingredients I have never heard of, and one of those high-end machines that cost about as much as one of my children, so I probably won't be doing hers...  Waiting for the email with the other recipes, and hope they are a bit more basic.

Sunday was great too - they actually had us introduce ourselves this time (never did do that in the other place,)  and I was volunteered to conduct the music in RS.  It's just so nice to feel included for a change...  My friend is moving to a different part of town, so I had to venture on without her, but I guess I will survive.

I've been pretty homesick this month - it's just so weird not having any seasons like what I'm used to.  No bright colors in the fall - no beautiful snow in the winter.  (Although I do not miss the cold or having to drive in the stuff!)  But, I'm starting to realize that there are things that I do like about this place, and if we were to go home tomorrow, there would be things (and people) that I would miss from here too.
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My Own Personal Haunting...

I have my own story to tell here in my lovely home...

This house has some unconventional wiring or something, because we have a light that comes on randomly, whenever it feels like it.  The other day, I lay down on the couch to have a nap, and when I woke up, it was on - stuff like that.

No sooner had my hubby left for his trip to AZ, when I heard a big CRASH.  I went to all the windows and looked out to see what had happened, but didn't see anything unusual.  Then, later, I went into the garage to go somewhere (he did leave me the car while he was gone,) and there were boxes scattered all over the floor.  I had to clean up a bunch of stuff before I could even pull out. 
One whole stack of boxes had come crashing down for some unknown reason.

Then, I got up one morning, and went to have breakfast - while I was sitting there, I heard another big crash.  I went back to the bedroom to see what the heck this time - and my rack of dvd's had fallen over and were all over the floor.  This time I yelled at Mr. Spooky - "Very Funny Mr Ghost - knock it off!" 

Mind you, this stuff has only happened when I'm home alone, and I lock up tight all day long, so it's just me here...

Then, we had a light in the bathroom that went out.  Not just a bulb - the room lost power completely.  Wayland had a super busy week, and he didn't get a chance to look at it right away, so it was a few days before he checked all the breakers etc.
He's not a whiz at electricity, but he finally just changed the plug, and that did the trick - however, he went to get something for lunch out of the freezer the next morning on the way to work, and found that the freezer was on the same circuit as the bathroom was, and that it had been off the whole time the light was off.
We lost everything.  Plus, I had a icky sloppy mess to clean up.  Luckily, it was trash day, so I didn't have that stuff rotting in the garbage can all week.  I was worried that the neighbors would see all the blood, and call the authorities on me.

Lastly, we bought this cute little Halloween decoration at the grocery store one night, a little ghost (appropriately enough,) the thing was supposed to light up or something, and when we got home, we both played with it to try to turn it on - but the thing never did work.
Then, one night, Wayland woke up at 3 am because he saw bright red and blue lights flashing in the other room - he got up and went out there, because he thought there was a police car in the back yard or something.  It was the dang ghost.  It had finally come on, ...all by itself.

Now you tell me - coincidence?  ...I don't think so.  Ha ha

This Halloween - for the first time in 40 years, we had NO trick or treaters.
Back in Utah, we live in a subdivision that is really concentrated - lots of houses packed close together, so of course, it's the prime place for people to go "dump" their kids for tricks and treats.

They start on our street, then snake their way down through the whole thing, and by the time they get to the end, they have made a killing for the night.  There usually isn't even time to go back upstairs before the next hoard of treaters knocks on the door.

Not so here - in my little oldster's village, there wasn't a spook in sight.  I hate to sound like an old poop, but I found it rather refreshing...

Believe me, we are counting the days until my husband's 2 year commitment here is up.  (As of next month, we are halfway there - yay!)
He has already sent his resume out to his old job (they sent all the work to his department back East - that's why he got laid off, but they are going to bring it back now.)  And he has put his name in for a couple of the stores in Utah.
This city has been a growing experience, but one of the things that has grown is the knowledge that it is not for us!

So much red tape in anything and everything we try to do.  Hubby spent the whole day on his birthday at the DMV trying to get his license renewed.  Still hasn't got it.


