National Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day

It's sometimes fun to check out what designation 'they' have given a date. In the old days, we had a few days that stood out like Christmas, Valentines Day, Ground Hog Day; but now that we don't want to discriminate, we have added many, many 'special' days. We really don't want any one day to feel left out.

And that brings us to January 31, National Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day. I don't know if it will be the same day each year, or not. We'll see.  But for right today,  I've celebrated by eating ice cream for breakfast, even though I've been on a diet for ten days.   Since I didn't find out about this significant 'holiday' until this morning,  I was lucky  to find some ice cream in the freezer...a lone Klondike bar. It wasn't what I had planned, but it was good.

Good Clean Fun

Julia not only had a good time with bubbles in her nice warm tub; she had paints that were made for use there.  I checked online to find  out about those paints and was completely overwhelmed by the number of companies that make them. There were DOZENS of them...OH MY!!!  But the best thing I found were several mini videos showing how to make them at home.  So where have  I been all this time?   At the computer, that's where.

Since I finished the two books I sent  to the publisher on Saturday,  I have not had the urge  to make layouts .  So I've pulled one up from the second week in September.  I really like it.  Perhaps seeing it here will give me the desire  to jump back into photoshop and  do some digital scrapbooking tomorrow.

One More Semester

Just one more semester and Aussie will be a full time college student at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He got his acceptance announcement  December 13th. That made it a good Christmas present.

As an old gramma, I don't really understand this early decision, etc. stuff, but this is what his mom told me: Actually, MIT was his first choice, but he had to make a hard decision to apply to Vandy early decision because that was his best chance  of getting in. If accepted, he had to go there. He is happy with the decision, but he will never know if he would have gotten accepted into MIT regular decision.

The second picture shows him with his mother, who  can be very proud. He is not only her son, but she home schooled him and his fellow triplets, Ashley and Mason until they went to high school  where all three have excelled.

God bless you Aussie! I know you will make the most out of it. You have already chosen  a double major of math and science writing.

Wasting Time on Solitaire

The print may be hard to read on your phone, So I'll copy it here.

I  spend an inordinate amount of time playing solitaire and had made it to level 635 when this picture was taken,12/19. As I write this  on 1/24/20, it is level 701.  Each level  brings with it a new title. Right now  I am Duchess of Decks. In this picture, I am called Top Dog. Ha Ha Maggie should be jealous. They keep coming up with  these names trying to make us feel important.  What good does this high score for me?  It proves I’m really good at wasting  time! I should be working on my books, like this one, instead. But Hallelujah,  I have finished this one and am sending it for publication this weekend! Hope you all enjoy looking at  it as much as I enjoyed making it.

I haven't posted in a couple of days and this is why. As you read, I finished this book and sent it to the
publisher and another book as well, both over 100 pages...TODAY. Didn't waste any time today!

Rado

This is my grand dog...the only one I have. There are several cats, but Rado is the only canine  in the family... other than our Maggie.

He is a very special sweet dog, who is feeling his age. He is the oldest, having come to live with John and Beth before they had children about ten years ago.

Anastasia Island

It is really a place in Florida. Near the end of November our daughter, Chelle, and her husband were in St Augustine, Florida for his father's funeral. It was a sad occasion.  He and Chelle went for a walk on the beach at Anastasia Island. There was a place there prepared for a wedding that day.  It made a great backdrop for a picture.

They Grow Up Too Fast

All of our grandchildren have  grown up faster than their parents did...and they grew up too fast. Now this great grandchild  will probably be grown in a couple of years, since she is aging much faster than her mother  did. And that was sooo fast.  This is her, Ava, standing on her top bunk, a princess in training indeed.

Thankful All the Time

These leaves were made  almost two months ago for Thanksgiving. But I'm feeling thankful right now for so much.  One thing is, I've finally gotten  this layout done for  my next book.

I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful for my friends. I'm thankful for being able to make  books of my memories. I'm thankful, that even though  I keep pretty busy with doctor appointments, I'm relatively healthy for my age. I'm thankful for my little dog that is a joy. I could go on and on with thanksgiving. But right now, I'm going to concentrate on these three cute faces.

Winter Birthday

Here we are again, fewer in number because so many northerners go south in the winter and we had one member who would have been there, since she didn't leave for her Caribbean Cruise for two more days, but she was sick.

This  happens to Phyllis each year. A small number is here to celebrate. But at least those of us who are left are ready to PARTY!...especially when cheesecake is involved. Cheesecake Factory is one of our favorite places to be as well.

Each one of us talked more than usual to make up for those who were not there.  I think some of us ate more as well, or was that just me?

Anyway, we did have a good time with Phyllis and like usual, she got some really funny cards.

They make an abundance of cards for old people, so we never lack for birthday greeting. I don't think we've ever gotten duplicates, or was it that we just didn't remember?

By the way, Phyllis herself is going south right away, leaving only three of  our 10 members here in the cold, cold north. Don't the rest of you feel sorry for us?

Well just remember, you don't get to make snowmen, shovel snow and drive on ice!

Blue Christmas

I  am actually craving snow. We haven't had any to speak of and it is mid January. It is crazy.
I was glad to play with a few snowflakes today, making this layout.

