I've Been Tagged

OK Lisa, you tagged me so here are my answers.

Ten years ago I was:
1. I was younger.
2. I had fewer gray hairs.
3. I was not a grandmother. (I adore my grandchildren)
4. OK I'm too old to remember ten years ago.
I can't remember what I had for breakfast.

Five things on today's to do list:
1. Get a flu shot.
2. Work on the Sunday bulletin for church.
3. Go out to eat with friends.
4. Brush Mushu.
5. Go to a craft group meeting.

Five snacks I enjoy:
1. Anything CHOCOLATE
2. Anything lemon.
3. Mama's pound cake.
4. Ice cream
5. Krispy Cream donuts

Five things I would do if I were a millionare:
1. Pay off my kids student loans.
2. Set up a college fund for grandchildren
3. Pay off mortgage and buy a house on the beach.
4. Pay off/buy homes for kids.
5. Travel


Five places I have lived:
1. Columbia, SC
2. Florence, SC
3. Marion, SC
4. Conway, SC
5. Goldsboro, NC

Five jobs that I have had:
1. Long distance telephone opperator.
2. Assistant to an interior decorator.
3. Assistant teacher for second grade.
4. Cafeteria manager for a private school.
5. Home daycare

Wendy added other random things so here are mine:
1. I "LOVE" being a Grandma!!
2. I have the best husband, kids (this includes in laws), and grandkids.
3. I am a craft-a-holic
4. I buy more crafts material than anyone could use in a lifetime.
5. I love to read.
6. I do NOT like housework of any kind.
7. I love animals.
8. I don't like wearing dresses.
9. I am shy.
10. I agree with Wendy, naps should be manditory for everyone.
11. I am addicted to gadgets/tecnology.
12. If I had the money I would build a sunroom, enlarge my kitchen and add a BIG craft room to my house.
13. I own "6" sewing machines. Two are antiques, two are regular machines, one is an embroidery machine, and one is the machine Mama and Papa bought me in high school. I guess that one is almost an antique too.
14. I lose track of time when I am in a craft store or a book store.
15. I can't think of anyone with a blog except Lisa and Wendy so I can't "Tag" anyone. :(

Priceless Pottery

These museum quality ceramic art pieces are "one of a kind" creations by the soon to be world famous brother/sister team of Emma Louise Howald and Hunter Thomas Howald. While these remarkable artists are new to the medium of ceramics, their incredible talent is apparent. The use of color is unprecedented in artists so young. These pieces are priceless and can only be seen in the exclusive Howald Museum located in picturesque Gladstone,Virginia. One can only imagine what the prodigies will create next. The art world eagerly awaits.

Pottery Play House

Dana, Richard and their kids were here recently. Dana and I always have a million things we want to do when she comes down from Virginia for a visit. This time was no exception. One of our first stops was "Once Upon a Child" to look for Halloween costumes for the kids. Emma has a Tinkerbell costume. Emma is a fairy all the time now. She even talks in her "fairy voice" Sooo cute. Hunter wants to be a pirate. So I suggested that he could be Captain Hook. We just have to find him a hook. If I can find a pattern for a toddler Peter Pan costume, Fisher will be Peter Pan. I think Dana should be Wendy and Richard could be the crocodile that is always after Captain Hook.

It was County Fair week while they were here. We couldn't miss hot dogs, cotton candy, and my personal all time favorite "FUNNEL CAKE" What is it about the fair that makes me crave a huge piece of fried dough covered in powdered suger. And yes I can eat the whole thing all by myself. Of course my stomach doesn't feel to good afterward, but I still have to do it every year.

One of my favorite things that we did this visit was take Emma and Hunter to The Pottery Play House. They picked out a piece of pottery to paint any way they wanted. Hunter created a lovely multi- colored frog. Emma painted a rainbow hued pony. Dana and I painted gingerbreadman Christmas ornaments. It was very messy and lots of fun. I'm going back this week to pick up our projects and make something else.
Maybe a "Purple Cow"
I never saw a purple cow,
I hope I never see one,
But I can tell you any how.
I'd rather see than be one!

Dana and the kids also brought me a very sweet prsent. When all my kids were little I would recite a poem about a purple puffin. Dana found a book with illustrations along with the peom. It is so cute, She has been reading it to her kids and they almost have it memorized. Emma says the words along with me when we read to book.

I read the fourth book in Stephanie Myers' Twilight series. I think it is my favorite. I can't wait until November when the first movie comes out.

OK everyone, what should I read next?

Home Again

I just got home from spending a week in SC visiting my parents.
Now comes the part I hate about traveling "unpacking".
When I got home yesterday Bryan has actually straightened up things. Well as much as most husbands do. The bed was partially made. The dishes were in the dishwasher, but it hadn't been turned on. Most of the dirty clothes were in the hamper. Most important, he fed all the pets.