Yesterday was our stake conference - it was so good.  They are so gung-ho on missionary work here. It's really quite contagious. The stake's theme for this whole next year is: Invite, invite, invite.
...And temple work - our stake leads the area in that, and in providing names.
I've been doing some indexing while I sit here day after day, and the last few times I try to download a batch, it tells me that "there are no more batches to do at this time."  At conference they said that our stake did a million names last year.

The church is the one good thing here.
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A Haunting We Will Go...

This week, I was trying to find an episode of Ghost Hunters for a spotlight on my family facebook page.  While I was searching, I ran across a lot of episodes that feature places right here in Las Vegas!

So, just for fun, and in honor of Halloween, here's just a few of them - places I am going to have to look into, and hopefully visit sometime in the future...

Bonnie Springs Ranch.
This one was fun to see, because we just drove past the entrance to this place a couple of weeks ago, and I was wondering what it was all about. It was during the government lockdown, so it was closed at the time...


The next one is the old Boulder City Hospital
The building is being renovated to be used as a home for a community outreach program, but all the strange activity has people wondering if it is safe for them to be there.
(I tried to find the full episode, but all I could get was this short teaser, sorry.)
Apparently, there was a cover up involved in a lot of the deaths.   Men were told that they had pneumonia, when they actually had asbestos poisoning by the materials they were using to build Hoover Dam.


La Palazza Mansion
Ok, I probably wouldn't visit this one - it sounds too creepy for me...  ha ha


There are many others, but that is just a few.  There are ghost tours here too.  They are pretty expensive, but they would be fun to do someday.

Anyway - Happy Halloween from me to you.

Boo!
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Changes

Just a little news first - this past week, our ward was re-organized.  I guess that happens a lot here.  The man who did the announcing said that he's lived in the same house for ten years, and has been in 5 different wards and 3 different stakes during that time.  Anyway, my status did change - my new bishop looks to be about 12 years old.  His counselors are both large Polynesian men - it's an interesting sight, a young boy and his "bodyguards."

The part of town that was added is all really young folk, and they're not too happy about acquiring all us "oldsters."  Ha ha.

Our church is about twice as far away as the old one. So, it will all be a new experience from here on out.  I was just barely starting to get acquainted here, so we will have to start all over...
I will miss our bishop - he was young too, but so wise in knowledge and experience.  He was kind, energetic and just fun to be around.  Mighty mighty.  I will also miss the scripture study class that he taught on Wed. nights.

But, life goes on...

Anyway, new trials this week - the light in the bathroom went out a few days ago - and we discovered there is no power to that room at all.  Checked all the plugs and all the breakers - nothing seems to be amiss, but still no light.
*Update* this morning, as Wayland was leaving for work, he discovered that the freezer outside in the garage is also out.  Aparently, it has been off as long as that light has.  We lost everything that was out there.

So, I will be cleaning up stinky dead meat juice from that disaster today.

Oh joy.
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Sled

I talked to my son on the phone last night, and he wanted pics of my latest project;

It's kind of fun resurrecting these skills, even though the eyes and the hands aren't what they used to be...

October

It's that time of year again, and hubby has been doing his thing...
Little Halloween vignettes everywhere you look.  This month has been a little depressing for him, he's having a hard time liking it anymore, so he's been decorating trying to cheer himself up.

It's funny, because I'm finally starting to feel just a little bit settled.  Dealing with the big "D" (diabetes) is my biggest challenge right now.
I'm finding if I don't get out and have my walk everyday, I start feeling more and more run down, so I have to keep that going.  It isn't always convenient - (some days I just don't want to,) but I can see a difference there.
Mostly, I just don't know how to be diabetic.  I received  a little instruction in the hospital, but I was busy surviving a heart attack, was on all kinds of meds, and lost a lot of brain cells in the process, so it didn't stick.  My visiting teacher is studying to be a nurse, and she promised to try to find me some literature on the thing...

Other than that, life goes on.

I have another painting project I'm working on (no pics until I'm finished.)

