Monday, July 24, 2006


You just don't get sunsets like that anywhere but here on the praire. I've seen beautiful ocean sunsets and mountain sunsets but nothing compares to what we have here. Clean air, wide open vistas and a scattering of just the right clouds. PERFECTION!!!

We went to Nebraska yesterday. I don't think I'd been anywhere since last year when we went to California. It was time to get out of Dodge. Amy and Kyra came with us and it was just a very enjoyable day. We left around 8 in the morning and was home by 10:30 that night. We saw Steve's sister in Omaha and his brother in Norfolk. Unfortunately we didn't call ahead. Not a way to makeit into the Who's Who of Miss Manners. Hopefully we didn't bother anyone too much. We had a great time and plan on doing it again. Only next time we'll call. We spent alot of time in the car, but when you spend it with the people you love it's very nice. The sunset picture was taken on Highway 81 from Norfolk NE to South Dakota. I keep saying this but I have to keep practicing taking pictures. I want to consistently take good pictures and know what I'm doing. I want to know what to set all the setting to for great pictures under all kinds of conditions. Someday.

I jogged again on the treadmill. I am going to work up to at least 5 minutes. I ate what I should have ate today. I was a good little WWer today. Something's gotta give at some point and I'll start losing weight at a regular pace.

Kirby and Kyler started swimming lessons today. I was so impressed. They are ones who never get their faces in the water. They did today. Let's hear a round of applause for them, because the look on their faces this morning when they got in the pool, well lets say they were hoping for alien abduction. And guess what? They're going back tomorrow. Woohoo.

Steve's on vacation this week. I made him a honey do list for today. He actually did quite a bit of it. He might have got more done if he hadn't gone and sat downstairs every time I left today. Tomorrow we're painting the spare bedroom. We've only had the paint for over a year. We don't like to rush into anything.

Must go and make my honey do list for tomorrow. Goodnight all!!

Saturday, July 22, 2006


TWENTY YEARS AGO
I read a blog the other day where she was reflecting on what her life was like 20 years ago. I thought it was an interesting concept, realizing that I'm not sure I can remember exactly where, when or what I was doing back then. I gave it a go and here is what I came up with.


1. I had only been married 14 years.
2. I was 34 years old. Oh my, that's only two years older than my daughter is now.
3. Amy was 12 years old.
4. Scott was 10.
5. We lived in the same house we live in now.
6. Steve drove a green Honda wagon I think. I'm not sure it had air conditioning because we rarely bought cars with airconditioning or radios to save money.
7. I drove a brown 76 Maverick that we bought when we lived in S. California. That car was out to get me. It did things while I was driving that it did to no one else. Like die in an intersection and not start again. Or get in the driveway at home and you couldn't turn it off. The neighbor up the street, thought I just didn't know what I was talking about until he tried. He had to unplug the spark plug wires to turn the car off. By the way it never did it again. Not for me or anyone else.
8. I weighed about 150 pounds and thought I was fat. I'd like to weigh that now.
9. I went to aerobics 3 to 5 times a week.
10.I think my hair was permed. Think afro for a white woman.
11. I cooked supper every night.
12. I watched Golden Girls, St. Elsewhere, Family Ties and Cagney and Lacey.
13. I did aerobics to Phil Collins, Whitney Houston and Madonna.
14. Books that I remember I've read from that year were It by Stephen King, Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy and Fit for Life by Marilyn and Harvey Diamond. ( Bill and Joy were following their diet and losing weight. Gave it shot but it wasn't for me.)

Well I think I can see why I gained weight. I quit going to aerobics when I went to work full time. And we started eating out and going to fast food places all the time. Conclusion: Going to work full time has made me fat.