I suppose you remember that Elvis Presley’s favorite Christmas Song was I’ll  Have a Blue Christmas Without You. He meant he would not be happy.

Today, here at the Pine Tree Barn in Wooster, I’m feeling quite different. I’m feeling very happy here with ORU and our Blue Christmas.

Love these ladies and all our outings. The weekend  that we celebrated Robin and mourned her moving at the same time was very meaningful.

These are the members of ORU who were present: Sali, Lou Ann, Jane, Paulette, Phyllis and Robin.

I've been doing too many layouts of our dog  Maggie. But she is not the one this layout is about.
The real subject here is Ron.  I am glad  to show him here with his favorite little doggie daughter.
As you can tell, she has us wrapped around her little paw.

Face Time is Fun Time

The next best thing to being there is FaceTime... it  is better  than talking on the phone or writing letters, which people in the generation before me had to do when their children and grandchildren lived out of state or in another country.  I remember those days, so I am thankful for FaceTime.

We did it tonight with our grandchildren in Colorado.   I did get a few screenshots tonight, but I haven''t done anything with them yet.  Since I hadn't yet posted this layout from back on November the 3rd,  I'm doing it now.

From Florida to Alaska

Not many people would choose to leave Florida to work in Alaska, but Brandon's skills are badly needed there,  so off he went. This is actually his second stint there. And he has  found it a very beautiful place to be. He appreciates  the great outdoors and loves to hike.

Finally!

Evidently I'm not the only one with this problem, but here it is. There is an old woman who follows me around my house. I grab glimpses of her frequently. It makes me nervous. I wonder what she is doing there and she is ALWAYS staring at me.

Finally, I've taken a picture of her. Here she is.  If you can identify her, please contact me right away.

Authentic Aussie

This is the real Aussie: Shorts, tea-shirt, plaid shirt and sandals. He is now a senior
and these pictures are the best. This is the Aussie we know.  10/5/19

Aussie is also quite an achiever. We are anxious to see what this next semester brings his way.
It won't be long until he and his triplet brother and sister will no longer be seniors, but will be freshmen again.

May God bless Aussie, Mason and Ashley with a successful year as 2020 grads.

Lan Still Thrives

Who said LAN parties are a thing of the past? 

Well Mason brought it back! He invited his friends to bring their computers and play games. It was a hit!  Mason in the back, then Caleb and Isaiah with Micah up front.

Art Party

One of Chelle's friends 'teaches' this art 'class'. which seems more like a party to me.
Chelle is very artistic, so she does well anytime she gets a paintbrush in her hand...and she has fun.

Can't be much more fun than this.  It is a family ready for Halloween.  So now how does time go so quickly? This is a new year already. But the fun didn't stop. In a family like this, it lives on and on, day after day...LOTS OF FUN!

2020 Grad

It was fun doing this layout. Part of  that was the glee of finding this picture that had been taken in August. Ashley is so pretty here and  I love the colors. 

That's right 2020 is here. She and her brothers just have one semester to go before graduation. Oh how fast that has come.  They will all be going on to college. Things certainly will not be the same around their house.

A Strong Woman

This is  our granddaughter Brittanie. She is a strong woman and she has a good philosophy.  It is outlined on the layout. If you can't read it there, here is a copy of the text.

                               What I Tell Myself When  I'm Feeling Discouraged.

1. This is tough. But so am I.
2. I may not be able to control this situation. But I am in charge of how I respond.
3. I haven't figured this out...yet.
4.This challenge is here to teach me something.
5 All I need to do is take it one step at a time. Breath  and do the next right thing.

Kiki

Don't tell the others, but I think this is Chelle's favorite cat.

Since these pictures were taken, Chelle painted a large and beautiful picture of Kiki. Not sure when I will get that layout done, as I am behind as usual, but stay tuned. Hopefully it won't be too long.

All About Me

This blog post is about me. Even though this doesn't tell you everything about me thankfully; it does tell more than I really want known.  So why am I telling it here and now? It is a confession and that is necessary for me to turn around and go back to where I should be.

First of  all,  I need to say that the only layout I did today was this one. Because I'm just not with it now, I had almost completed it when I 'accidentally' deleted it. Right. It hadn't been saved and with one click, it was no longer on my computer at all. At least I remembered what  I had done. It didn't take me as long the second time, but it was a big waste of time.

I had always been very organized. Yes I keep too much stuff, but it was neatly in it's place and I knew where it was.  However this last year I've had  quite a bit of old ager stuff going on here. Things have stacked up in my office like the  pictures you may have seen of hoarder's homes. This was evidenced  by things related to Valentines Day still on my desk along with every other holiday and birthday since then. Thankfully, it has just been this one room, mostly on my desks, but still it was very bad.

This morning, the first of 2020, without really thinking about it, I started pitching stuff in the trash. I worked for hours organizing and taking things to other areas of the house where they really belonged. It is much better now, but it is still not me. I will work on it a little bit at a time until I can feel good about it again.

I feel better now that I've spoken about it and have started on my journey back to organization. Please pray for me and my endeavor.