This place has been harsh on us in so many ways, but every once in a while, there are little coincidences that remind us that we are not forgotten and prayers are heard.
One of those funny little things happened at church the other day.  We were discussing the pioneers and how they moved from Nauvoo across the plains to Utah.  My mind wandered to something someone had told us - that Las Vegas had also been settled by those Mormon pioneers, and I was thinking how much I wish I knew that story - in the next breath, the teacher said "Oh, and by the way, someone left these fliers on the settling of Las Vegas, you can pick one up on the way out.

What!?!

He didn't even know where they came from, they were just there.  Crazy.

I have a friend who takes me to a scripture study class on Wednesday nights, which is nice, because Wednesdays have always been my hardest days.  She has been keeping me busy on weekends too - we drove all around looking for carpet (for her new house) one day.  ...Then she pulled into this parking lot at the end of the city - she said; I hope you're going to have another exciting adventure in here.  I looked around, and it made me very nervous - strange people hanging around the doors to this unmarked building, in a not-so-great-looking part of town...
Inside was the giant swap meet that we have heard so much about!  We had fun browsing the aisles - everything you could imagine is there.  She had just parked behind the building so I couldn't see where we were.

I do have fun with her.

Today, on my walk, I found some autumn leaves!  They aren't bright and pretty like the ones in Utah, but still, something unexpected that I didn't think I'd see here.

I was heading down to the pond to see if there were any cranes there today - these birds have been hanging out at the pond for the last few weeks.  They are awesome to look at - they are kind of a cement color, and they stand so still - the first time I saw one, I thought it was a statue.
(This one is back by the tree...)

That's my big excitement for the day - now I'm off to finish painting my project, do laundry, and... probably have a nap.  Not necessarily in that order. :-)

Enjoy a few more pics of hubby's handiwork...

A Lesson - in Frustration.

That's pretty much what life is for me down here.
Everything I try to do is met with some sort of resistance.
Sometimes I get to the point that I stop trying, because it lessens the stress of having to deal with it.

I have been completely alone this past week.  Hubby had to go help with a couple of new stores in Arizona, so I've been on my own.  It hasn't been all that bad - not much different during the day, but I am just paranoid enough at night, that I haven't gotten much sleep.

Some brilliant person had to tell me about some break-ins a in our neighborhood a few months ago, where the perpetrators came in through the bedroom window.
Our bedroom window has always bothered me anyway, just because it is so big, ground level, and one of the screens is bent leaving a gap about an inch wide down the side.  (As if someone tried prying it off at some earlier date.)

So, anyway, needless to say I haven't slept much.  In fact, several nights I opted to sleep in the tiny little craft room where the window is much smaller and faces the street in full view of the security vehicle that patrols the street at night.  That room is much smaller, and a bit stuffy, but it feels cozier and a little more secure. I locked myself in and slept like a baby... except the bed is crap.

Anyway, I digress - what I have been doing this week to keep myself occupied is to list a bunch of my excess books on amazon.com.  I thought it would serve the dual purpose of cleaning my shelves a bit, and putting a few coins in my bank account as well.
Within just a few hours of listing them, I sold one!  It was the most expensive on I had listed too :-)
So, I ran around gathering supplies to ship it and sent it off...  Then began to tally up my "earnings."
By the time I got the envelope and the cost of shipping the thing, I made a grand total of... (drum roll please)  thirty five cents.

Wow.

This is hardly going to be worth it.

So, I moved on to etsy, and listed a few things there.  It took forever to take all the photos, get them uploaded, make my way through all the descriptions, pricing etc. - then finally I went to hit the final button to open my store, and I read "there is an initial listing fee of $25."
Sadly, I left that button un-pushed.  That would take every last penny I have in my bank account at this time, and not having a job, that is pretty much how it will stay indefinitely.  I just couldn't send it away, not knowing if it would return anytime soon.

So much for my business exploits.

Then, I went to the craft store and picked up some spray varnish so I could finish the Christmas sign that I painted.  As I went to take it outside to spray, I glanced at the pattern and realized that I hadn't added the "snow" to the background.  So, I sat down and commenced dotting the thing with all those little white dots...

I hate it.

I feel like I ruined it.