Friday, July 21, 2006

Wow what a terrific day I had!!! I got out of bed about 6:30. Sat at the computer, which has become my summer routine. Read blogs and worked on a layout until 10:00. My time flies when you're having a good time. Completely forgot I was going to take a shower. Oh well. I hadn't worked out so I wasn't all smelly and my hair was acceptable (which at best is all I can say about it this summer anyway). I got ready and picked Kyra up at 11:oo and then went and picked up Haley and Hannah. We had a girls day out. Can we say that it was definitely a day I hope becomes a regular thing. Though maybe not always spending so much money. Those girls are just fun to be around. It started with lunch at Valentino's, a definite favorite of Haley and Kyra. Hannah is just happy anywhere. Then we headed to the mall. First stop is Claire's. I think we could have just stayed there the whole time. It wouldn't have been any cheaper though. $75 later we head to Maurices's, a clothing store Kyra likes. She and I both like this pair of jeans and they had them in her size. I found a shirt as I was walking back to see how she was doing and she liked that too. $68 later we head to Limited too. First I have to tell how weird I've become. The last time we were there a girl was trying on dresses and asking her friend what she thought about a particular one. I just butt right in and give my 2 cents worth. Well today I did the same thing . Some girl was trying on tops and asking this boy sitting on a chair in the dressing room what he thought. I butt right in again. Turns out he was her brother and really didn't care but still who made me the fashion maven. I'm sure Kyra was thinking man my grandmother is great, but really couldn't she just give me the money and stay home. We got out of Limited too with maxxing out anything, but then we headed to Childrens Place. Whoa!! They know how to market to Grandmas spending money on granddaughters and Hannah is the queen of accessories. Where she learned that I'm not sure. Her mom dresses nice but she's not a big accessory girl. Anyway Hannah is picking out hats and hair things and socks and anything else that would go with her outfit. She's only 5 now, what will she be like when she's 15. Hope I get to go on that one too.

And then the day got even better. Amy wanted to go to Sam's with us this weekend. Tonight worked out the best. As we're leaving her house, I say "Let's go to Walmart and get me a cell phone". Sure how long can that take you ask. Only a hour or so. Poor Amy didn't think she was ever going to get to Sam's. We did get there with only 20 minutes left to shop. Amy hadn't hardly been out of the house all week. She finally gets out and I hijacked her to the electronics department of Walmart. She did get everything on her list I think but I'm sure she would have liked to have had time to wander around Sam's. After Sam's we went to Michaels next door. They had the cutest little 2x3 Laura Ashley albums in their $1 rack. Had to have them. I think they might even make great gifts. A very productive shopping day.

Last but not least. I came home and played with my cell phone. I actually put in numbers for speed dialing. Like Kyra is #3. I even put an appointment for Monday in there too. WOW who knew I was that quick.

Well I've written way more than I thought. Good night all! (Just for you Amy)

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Well it's Thursday night diet night! Weigh in didn't go as I had hoped. I stayed the same. Now really what do I have to do to break this pattern? I exercised 3 or 4 days this week. 3o minutes at a good pace. I ate according to the plan. I drank my water. I told the scale lady that maybe my body is taking it slow so my skin can keep up. Personally I rather see the weight go at a little faster clip. O well sooner or later. The one consolation is that I feel soo good and feel so much stronger. I can walk at a good pace without getting out of breath. I even did 3 full sit-ups this week much to my surprise. I am going to go for 15 sit-ups eventually and walking 3 miles a day.

