I love, love, love to make stuff on Printshop

My son has a degree in graphic arts, and he can do absolutely anything. I believe he could design a car, print it out, and drive it to town actually.... (almost).... But I.... I am Queen of Printshop. I love that program, and along with two CDs I bought with vintage holiday postcards, Printshop is amazing.... Tonight I whipped out a couple of personalized cards for my cousins and put them in a folder... Voila... Instant little gift.

Well, it's cousins night .... again!

Finally! I wrote last summer about our Cousins Nights. Four of us get together usually every three months for dinner and a chick flick. Tonight we went to our favorite Chinese Buffet and then treated ourselves to a little ABBA festival with Mama Mia. Funny.... a little racy, kind of odd to see all these stars belting out ABBA tunes, but we laughed and laughed. IF you are an ABBA fan, IF you like to see middle agers take center stage... IF you like to laugh at a musical... go see this show. It's very much a musical in the "marketplace breaks into song" fashion.

AS for the cousins... we enjoyed it so much. Our movies have marked the years: The Devil Wears Prada, No Reservations, Divine Secets of the Ya Ya, Music and Lyrics, Space Cowboys, one Cameron Diaz one we KNOW we were too old to see... and another one we weren't: In Her Shoes... We know how to pick em... and we laugh and we hug each other and bring silly little gifts if we want. We smile and know in our hearts that our grandmother (Ma) is spinning with pure joy to see us all together like this once again. One of us giggles like her, and another one bakes. One has her hairline, and we all resonate with her strong and good spirit.... even when we slip a little~ If you call your cousins and plan a night, get ready for that smile that warms you with memories you can't and don't want to forget. Oh, yes it's Cousins Night... What a sight! Hugs to all. (pictures tomorrow of my little gifts I took.)

photo by Nealato by Coolville on Flickr

It's nights like this that make me realize what we all need is a trip to the Drive In Movie. But we can't.... This beauty was destroyed by a tornado a couple of years ago.... Anybody who's ever been through Macon could see the Drive-In, located right on the highway... but only those of you who've grown up with one know how deeply missed this old screen may be.

Look back at our childhood. We came with our parents. I sure did. Mom and Dad brought me in the '55 turquoise and white BelAir. And later I was thrilled to be in the back of a white Chevy wagon backed up to the screen while we all sat on the tailgate, giant pickle in hand for me, hot dogs for Mom and Daddy. I think everyone had a favorite treat. The proprietors hand made ice cream sandwiches, and there was a dry quality to the relish that to this day sends me to a pad of paper towels to blot my green relish before sprinkling it on a roasted hot dog.

Later this Drive In hosted our Prom, many many dates.... cool evenings with family, and perhaps the biggest treat of all, sharing it with my little boy, eager to play on the insanely creaky merry go round in the back and begging for time between the double feature. I shared the Drive In with someone special who hadn't been to an outdoor movie in years... I was fortunate to have a year's free passes two seasons straight.

Tonight finds me watching TNT movies I've Tivo'd, and the thunderstorms once again pound down the 63 corridor from the North. Weatherbug is chirping until probably six a.m.... If I only had a famous Buttercup popcorn... What is it? Well, it's buttercup.... popcorn. Add sweet, creamed butter to hot popped corn. Mix it up, wrap it up. Buttercup is born. It's delicious, it's nutritious. It's a taste delight. You'll enjoy it. Butter crunchy.... That's for the Locals... You all know the tune, and you could all sing it in your sleep... along with the little buzzy mosquito ad for that little coil you burn.... What was that name?

Have a good week, all... See you at the drive in.

Panini Sunday

Photo courtesy of Lowell Country


It's time to get Sunday dinner on the table... We're having a Panini Sunday. We have all kinds of vegetables, cheeses, luncheon meats, and snacks... Either my son or I will do the honors. He's bringing over his Panini Grill he got for his birthday last year. It makes perfect sandwiches every time. Add a few chips, some light green salad.... (and I think corn on the cob)... and we have a feast .... again! Where is my diet starting this week?

I just bought nyself a new desktop PC, and I love it. So far, I haven't located the USB slot for my camera... but I will... You should have caught me on Internet set-up night... It was a hoot... The little man from Lynxsus assist finally told me he didn't think I could have a signal with my modem unplugged... Well, duh... I guess I was getting pages on the laptop from the memory??? I dunno.... Anyway, I just excused myself from the call and quietly plugged it in... Voila! online immediately... The marvels of technology! haha..

Take care and have a good week.

For Dana

Sadly tonight My blog turns to a dear friend of mine who died in her sleep last night. Dana, my 54-year-old buddy, born a day before me, and a sister in spirit. She finally lost a bravely-fought six year struggle with breast cancer, and I cannot begin to imagine the pain, the shock, and the anxiety her family is feeling right now. Dana had the gift. She made life simply sparkle. Her laughter, her touch with flowers, her artistic soul.. all this plus that untouchable air of positivity.... Those are the vibrant tones of this dear woman. Dana was the first of our class to do many things... She had an early marriage to her current husband, a life long commitment and love affair with the man of her dreams. She had a baby before most of us did.. She had early grandkids. She did many things first... So, again... Dana is going on before us.

