Thanksgiving vacation

5 whole days off. Of course 3 of them already spoken for, so in reality it's just a plain ole weekend. Tomorrow of course is spent cooking for Thursday. Thursday is spent with family and eating. Friday is up early and shopping. And I hope to get my new tree up and decorated on Friday too. But even with all that Thanksgiving is becoming my favorite holiday. It's just about being with family and food. There's no pressure to give the perfect gift. No unrealistic expectations, except maybe the food. ( And quite frankly if you serve what you've served for the last 30 years everyone is pretty much happy.) This year even the weather is more like Thanksgiving. No snow on the ground and above average temperatures. Perfection in my book.

I coming along with my knitting projects. Four down and 2 more to go for the grandkids. Maybe some surprises along the way for others too.

I went looking last night for electronic drumsticks. Cool idea but maybe not such a cool thing to find. I just started though. Goal for the weekend. Majority of shopping done. List of things to bake written and house decorated. Can she do it? Tune in Sunday night.

Hark I still do know how to get into blogger! Since the last post was September I figure it's about time to do it again. Life is pretty much the same old thing. I need to put a new blog header and a new blog agenda in place and see if I can't stir up some excitement in the blogging area.

This is the last weekend before Thanksgiving. How did that happen? We are going to go over to Steve's folks. Of course we'll have to bring all the food, but every year I think it might be the last so I don't mind. I do need to call Steve's sister and make the final arrangements. I'm looking forward to Christmas. I feel like like I'm more ahead of the game this year, though I'm sure next week I'll be complaining about being so behind. See I'm never happy. Amy and I are going to the Festival of Trees tomorrow. We've been doing that since Kyra was still in a stroller. Helps get us in the mood. Steve is off all this week and I hope he gets the Christmas lights up. It's projected to be in the 5o's. Can't beat that.

I've been knitting up a storm, though today I'm being super lazy. I'd take pictures and post except that some are presents. Wouldn't want to spoil that surprise! Scrapbooking has been haunting me. I still want to do it but can't seem to find any inspiration. Maybe I just need to get in there and do it.

Well this might be a boring post but at least I posted. Good night all!

Once a week blogging!!!

Once a week blogging. Better than nothing I guess. I need blogger motivation. A new template huh Amy. Fall pictures to post. Layouts maybe. I know I need to be a stay at home grandmother. I could start a new trend. Be there with cookies and milk after school. Haul to practices and such. Volunteer at their schools. Unfortunately I like to spend money and buy things I think I need, so working is what I'll do. It does get more tempting every year to say hello retirement.

Where did my weekend go? Yesterday Amy, Kyra and I spent the day hanging out. Starbucks and shopping. We didn't even spend too much money. I can't believe all the Christmas things out already. Tomorrow is the 25th, so that means there is only 3 months until the big day. Why do I feel like I'm already behind schedule? Why do we succumb to the pressure anyway?

Today I spent all day on the computer. I'm making a mini album for Wendy for her birthday. I used Shabby Princess Olivia album kit. For procrastinators like myself it's great to be able to do 12 quick layouts in a day. I spent some money digi shopping too. I bought some new things from Shabby Princess and Gina Millers new things today. I'm such a sucker for all these cute things and they seem so cheap. I'm sure when the credit card bill comes I'll think differently. O well, that's why I work, remember.

Here's a couple of the layouts. I hope Wendy likes them. I do but then anything with my grandkids in it warms my heart.

Desperate Housewives is going to start in a few minutes. Have to see if it's going to be worth watching this season. I hope to stay awake long enough to see the next show with Sally Fields. It looks good too. Night all!!

Wow 2 days in a row. I don't have much to blog about tonight. Just a typical day in the neighborhood. I put a Marie Callendar meal in the crockpot this morning so it was nice to come home to the aroma of supper already cooking. I've been in the mood to bake so I went to the store and bought some ingredients to make a few things. I made pumpkin muffins tonight. They're quite good, not low calorie at all, so hence very good. Maybe I'll post the recipe tomorrow. I also bought ingredients to make brownies with caramel frosting. I ran out steam tonight so I hope I can bake those tomorrow after school.