I did something today that I haven't done in about 2o years. I put on a swimsuit and went to a public pool. I took Kyra and Haley and Hannah to the pool. I have said for years to anyone who would listen " Don't let self consciousness keep you from doing things you want or should do". Of course I haven't followed my own advice until now. So back to the pool story. We were there right at one 0'clock when it opened, a few kids and a few young moms were the only ones I see. I'm feeling pretty comfortable with that, so I pull of my t-shirt and take off my shorts revealing my o so not sleek body. I go over and sit on the edge of the pool. So I think "OK I can actually go in the water. " But wait my feet don't touch the floor of the pool. (We're only at the 3 foot end.) So I sit on the edge a little longer working up my confidence. Finally I have to go in. I'm the biggest cheerleader to my granddaughters. I'm always saying, " It'll be ok. You can do it. Don't be afraid.", but here I sit on the edge of the pool. Finally I get in. I'm in the water for about 5 or 10 minutes when I look over to the entrance. Who do I see but a teacher who works in the same building with me. Luck I tell you. If I didn't have this kind of luck I'd have no luck at all. I digress. When she walked by I said hi like I do this all the time and she came and sat next to me and we talked for quite awhile. By the way she didn't get into the pool. The water was too cold for her. Mark one for me. At least I got into the water. So anyway every 50 minutes the pool has a 10 minute rest break and everyone has to get out of the pool. Well if you thought getting into the pool took some thought from me, getting out was equally a mind provoking ordeal. Remember it's been 20 years and a few pounds since I last visited here. I'm sure back then I just hopped up and out. Now at almost 55 I'm thinking this ain't goin happen. OK sure there's a ladder over at the edges, but I'm not sure if the steps are going to be anymore graceful for me. But remember my pep talk. "It'll be ok. You can do it. Don't be afraid." Well damn if that pep talk doesn't work. I went over to the ladder, climbed up as gracefully as you please and got out. Whew!! Now 1o minutes have past and what do you think this new found courageous person does. Why she sits on the edge of the pool for the rest of the time. I say don't push your luck.

Goodnight all with all the fun I had today I think I need to rest.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006


Yesterday morning we broke an all time morning low record for the date at 52 degrees. Today it feels like New Orleans (0r so my husband says). As they say in these here parts " If you don't like the weather just wait a day or so and it will change. In my experience, that only occurs when the weather is nice. If it's extremely hot or extremely cold, it stays that way for too long. So much for the weather. I'm starting to sound like an old codger.

Well today wasn't very productive in the house department. I spent the morning exercising, showering and then giving myself a manicure and pedicure. Then I was over at Amy's 3 times this afternoon. She will be so glad when I go back to school. Hubby and I went to Applebee's for supper and then to Walmart. Love that Walmart. If Walmart doesn't have it you don't need it. Not to mention the people you see there. That alone is worth going. It truly is a whole "nother" world out there.

I think I could have a good weigh in tomorrow. So far it looks like I might be down a pound. I have been a good little WW'er and even exercised this week. I have to start going down at a regular clip sooner or later. I'm hoping that going this slow will give my skin a chance to keep up. When you're almost 55 it just doesn't jump back to it's original place. Especially after being stretched for so long.

I've done some more scrapbooking. When I was over to Amy's the second time, I took my camera to try and get some pictures of the grandkids. At the end when I was trying to get a group shot, my son, the professional photographer, came. I handed him my camera and said do your thing. Hence the group shot in the layout is his work. I would not have thought to stick the three boys in a chair and have the girls stand around. Guess that's why he's the professional. I did get some good pictures of the kids and hope to get layouts of them for a book I can take to school.

Well bedtime is calling.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Boy it's been another hot day! I'm not sure what the exact temperature got to, but it was definitely hot and humid. It's supposed to be cooler tomorrow 90. I hope I don't need a sweater. We ran around this afternoon in my husband's car. The air conditioning is not exactly working up to speed. If it's 98 outside, I think his car blows 90 degree air. It was a good afternoon anyway. I found new curtains for our bedroom and I finally have my new printer scanner. I'm still working at the kitchen table. Hopefully I'll get around to getting my den in shape for some new furniture so it can become a den/office. If Steve thought getting new curtains was expensive, wait till he sees what I want to do in there.

Well this dieting thing is going quite well. I've stayed on the plan for 3 consecutive days. I did another 30minutes on the treadmill this morning. If I'd known that blogging my goals would have had that effect I would have done it sooner. This morning I was actually down on the scale. Four more days until the official weigh in at WW. Hope this stays on track. One of the things that has kept me on track so far is making smoothies at night. I bought a whole big bag of frozen fruit at Sams. I mix a cup or two of that with some diet 7-up. Whip it up in the blender and you have a very tasty treat.