I recently read that we are all on the same train. Some will arrive at five o'clock, and others at nine-thirty... but we will all arrive at the same destination. How poetically true that is. Dana is surely in Heaven, and she is most assuredly surrounded by even more beauty and happiness and joy than she brought us, which is a considerable amount. She had asked our sorority sisters to come visit her to tell us good-bye. We were going tomorrow night. And since we did not tell her good-bye, I am certain I will look for her again and again for the rest of my life, expecting to see her at any moment as I always have. Maybe that is my blessing. I look for Dana as I look for others who have gone on before... and since I look, I do see them. I see my grandmothers in an open quilt, a rose bed, or a batch of warm sugar cookies. I see my friend Roberta in a quick hug, an encouraging remark, or a silly moment. I'll see Dana in a candlelit patio on a warm summer's night and in the middle of a laughing story about her family.... I see my Daddy every time a telephone pole silhouettes the blue sky...

So hug your family and hug your friends. Live your best life as long as you can. Pray for God's presence and his friendship to light your way. Hugs to all.

Awards! Thank you!

Thanks so much, Lisa from CRANBERRY FLATS .

And another big thank you to Becky at HOSPITALITY LANE. I am so honored to be chosen by two such great bloggers. I love to visit their blogs and read about the day. Each one has a unique and very special style. I know you'll love them both!

This is such a cool award. How difficult to choose blogs as my seven! I read so many, and each and every one seems to fill a part of my heart. I'm going to have to think about which ones to choose for the winners. In the meantime, if you are reading this blog and would like to be a recipient, feel free to consider yourself tagged! You are ALL so inspirational to me.

Addiction... Dependence.... and Fear...

Okay. To those of you who know me and have seen me lately, this blog entry is no surprise. It does, however, come as a surprise to me. I am amazed at what I am about to say. MY SHOES ARE HORRENDOUS. There. To my mother who has been screaming this for years, yes years. To my friends who have simply smiled and ignored my feet, and to my students who probably have dubbed me the fat teacher with those awful shoes... I see it... But truthfully, it has reached such a crisis I know not what to do.

I bought these shoes from Land's End Catalog one sunny day by phone.. I saw them in a catalog and thought, "Hey! comfy looking sandals." At the time I walked a lot, went up and down stairs kind of easily, had a home and a pretty fully life. I also had a whole closet full of shoes.... dressy flats mostly, a few sandals, a pair of flip flops... a nice pair of tenny runners for my fouro mile walks.... Uh, yeah... that was EIGHT years ago. I bought them in the spring of 2000. I'm not sure when they migrated to the top of the list of shoes to wear. I only know that gradually other shoes died the way all good shoes do... but these insidiously refused to go that way.

Then came some fairly sizable life/health changes. I have fairly cruddy arthritis that is a real pain if you get my meaning! I have had a back muscle spasm that refuses to allow me to stand or walk for more than a minute or two... With all this marvelous invalid-ness I have acquired many extra pounds... And some of you know the rest... Extra weight= less walking=extra weight=less walking.... the perpetuality of the old fat lady that stumps around looking for a chair. That's me.

But lest you think this is a woe to be me entry, I will get back to the shoesies.... I began somehow to wear these babies every day.. I wear them in winter with hose, with black hose, navy hose, tan hose, and with heavy socks if I have to be outside... yep... I just smiled when people said, "I can't believe you wear sandals in the snow." I think I secretly hoped they believed me to be some lost in the sixties beatnik.... not an old lady whose feet hurt too much to get new shoes. For many years after a big closet purge, these were the only shoes I owned... Often I have purchased a couple of cute pair of shoes throughout the course of the year. I have a neat pair of leather tennis shoes, a glitzy flat with cool copper jewels, a pair of clog-like green shoes that feel about as good as anything else EXCEPT these babies.... and now three pairs of new sandals... Clarks, Earth shoes, and .... I dunno....

But with all the pain it causes to move, function, get there... and back, I just can't force myself to put anything else on. I always sneak this pair out in a sack if I do wear another pair, and in less than twenty minutes... yeah, you guessed it.

Once I had a sweater I wore past its due date and a very sage senior girl told me she was staging an intervention. I finally took my coat of many colors to the burn barrel.... But I don't think I can function without shoes that feel like these... I am writing to Land's End and begging them to look in their old stock.... Wouldn't it be fabulous if they found a pair that would last me til 2016? Wow....

Any suggestions? I know they are ugly. About three years ago I bragged to my mother that I had worn the very same shoes every day for five years. Her remark chilled me a little, "You think they don't look it?" haha.. My mom... She's the best.

As you see, the soles are splitting... It's a matter of time now... Help!

Rainy days and Fridays....

Wow.... dark, rainy.... a perfect day to crawl back into bed. But I have my laundry in and have committed to the day, so I guess I'll keep it up a while... Although a nap would be scrumptious, and I certainly would have one if I lived at home. Now, that's a comment for you... Isn't it a shame, at any age, but especially at 54, NOT to LIVE at HOME? Isn't home synonymous with "where you live"?