Do you ever have one of those times when you think maybe the stars aren't aligned right in your galaxy? When school started a student stomped my right big toe and bent the toenail way back. Major pain. Then a couple weeks ago while cooking I cut my finger fairly deeply. Went through a half a box of bandaids. Well tonight, sitting at the kitchen table in my barefeet of course. I turn and go to push my chair back and whack! I hit my left big toe on the table leg. Double major pain. I don't think I broke it, but it still is letting me know I have a toe. Klutz, Klutz!!

I was going to scrapbook some tonight but it's getting late and I want to watch CSI Miami. Maybe tomorrow.

And remember - Really important stuff my kids taught me quote of the day: Making your bed is a waste of time.

A Layout, a recipe and much to do about nothing

It's blogger time again. I'm such a bad blogger. I can spend all weekend on the computer and still not find time to blog. Well no more. "Ha", the crowd says! "We'll believe it when we see it." Of course my crowd consists of my daughter Amy. Hi Amy.

I really did spend the weekend on the computer. I think I could spend the majority of my time there, between surfing the net and digi scrapping, is there life outside this. I spent most of the time working on layouts for this album I'm doing about the family reunion we had. Actually it's more like a memory cookbook. I'm not sure how it'll turn out but I'm enjoying the process. I did about 5 pages and 4 recipe cards. I think I've found my niche though. Recipe cards. Quick, simple and useful. What more could you want.

The weather has taken a delightful turn to the cool side. Bring on the crockpot meals and hot apple cider. We went to Sam's today on our way to the in-laws and I bought a variety package of apple cider. Maybe I can wean myself off of so much Diet Coke. Doubt it. I've also been in a mood to bake too. The trouble with that is who's going to eat it. Me and Steve of course and we need it like we need a hole in our heads.

Blogger thinks I want my layout and recipe at the top of the page. OK. Why not?

Thought for the day from "Really important stuff my kids have taught me." There is no good reason why clothes have to match. Think about it who made up that rule anyway.

OK I have to start bloggging on a regular basis. I can blab about nothing without any trouble most of the time. Surely I can do the same on a blog.

Had a great weekend. Accomplished some things. Did alot of nothing too and still have today left. I'm hoping to go shopping with Amy and Hannah later. Amy if you're reading this this morning call me I don't want to wake up everyone. That is why I'm blogging now in hopes that Amy is on the computer and will see this. She is the only one who reads this anyway.

Later dudes.

Well since no one reads my blog anyway, it probably doesn't matter that I haven't posted in a while. I could explain but that would be a waste of blog space.

Today was a good day. School went well for the 3rd day. After putting the wrong kids on the wrong bus last night things just had to go better. New bus drivers are so fun. They assume we know what we're doing and we assume they know who should be on the bus. I don't think there were any reprecussions from it. Otherwise I think we are getting the kinks out of the schedules and getting the kids and us trained to where we should be.

Steve's dad is doing much better. He had cream soup and toast for lunch. He may actually go home Friday or Saturday. Steve spent the day with his mom today and will for the rest of the week. I think it was an eye opener for him. One of the things that I love the most about him is his patience and understanding. (I'm not sure our kids would think the same thing.)

Well this is going to be a short blog. I'm pooped and just want to veg out in front of the TV. Goodnight all!

Just a short post. This is my last hours of summer vacation. While I'm ready to go back and have a structured routine, I'm sad to see my freedom go. I've had a great summer vacation. I spent time with the grandkids, learned to digitally scrapbook, cleaned out a few closets and rooms and even put on my swimming suit. All in all I feel like I accomplished alot. Hopefully it won't all come to stop now that I'm back to school.

We went and saw Steve's dad at the hospital tonight. He's doing really well. With any luck he should be out of the hospital this weekend. It's Steve's mom that I worry about. You could tell tonight she was lost without grandpa at home. Luckily Mary is here and can stay with her until Sunday. I'm not sure how they will manage next week when Steve's dad gets home. I'm sure it will all work out but I know it's on everyone's minds.

Well I've laid out my clothes for the morning and my hair should be good tomorrow. I love that I only have to shower and shampoo my hair every other day. See there are good things about growing older. I have to remember to get some cash from Steve for lunch tomorrow. We get to eat out these next two days. A treat since we never have a chance the rest of the school year.