I could paint over it with the dark blue again and cover it up, but the dots are kind of dimensional, so that would leave it looking all lumpy and weird looking, which would be...

Creepy. 

*Sigh.*

I had a friend take me to the library - I couldn't get a library card because my driver's license is expired - I can't renew my driver's license because I have to have a doctor's ok - and my doctor is in Utah.  So the friend tried to get me access to my library on my Nook, which she couldn't do because I have to have some kind of access code, which neither of us had any idea how to obtain...

Everything I try to do down here has a similar story.  There are so many more I could tell you - but that would just be -

Depressing.

Is it any wonder that most days I opt to just sit in the chair and play solitaire on the computer?

'Nuff said.
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Catching Up

It's time to update, but not much goes on around here...

I did do a little re-decorating last week - just spruced up my guest room a little for Fall;

My sister made this quilt for me a few years ago, and I literally gasped when I saw it!
Autumn colors are my favorite, and I love the "antiquy, old-timey" feel of it.  So much so, that I made a special trip to the town she lives in - to her favorite quilting store, to see if I could find some fabric to match it for some pillow cases.

The lady there looked at me like I was missing a few screws - but she did locate at least one of them.  When she rang me up, I nearly lost my cookies - $40 ?!!!!  Wow - I would never pay that much for a couple of pillow cases, but what are you going to do - it was already cut at that point.
I found the fabric in a box I was going through the other day, so I sewed them up.

 Makes the room look snug and cozy for the season.  I have to pretend it's cooling off, since the weather here hasn't cooperated much yet...

Next, I drug granny's old dresser in from the garage.  I've had the idea of bringing this in here ever since I saw the room - it's the perfect spot for it.  I was going to paint it first, but hey, it's all distressed and shabby-chic'ed, so why bother?  People pay lots of money for stuff like this, so I'll just enjoy it as is.  :-)

That's really all that's gone on here for a while - I've been really lazy the past couple of weeks, reading, playing solitaire, and watching the telley.  (Monarch of the Glen on Netflix, to be specific)

I hope my energy level picks up soon, because there are projects that I want to do, and I need to find a little gumption to do them...

Lastly, just a photo of all the books I've read this summer...
(Beautiful Creatures is missing - it's out on loan)

TTFN
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Jibber Jabber

My 6th day in a row inside these walls with no escape.  I am starting to lose it.

Oh, there are plenty of things to do - this week I have;

* Finished one book and started another
* Finished a BBC television series, and started it over again
* Watched episodes of Bunheads on the computer
* Indexed 150 names on family search.com
* Done several batches of laundry
* A few batches of dishes
* Read the instruction manual for my cake maker
* Made 4 Halloween cards
* Played about 40 hours worth of solitaire on facebook
* Spent 3 hours doing 'walkies' inside my house (it's too hot outside)
* Watched hours of television
* Spent even more hours on the computer (trying to find someone to talk to)

...There's more, but you get the idea.

Today I've been reminded of the Book of a Thousand Days. 
The challenge of trying to stay upbeat and healthy when you are actually going stark raving mad and just want to go running into the street screaming...

Sorry, I lost it there for a minute.

There are days when I just can't take it anymore, and am so depressed I just want to stay in bed all day, and then there are those days when I just want to be left alone to do my thing, not even wanting hubby to come home from work because he interrupts my 'flow.'

What can I say, insanity knows no rhyme or reason.

Tomorrow is hubby's first day off since we got back from Utah (on Tuesday,)  and I don't care how tired he is - I'm busting out of here!

Now excuse me, I have to get back to my 2 Tumblrs, Pinterest, Facebook, Rocky Road (book) Gilmore Girls, Ghost Whisperer, etc.

You understand...
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Labor Day

Hubby and I discussed going home for labor day all week long.
By the end of the week, we had decided against it - but a last minute text from our daughter with some good news changed our minds at the last minute.
Saturday morning, we packed and headed home.

I love going home - it's a whole different world there.  One where I can actually go places any time I feel like it, and have people who actually know (and care) that I'm alive, who will come and visit me.
I love my neighbor - she comes out and visits any time she sees us out and about.