Well, our "front yard" of wheat has been cut and sent off to make Henny Penny's bread, I think. Stark buttery yellow stubble replaces the waving grain heads, and today the rain drinks into the ground as if we hadn't had a record-breaking spring rainfall total.

The final shot here is kind of a "bad news" shot. My big geranium has been vandalized by a gigantic bunny. Mom had trouble with rabbits eating her little plants on the front porch. Once she looked out and saw three big fat happy ones up there munching away... three steps high! And one day it took only forty five minutes to lose a whole trip to the green house... So she had my cousin red pepper her plants. So far, the bunnies have left hers alone, but I personally think one with a big hot mouth came right down to my door and gobbled my geranium just for spite... My personal preference would be silk in this case. I know when to holler "Uncle," and this is when.

Please forgive me for deleting all your posts last time. I have had such trouble lately with spam type posts from Canadian Pharmacies, Tech Assistance places, and other nonsense... I thought I was deleting theirs, but I ended up deleting all yours, too... Do any of you have any suggestions for why my blog is suddenly plagued with that kind of note?

Going to the shop today. This is the llong overdue date to get excited over there and make it look like it used to. ????? Maybe some shots to follow of the "new and improved" look! Have a great weekend.

They've missed me... don't you think?

These guys remind me of a game we played at VBS called Lemonade... We divided into two teams and huddled together under two separate shady trees to plot our strategy. We had to decide what we were going to pantomime... Then we marched down to the other team:
Here We come... we'd shout.
Where you from? they'd counter
New Orleans.... our answer.
What's your trade?
Lemonade....
Show us something if you're not afraid.

We demonstrated something quite intricate and they began guessing. As soon as one person got it, we'd run like the wind and they endeavored to tag as many of us as they could before we reached our "base." Those tagged were on their team to reciprocate the game.... Back and forth until only a few remained to show something... then usually only one.... then... the best team won!

Ms. Mystery Goose....
Luncheon on the grass..... Meanie, Miney, and Moe..... the groundskeepers.
And finally, the Inspector.... Are they keeping this park clean??????

Honk! Honk! Have a Quacky Day!!!!!!!

We did it all!

Hey.... hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July. Ours was busy, even though we didn't go anywhere or meet with anyone. My son decided to ensure we had a day of it! He came down early and took his granny on their traditional trip to buy TOO MANY lovely, lovely fireworks. They always have slinked off to get those like guilty partners in crime. Then he barbecued outdoors, while I fixed the rest of the supper. We used new plates Mom has received from a dear friend for her birthday. So cozy and rustic. I love them! After that we watched Spiderwick Chronicles on DVD until time for the fireworks. It is kind of cute, but something about it just made me do the "ugly cry" as Oprah calls it. I was kind of the only one who felt that way, which always makes ya feel stooopid... But something about the fairies and Aunt Lucinda and her dad... well, I was hootin' and snuffin. Finally it was dark and we visited the well-known spot for our own personal show blasted off by my son.... Bravo! Finally a little Chocolate peanut butter ice cream sealed the deal.

Well, that's the rundown. I looked over at my little mama about midnight with her little blanket tucked under her chin. She has a habit of narrating the fireworks... "Pretty! Blue! Green! Gold fountain! High! Loud!" It allows for a little snoozing if you're tired. I told her my son had worked so hard all day he might just take us to the Drive-Thru at Mickey D's next year and park our tails on a side road by the Fairgrounds park for the free ones... That will be fine. Have a great week.

Eeek... the bots are out in force. I had four comments in about sixty seconds from bots so I enabled comment moderation for a bit. Sorry!

Enjoy the Fourth!

Hope you all have a very happy and safe Fourth of July! The three of us are celebrating with traditional picnic fare and fireworks late tonight. Enjoy!

Okay.... where have I been?

Birthday Bash!

My little plates from Randolph Mercantile... Love those crows!
Can you believe this bag from my mom!!!! Love it!

Well, my mother and I share June 29th as our birthday, and this year we were just ever the party girls! We began on the 25th with an impromptu visit from a dear friend. Then my cousins brought us a surprise breakfast with an oreo cake on Thursday, and I went on a long car ride that afternoon to catch up on all the chat with my cousin... Hugs to them. Then my dear friend took Mother and me to lunch on Friday, and another wonderful, beloved friend visited us on Saturday morning.. My son whisked over on Sunday for Taco Salad, and he surprisedus both with such huge over the top gifts like we'venever seen before. He gave me the big flat screen tv and the DVD player, and he gave Mom a wicker love seat, two chairs and a coffee table for the porch... (We are fixing up the porch for a photo shoot later I hope.)

So.... what a wonderful week.... Those of you who know me well know I mean the wonderful part was seeing all these special, dear friends and family members... (The gifts were wowzee, too...) but the icing on the cake is the love I feel for those near and dear and far away... I am blessed with friends on both coasts... Dear cousins in California, and a special one in Pennsylvania..... Another in Florida.... more in Texas..... a candle making friend in Ohio.... and some sweethearts I've never met who live overseas... Take care and thanks for all the wishes on my last post. You guys are terrific...