Now time for me to get back into my regular routine; shopping, cooking, cleaning.
I live such an exciting life. Actually I like my life. I am just what I always wanted to be when I grew up. (not that I am grown up) I'm a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a grand mother, a mother-in-law, a friend and I'm "ME". Sometimes I'm not sure who the real "ME" is, but I'm still exploring that.

Since my lil sis (actually my sister-in-law Wendyfru) has learned a new craft and already started working on Christmas presents I guess I better get started too. I can't let her out do me. So if anyone has a request you better let me know in a hurry or you just might get something a bit wacky like a collection a my extremely rare dust bunnies. Apparently they have been multiplying while I was gone so I have a few extra.

OK, enough "rambling". Time to get back to unpacking etc.

RUB-A-DUB-DUB

Rub-A-Dub-Dub
Three Socks in the tub
A blue, a black and a brown
There's never a match
At the end of a load
It makes me want to frown

Everyone knows that there is never an even number of socks in a load of laundry. So what do you do with the orphan socks? Do you make sock puppets? You can only use so many sock creatures. Do you stuff them with cat nip for kitty toys? Do you use them to dust furniture? Not in my house! Dust bunnies are almost sacred here. We wouldn't think of wiping them out with an old sock. Are there foster homes for unmatched socks?

And why is it never possible to have ALL the clothes, towels, and sheets clean at one time? I mean if you do five loads of laundry on Saturday, why is it that by Saturday night the laundry hamper is overflowing again? Just once, for a little while, it would be oh so nice to see all the laundry done and the hamper empty. Is there some law of physics that I never learned that declares the laundry hamper must never stay empty more than five minutes? It seems like the only way for this to happen would be to have every member of the family strip naked, stand in the tub, and stay there while everything is washed. Not a pretty sight I'm sure. Then I could bask in the glory of a pile of neatly folded, clean laundry and an empty clothes hamper. One can only dream of course.

Also why in the world when I put the last load in the dryer on Saturday night does my husband come up with a white shirt with "ring-a-round-the-collar" that he has to have for church on Sunday morning?

I know, I know, at least I don't have to scrub the clothes on a rock in a river to get them clean.

Remembering Chloe

When Dana was in high school she insisted that she needed a dog of her own. We had a dog and a cat, but she wanted a pet that was "hers". There was an ad in the paper for a beagle, which of course Dana decided would be perfect. We went to "just look" at the beagle. Never go to "just look" at an animal. You will immediately fall in love. Now most beagles are brown, black and white, but remember that the most famous beagle "Snoopy" is black and white. Our Chloe is the only other beagle I have ever seen that is black and white. When Dana went away to college, Chloe became mine.

Chloe never was the smartest dog we have owned, but she was always one of the sweetest.
She barked at every piece of papper that blew across the yard.
She sometimes would bark at the setting sun until it was out of sight.
Chloe never met a child that she didn't love and every child who met Chloe loved her. Our grandchildren and the neighbor children like Chloe better than our other dogs. Chloe was always very patient with their hugs and pats.

Chloe was with us for 15 years. He hearing and sight were failing. She had arthritis and spent her days lying in the sun.
Chloe died on Monday, August 25, 2008
Her doggie companion of more than 6 years, Toby mourns for her.
We all miss Chloe very much.

Rats, Cats and BATS, Oh My!!!

Ok, so I don't actually have bats, but they sure look like them. What I have are birds in my chimney.
Not to be confused with "bats in the belfry"

Last summer I heard a strange sound in the fireplace which was also driving my cat completely "batty" (pun completely intended) It sounded like .... well it didn't really sound like anything I had ever heard before. Kind of a scratchy, squeeky, flapping noise. So being the brave, independent, modern woman that I am. Yeah right. I opened the fireplace door just a tiny crack, but I couldn't see anything. I opened it a little more and I saw IT. There clinging to the side wall of the wood stove was "A BAT".

Well I thought it was. I let out my best late night horror movie scream and slammed the door shut. My heroic cat jumped to my aid. Actually all I saw of her was a yellow streak as she dashed under the couch.

A few hours later my knight in shinning armor, dh, came home and assured me that there was no way that a flock of bats were partying in our chimney. As I stood on the couch armed with a broom, he carefully opened the fireplace door. Of course there was nothing there. He gave me "the look". Then I saw It clinging to the door. I screamed, he jumped, It made it's hideous noise. Hubby bravely got a plastic bag, picked the creature off the door and carried it outside. My country boy hubby patiently informed me, city girl that I am, that it was only a bird called a chimney swift. They nest in unused chimneys and eat insects. Sure sounds like a BAT to me. Well apparently they liked our chimney because all summer we had a family of them in our chimney. It was hard to explain to guests what the weird sound was coming from our fireplace. Hubby never did get the chimney capped so once again this summer we have "batbirds" in our chimney. I don't have the heart to call an exterminator even for "batbirds" so after the babies have flown the nest I will call someone to cap the chimney and just hand hubby the bill.
BATBIRDS ARE CREEPY !!!