Labor day weekend is a big to-do in my home town.  Lots going on.  It was fun watching the parade with my grand kids, and although we didn't journey down to the park for the craft fair and carnival, that is always an option...

Instead, we went to my brother in law's for a barbecue.  My sister in law, Kathy is an awesome cook, and always puts on the best spread.
My mother in law always threw a big bash for the whole family, but with her gone this year, everyone else made other plans, so it was just our two families there.

My grand daughter Millie entered a miniature flower arrangement in the flower/art show, so we went up to see that on Sunday.  She was there, and beaming from ear to ear from having won an honorable mention.

There's always so much to do, and not enough time to cover all those things, so I have to pick and choose.  I did do some shopping at a couple of my favorite haunts, and visited everyone on my list, but there wasn't time for that drive up the canyon to see the leaves.  Sad.  I miss seeing any autumn color this year.

While we were up there, my son finished editing the book that he's been working on for years, and it went up for sale on Tuesday!  Conquest From the Ashes  It's a sci-fi detective type thriller.  I haven't read it yet, I've been patiently waiting my turn...

My other son, the artist, designed the cover.  Cool project for both of them - mama is so proud!

I'm back home in the desert now, back in my stucco cage.
Trying to keep busy, keep my spirits up, and stay healthy.

Hubby doesn't have any more time off until the first of next year, so our traveling days are done for a while.  We brought home all the holiday decorations for that reason.  (I told hubby that we can't go home anymore if he's going to load the truck up every time we do - we'll have to rent a semi when the time comes to move home again!)

That's the news in my neck of the world - so glad now that September is here.  We have another couple of weeks of triple digit weather, and then it is supposed to cool down to something more bearable.

We'll see.


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Family Photo Shoot

When I was in the hospital, and saw that my son had come home, I'm told I said that it was good, that we could finally get some new family photos taken.
I don't remember saying that, but my daughter in law got her brother, who is a wizard with a camera to come and take some when I got home.

He did an amazing job, and took every kind of photo that we asked for.

Here are some of the results...

My oldest son and his family:

My other son and his wife:

My two daughters, who are still single and living at home, even though we don't anymore...

...and the 114 year old puppy, who is as much a part of the family as the rest of us:

The four of the kids together...

Another great shot with the wives...

My entire posterity (thus far):

I requested this one - of course the little girls had no idea who Charlie's Angels are, and no idea what I was going for, but they humored Grandma...

No photo shoot is complete without the gratuitous goofy shot...

...And the finale, the complete, most up to date family group shot.

Brad did a great job editing - he took my injuries out of the mix, and moved people around to get a cohesive looking shot.  Thanks to him, and to Joel for taking such great photos on short notice! 

...And just to show how talented Brad actually is with photoshop: 

(Jeff Goldblum and the raptor were not actually present.)

That's my family - if there was one good thing that came out of the tragic events this summer, this little collection of photos is it.

Love these people!
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Back in The Day...

This week has been an extremely stressful one.
My husband has had the last two days off, and has kept things around here stirred up until my tummy is in upheaval and I'm not sleeping any more.
He's back at work today, so I'm hoping to take a day off from our worries and think about something else.

Just a little something from my personal history...

I was sorting through some stuff on my shelf the other day, (purging in case we needed to move again soon,) and I found some old, old, old instruction sheets from the very first tole painting class I took a lifetime ago.  (Plus a progression of others, leading my memory through my painting career...)

That first class was at the Hobby Hive - which, back then was located in a tiny little shack on a side street in Spanish Fork.  I had run across it by accident one day, and had haunted it since, drooling over the adorable painted objects in the window.

I finally got up the courage to sign up for a class, (and convinced hubby to finance it.)
That first class was done with oils - from there painting became a passion that took hold and burned out of control for a while...

Eventually, that little store moved to a larger building on main street, and by then I was a fixture there.  They had discovered a new tole painting artist (Marie Cole) who's work was (and still is) beyond cute.  I took a few classes from her  and others - this time in acrylics, and from then on I was a complete addict.