I played a little with my camera today. I understand aperature and shutter speed, but getting it right is not easy. Yesterday's pictures I had forgot to check my white balance and my ISO. Will it ever just come naturally to me. I hope so.

I could post another layout, but I'm not sure I'm completely satisfied with it. Maybe tomorrow.

Saturday, July 15, 2006


We are in a heat wave. I don't think we've had heat like this for a number of years. Pierre set an all time high of 116 degrees. We hit 98 or 99. And the wind blew. Nothing like a hot dry wind to make everything look like brown and dried out parchment paper. I can't imagine no air conditioning. I know when I grew up we didn't have air conditioning. I also remember playing outside all day. Now we keep our kids in because it's too hot they might get heat stroke. I don't think I ever had heat stroke and we played hard. Nights like this when I was young if my dad was home, after we had taken a bath (or not once a week back then was good) we would go to A&W for a icy cold mug of root beer. The mugs were kept in the freezer so they had this coating of frost on the outside which helped to keep the root beer nice and cold. The root beer had a nice bite to it too. And after playing outside most of the day evenings seemed quite pleasant and that rootbeer tasted sooo good. One of my other summer memories is going to the outdoor movie. There again we would get in our pj's and mom would make popcorn and we go and watch a movie. Funny I don't recall any of the movies we ever saw but I do remember it was a good time.

I am such a bad photographer. If I don't do anything else worthwhile this year, I am going to learn to take better pictures. (Without using the dummy mode.) I'm not sure taking a class is what I need or to hire my son the awesome photographer to teach me. Amy is such a better teacher but she is just learning to use her camera too. We need to go out together maybe (with our books and figure this out). I'm also not feeling too competent in the scrapbooking department. After I looked at the layouts I posted last night, I wasn't happy with them. I redid the one of Kirby. I'm a little happier with it. It doesn't help that my daughter is so awesome at it.

On the dieting note, I had another good day. I didn't exercise, but I ate well. I woke up this morning with a headache so I couldn't get my self on the treadmill. Start slow they say. I can follow that advice.

Friday, July 14, 2006





















I decided it was time to post a couple of my layouts again. I can't wait to get a new printer so I can print out some of these and see them on paper. I am really enjoying this. It let me be creative and there's no mess.

Well day 1 on the "let's diet for real plan" has been a success. I journaled everything I ate. Even the leftover piece of pizza I had for breakfast. I walked at a good pace for 30 minutes on the treadmill. I drank my water. I bought some good food at the grocery store and at Sam's. Right now I'm enjoying my fruit smoothie, which finishes out my points for the day. If I go to bed without eating anything else, it'll be a perfect diet day. Yeah me!

Tomorrow I have to watch Scott's kids while they have a wedding shoot. Last time I took my laptop and camera to help pass the time. This time I think I'll just take my camera. And maybe a book. The girls have me play Barbies for what seems like hours on end. I know that it won't be too long and they'll be beyond the Barbie stage but frankly I can't wait. Luckily it'll be a short day. 11:30 to about 5:00.

I need to get back to posting a quote for my blog. I enjoyed looking for a quote to put on here.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

I've decided that Thursday's blog will be diet oriented. I have been going to Weight Watchers since January 30th. I've lost 16 lbs. Not rocket speed. For the last month I've been playing at dieting. I've maintained for the month. One week up down the next. I need to get serious about this. Maybe being accountable to my blog will help. Those people at WW are too nice. Oh you gained a pound. You'll do better next week. If they yelled at me though I'd have quit. So that wouldn't work either. So here are my goals for the next week. And I'm starting tomorrow, not Monday or Wednesday.
1. I'm going to journal everything. If I bite it I write it.
2. 30 minutes of exercise everyday. It may be 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there, but the days total will be 30 minutes.
3. Water Water Water. Less Less Less Diet Coke.
4. I'm going to make a tenative meal plan for the week. I need to practice this for when school starts anyway. It's the only way I'll be successful.
5. I will eat 5-7 servings of fruit and vegetables. 2 servings of dairy. And measure all my food.
Pretty ambitious, but it needs to be done. I've been very lackadaisical about this dieting thing.