Goodnight all.

Finally I have internet back. We have had more problems with wireless. You'd think we lived in a huge house. Hopefully Steve has the problem permanently fixed. It's very frustrating not to be able to connect to the internet. I know there are people out there who never log on to the internet, but I'm not one of them. I use it to find recipes, answer questions, connect with the outside, and get new ideas. I am totally lost without it.

Blogger has finally let me upload a picture too. This is my finished office/den. It just makes me happy to have a space to work and not have to work around the kitchen table. Next project is to get our bedroom painted and maybe a new dresser. We think we can downsize our clothes and share a dresser. With our small rooms, if we can eliminate a piece of furniture or make what we have work more efficiently it would be a good thing.

We went to the farmer's market today. It is the perfect time of year to go. I bought tomatoes, red carrots, purple potatoes, and orange beets. We also bought a dozen ears of sweet corn. So tonight for supper we had a nice steak, sweet corn and sliced tomatoes. We even had a glass of 3 buck Chuck wine. It was a perfect simple meal. I also bought at the farmer's market the most beautiful bouquet of flowers. There's this beautiful family that raises organic vegetables in Iowa and their daughter grows the most amazing flowers.

I also did some scrapbooking today. Hopefully blogger will be nice and let me post another picture. I think it turned out ok. I want to have some pages done for the Meyer reunion. Ok so I'm not so good at placing pictures in my blog, but at least it's here.

Goodnight all!

MY NEW FAVORITE ROOM

Well my room is finished except for the picture hanging. It took me all day to clean out the closet. It's amazing how many craft projects I have/had unfinished. If the road to heaven is paved with good intentions then I'm there babe. But my closet now is totally organized and hopefully this winter I will work on some knitting and embroidery projects. At least when the urge strikes I'll be able to get to them. So tomorrow it's on to the bathroom and linen closet. That should be a quick job. It seems I do the linen closet every year. I blame it on having a small house and the linen closet gets to be a catchall. Hopefully there isn't anything that needs to be thrown away. The garbage can is full and the trash haulers don't come until Monday.

Just finished watching 2 hours of Grey's Anatomy. I can never seem to stay awake during the school year. Hopefully with it going to Thursday nights I'll stand a little better chance of seeing it. And if I can convince Steve that we need to have DVR I can watch alot of shows.

It looks like we could get some thunderstorms later tonight. After just checking the radar, though, it looks like it could just split around us. I hope not, I like a good thundershower.

I'm going to give blogger a few more minutes and then I'm posting without a picture of my room. I don't know why it has been giving me problems lately. Oh well I guess it doesn't want my picture tonight. Maybe tomorrow. Goodnight all.

GOTTA LOVE THAT WALMART!

OK it's 9:30 at night and we need ends for our TV cable that we had to move from one side of the room to the other in my new den/office. Well back in the day, we would have had to wait until tomorrow after Steve got home before we could finish hooking up our cable and that would have put me another day behind schedule. (Of course if I had started this and all my other projects the end of June I'd be ahead of schedule. Some year I'm going to have everything done before school gets out.) Yeah right and toads jump backwards. But I digress! Walmart of course is open 24/7 and they carry everything. I've come to the conclusion that if Walmart don't have it you don't need it. Really think about how much simpler life would be if the whole world shopped at only Walmart. No more jealousy over your neighbors designer jeans. Hers would look just like yours. There would be no comparison about who spent more for this or that, everyone would just get a good deal at Walmart. I think we could end the war in the Middle East by just giving everyone there $500 gift cards to Walmart. They would all be so busy shopping they would forget all about the fighting and hatred. Walmart are you listening I have some time between 5 and 6 in the morning, I could freelance for your advertising department. What I really like best about Walmart though is people watching. You don't see people like that anywhere else but at Walmart. And especially at 9:30 at night. Did you know there's a whole society of teeth missing people out there? Evidently they must hold their weekly meetings on Wednesday night and the meeting must get over about 8:30 or 9:00. Then of course where else would you go after that but to Walmart. Seriously I was at the mall today with Kyra. I don't think I saw one toothless person. Is there some unwritten code out there I am unaware of? I really need to know these things because I'm missing one molar and if I loose any more am I going to be banned from the mall?