When it became necessary for me to go to work, the Hobby Hive was the first place I thought of to apply.  (Brad was 4 when I applied, and I had to take him to the interview - I swear he got me the job!)  I did get the job, and spent several happy years there.

Shortly thereafter, the store was purchased by a larger, but still family owned company out of Provo. (Provo Craft.)
The new manager was young, and somewhat inexperienced, and he gave me a lot of opportunities.  Eventually, I got brave enough to teach a few classes myself.  (Even though it was extremely stressful for someone with acute social anxiety like myself! - what was I thinking? ha ha)

It was fun, and a challenge learning how to articulate to someone else how to master the art...
After a while, it became apparent that Provo Craft had purchased the store, not to expand their territory, but to eliminate the competition.
They soon planned to close the store, (which broke my heart.)  But, through helping with the transfer of merchandise, and the move, I managed to secure a spot at the store in Provo.

It wasn't a great spot - I was just an "extra" which meant that I did whatever crappy chore no one else would do, and gave breaks to all the people with real jobs. (I always worked Holidays and weekends etc.)
 I had some pretty hair-raising adventures there, but along with that came some pretty fun stuff too.  For instance, one year, I was put in charge of receiving and organizing all the merchandise that came in for a weekend long crafting event.
(Kind of an open house, offering dozens of mini classes to customers who came in the store.

It was a big responsibility, (and got me out of a lot of crappy jobs for a while ha ha)
When that day came, it was crazy busy, and I got to be the stand in for several of the teachers so they could take a lunch break - which meant that I got to be taught how to do all the projects.

I also got assigned to receive all the Christmas merchandise one year.   That was fun too, except that it was all stored in one of the uppermost rooms in the building, and the ceiling was really low - it was July, and it was stuffy & hot up there, and very claustrophobic!

Anyway, (getting side tracked here.) It was while I was there, that I was approached by one of the painting teachers about a new venture that they were starting - painting samples from the instruction books that the company produced, to be used as displays for other stores.

I was stunned, and honored to be chosen to do this!  I would take an order home, after work, and do it on my own time. (An order would consist of several of exactly the same item, so it could be done assembly line style.)
They paid by the piece, but if you were fast - it was really good wages.
I loved it, and made a good living at it for a while.
At one point, I was chosen to take a special class to do work from one of the more detailed artists.
There were only 8 people chosen to do this, so it was really an honor.

I was really happy with this work, and ate, slept and breathed to paint - joined the local chapter of the Decorative Painting Society - and went on lots of fun retreats, went to the painting convention in Logan every year, took seminars (two to three day classes by one individual teacher where you complete a series of projects - always intense!)
I even contracted with a couple of private places - Betty Headman, who had a booth at Quilted Bear in Park City, and I forget the name of the other place, but she sold Christmas ornaments by mail, and worked out of a little tin warehouse over by Geneva.

I would have been happy to go on like this forever, but the tole painting business started to wane - (those darn scrapbookers encroached on our territory!)  And the biggest buyer of painted samples (somewhere in Chicago) went out of business, so I lost that cushy job.

A few years later, Jennifer came along.  I had a child in high school, one in Jr. high, and one in middle school, plus a baby, so I had to put everything else on hold for a while.  (It felt like I was shifting from first to fourth gear all the time, with no transition in between - quite jarring!) ...And my health started to fail.

I enjoyed my baby to the fullest, telling myself every day, that there is a time and season for everything, and that I would take up the brush again someday when she was grown...

Ha ha.

She is grown now, and I am blind and arthritic.  There are very few places to buy painting supplies anymore, and the passion is just not what it once was. (Medication side effect - or old age?)

Whatever the reason, my hey-day came and went.  Pathetic, but that is as close to being successful at something that I will ever be.

Post Script:  I was talking to my sister about this, and something else came to mind - how during this time, my dream was always to create my own designs and have them published.  I worked and worked on some, even got the samples painted - I then took them in to show Becki (who was the person over the classes at PC.)  She loved them and told me that she wanted me to teach them.
I got so scared, that I took them home and never showed them to anyone again!
...And a few months later, every single one of the PC designers had taken my idea and done their own spin on it.

Like I said, pathetic.
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