Next week for the first time in 6 weeks I don't have to take anyone anywhere. I love being part of my grandchildren's lives, but for a person who is easily distracted when it comes to housecleaning - that and scrapbooking have really raised havoc on my to do list. Let's see what I can accomplish next week. Or what other excuse I can come up with so it doesn't get done.

It is so dry in this state. The only good thing about a drought is that there is no water for mosquitos. We haven't been too plagued by them so far. See there is a silver lining in everything.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006


It's a given that what you say and do while your children are growing up will affect them for the rest of their lives. We as parents like to think that all the positive attributes our children have are due to our skill as parents and all the negatives must have come from outside influences. I think we think that because in reality we are so desperately insecure about our skills as parents. Even though my kids are 32 and 30 I still feel desperately insecure. My mother dying when I was 16 left me being a surrogate mom to my sister who was only 10 at the time. My sister turned out to have lots of problems and has suffered with many emotional issues. I think all my adult life I have felt responsible for the way she has turned out. It has influenced how I parented my daughter. Feeling inadequate I was always scared that my sister turned out the way she did because of me and that my own daughter would turn out the same. Only in reality I know now that so many things influenced my sister and that it wasn't just me, but that doesn't relieve my insecurity when my daughter calls in true desperation and I can't offer her any help. In fact I probably made it worse. I referred her to being like my sister. She is nothing like my sister. She is a wonderful and caring mother and person. She thinks of others before herself. She's beautiful inside and out and even when she goes a little bonkers she's still nothing like my sister. You see my sister may have emotional issues but she is also only concerned about herself. She was not and is not mother material. But when I call my daughter my sister's name it's my own insecurity speaking. I wish I could go back in time and make my daughter realize what an amazing person she was and still is, but I can't. I can't even take back what I said today or do anything to make her forget that. The best I can do is try not to keep making the same mistakes over and over. What ever reference I made all those years ago, were never meant to damage her the rest of her life, they were only my way of trying to be a better parent. Life's lessons do they ever give you a break.

On to a cheerier subject. Scrapbooking! Where have I been all those years? This digital stuff is just so addicting. Not only do I get to be creative, but there is no mess! Well my computer might beg to differ, but my house isn't filling up with even more stuff. I feel like I'm learning and using my brain. I just can't wait until I get good. I'm afraid it'll be awhile, but it sure is fun in the meantime. Hopefully I'll still get some other things done this summer. But I can't complain this has been a great summer so far.

I thought this dreary blog needed a picture. Spring flowers were the best I could do. Maybe I should get some summer flower pictures. Ya think!

Friday, July 07, 2006

I haven't posted in over a month. I think I'm enjoying summer too much. I've spent much too much time playing and not getting things accomplished. All that is ok except when school starts I know I'll be wiped out and not have the energy to do all the things I want to do. Summer is the only time I have to catch up. But! Summer is so much more. Summer is about having fun, enjoying the weather, enjoying the freedom to do whatever I please. Well I've accomplished that. Time to get a few things accomplished too. If I do that it could be a perfect summer. Today I went with the girls to swimming lessons and then Amy and I took 5 of the 6 kids (Will at 10 weeks wouldn't appreciate a movie) to the movie Cars. Love Pixar and Disney. They can make a movie that a 5, a 13 and a 55 year can all appreciate. I also did 2 more layouts today. I really enjoy that process. I'll never be as good as my daughter but that's ok too. I'll post them here, but since no one but Amy reads my blog I won't put any credits on. O never mind I don't remember what I have to do to them to make them web ready. Maybe tomorrow.