Well tomorrow I hope to finish this room. The closet is a major disaster and all the things that need to go on the new bookcase is laying on the spare bed. If I can get this room done tomorrow, I can clean the pantry on Friday. Then if I can get Steve to clean out his closet and dresser drawers, I might actually feel ready to start school. On that note I'm actually making out some menus and they looked pretty doable. One can hope anyway.

Just for you Amy! Goodnight all!!!!

10 THINGS I DID TODAY

1. Walked on the treadmill for 25 minutes. I was hoping to do more but just couldn't do it. Sometimes the body just won't cooperate. Or maybe my mind didn't want to do anymore and the body said hey that's alright with me.

2. Cleaned out my refrigerator. How 2 people can end up with so many condiments. Explain to me why we need 4 different kinds of mustard.

3. Stripped the bedding on our bed and washed it. Should have done another load or 2 of laundry but that bedding took so long to dry. Well at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

4. Went over and played with Will. Actually I come over and he yells at me. He just screeches in a most happy way when I hold him and talk to him. I call it yelling, but I'm sure he's just voicing all his requests for when he gets bigger.

5. Went and bought hamburger and taco seasoning for Amy. Who knew Old El Paso made a cheesy taco seasoning.

6. Made supper (Mexican shrimp, mushroom rice and fresh green beans. 2 days in a row I've stayed in my point range. I have to undo the damage I did over the weekend. Why does it take 2 weeks to undo 3 days of overeating. That's just not right.

7. Went through recipes on wthe Cooking Light website to make ahead for school. Would like to have a bunch of go to meals in the freezer for when I come home too tired to cook.

8. Babysat Kirby and Kyler while Amy took Kyra to the eye doctor. That is such a tough gig. If I had left the house I'm not sure the boys would have noticed.

9. Talked to Scott on the phone and told the girls goodnight. Scott has had a bite on his leg for over 2 weeks and it's getting worse instead of better. He just needed some mom advice.

10. Helped Steve move furniture in my den/office. Boy do I need a bigger house. Oh well I don't need House Beautiful just efficient use of space. It'll definitely be cozy. No matter what I'm enjoying my desk.

I wish I could say that I've been too busy to blog, but that just wouldn't be the case. I have been busy but definitely not that busy. With just a little over a week left of my summer vacation, I'm feeling like I have to cram a lot into this last week and a half. I always do this. I play most of the summer and then at the end I try to get all the projects that I've had planned for the summer done in the last possible moments. I have no regrets this summer. Oh sure I would have liked to have done more with the house, but I wouldn't have given up all the grandchildren time for anything. Of course if I wasn't such a TV junkie I probably could have done both, played and worked on projects. I am excited that I now have a desk for my laptop and printer. The kitchen table can now be a kitchen table and not a desk. Steve and I can actually have dinner together without looking over the laptop. My den/office is still a huge mess and we still have to move out a bookcase and replace it with a new and larger one. I'll take pictures when it's all done. Of course a smart person would have painted the room first and maybe even refinished the hardwood floors but this tiny room has so much furniture in it that I'm not sure we could even clear it out to do that. My goal for this week is to finish this room and start on reorganizing the pantry in the basement. Good goals but not likely to be finished in one week.

Tomorrow morning I have to go over and stay with Steve's mom while his dad has a colonoscopy. I'm not looking forward to it and I'm not sure why. I love her like she were my own mom but I guess I'm not sure how she is going to react to Steve's dad being gone for 3 hours and I haven't had to be alone with her since she has had Alzheimers. I can handle 30 special needs kids in a room by myself, but one woman in a house has me a little stressed. I need to get over it though. I'm sure there will be many more challenges ahead as we deal with this disease with her. They have to find a cure for Alzheimers there just seems to be more and more people out there with it. I think I'm also a little stressed that Steve's dad is going to be dropped off and have this procedure with no one there with him.

OK blogger is being weird so I going to quit now before it loses my post again.

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!!

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.