Pedaling On!!

Yep!! I am still riding my tricycle!! Rode a mile and a half today. I know it doesn't sound like much but with my muscle stuff I feel it is great. Right before I got it, we were riding our bikes, at that time is was a regular bike, eight miles every night. Ah. Those were the good old days! But who knows, I may get back there yet. It was still 90 something but it wasn't bad at all!! Zoe...the dog...loves it. She seems like she could walk forever.

You know, being an old people's state, you see the tricycles everywhere here. Even the kids love them. In fact, they are so popular that you have to lock them up for sure. We have actually seen a band of kids going from park to park casing out where they are located. They did that at my brother's park next to ours. They even caught them coming  and taking one of the bikes and chased after them. Isn't that bad??

I has been a really nice day. Got up and made contact with the kidders. That is always a Saturday ritual, when  Brian even calls from New Jersey. The others I talk to everyday, too. But Brian calls on Saturdays. 

Jim cooked me the best bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich for breakfast. Oh my golly. These tomatoes were so red and juicy. I didn't even asked how much he had to pay for them. I didn't want to know!! The tomatoes in Florida stink. I feel like going on a one woman campaign to tell all of Florida that tomatoes ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO CRUNCH!!! Nor are they to be any shade of pink OR green!!! But these were the moan when you eat them kind. He was so sweet to get them. I haven't had any like that for 20 years, since we moved here. He really shouldn't have done it. Now I want more of them!! LOL

Then I scheduled bills that came in and a few other computer things.

Then we got ready and went down south to the flea market. It is one that is about an hour away. It used to have the best produce there so we thought we would pick up some nice veggies and fruits. Ugh! Nothing and what they did have was old and very expensive!! I refuse to pay three bucks for a medium size cauliflower. I will buy a large bag of frozen for a buck sixty-nine instead. Ugh. Life can make a person crazy!!

Then we drove on up and towards Orlando to another...well, two actually, roadside stands. They had nothing and neither did the new one across the street. $1.50 for an acorn squash that I could put my two hands around. Ugh. On to something more pleasant!! How about the traffic jam we got into on the way back?  LOL Bumper to bumper standstill, for no reason. That is what gets you!! LOL Now those, I can handle. I just consider it together time for Jim and me. Sort of like a captive audience if you know what I mean.  LOL LOL

Stopped at Publix to get the Dan Active. It's a must at our house and we were out, and out he comes with three bags!!! But, he got bread on sale for $.97 and really great corn on sale so we did at least get some veggies!!!

So, see, it was a nice day!!! Haven't  gotten around to supper yet, but soon. LOL Last night...well...I will save that for another time!! Getting food last night was a hoot!!

Before I stop...da da...I did that other LO of my friend's grand kids. Still can not believe she has NINE!! Woowee!! Now that's a handful. Want you to see how cute they are.

Click on picture for larger view

So I am out of here for tonight. Hoping to scrap some tomorrow, but you never know.

Have a great day tomorrow and do something fun.

I Am So Excited!!

I just finished a LO of my oldest...NOT in age, remember... best friend in Ohio that I have reconnected with!! It was so much fun to do.

What they did was to recreate a picture as closely as possible that they took of their grand kids  seven years ago. I think that is such a great idea. They put the kids in the same places and had them doing what they had done before...well as closely as could be expected. And the picture turned out great! I love it.

Well, being a scrapper I just couldn't help but fire up the Photoshop and get busy!! I had to create a LO of this. (There is another one, too, that I am biting to get working on!! LOL)

So here it is! The unveiling of my first 2010 LO for my friend, Gloria!! Hope you like it.

Click on Picture for Larger View

Aren't these pics great? I love that idea!!

Well, considering it is time for me to leave work for lunch, I guess that is it for now. I hope to post some more later!!!

Behave and have a good one!

Let The Weekend Begin!!!

I can't believe it is Friday already. I guess what my dad said is true. He always told me the older you get the faster time flies!! Dad, a very wise man. I learned so much from him.

Not much going on this week. I did have some fun though. My friend, Gloria, from Ohio, posted pictures of her family gathering this past week. What fun it was to see all of them. We had  been close friends for years before moving to Florida twenty years ago, We had lost contact with each other and just recently got in touch again thanks to Facebook! What a highlight of my week to get to see how the family has grown and get to see pictures of all the girls' kids!! Unbelievable!! Can't get it through my head that they have almost grown families of their own. Well, so do our kids but that is totally different!! LOL It was great!

Also, I did a LO for Debbie Hodge at Get It Scrapped this week. It was using a new template of hers and it was so much fun! I love her templates. If you haven't been to her site you need to stop by. You will be back, for sure! Lots of stuff always going on there!

Here is the LO I did. I am so pleased that I can get pictures like this from a ten year old point and shoot. I didn't even run them through Photoshop except to use a sharpen filter. I'm pleased. Of course it was easy to do a LO about our favorite place. Disneyworld!

Click photo for larger view

And as always click on my gallery icon on the right.for credits

We have so much fun there, but honestly because we have been there so often, we have the most fun watching the people  having fun!! And there are always photo ops!!

It has been so freaking hot here. I really hate to say that after we complained about the cold this past winter. But when we went home last night...103 at our park entrance. We are talking actual temp here. The heat indexes were to be around 110!! Thank you Lord for air conditioning!!!

But even with the heat I went riding my tricycle!! Yeah for me. I am really trying to get some exercise even though my neurologist has a fit. He would especially have had one last night with the heat because heat exacerbates the muscle weakness. But I did fine. I really want to stay mobile, so I need to get at it. I am sure I wasn't a pretty site on that bike, but I say hey, at least I am not veggin'! Well, I'm eatin' veggies, veggin'...but not...oh well, you know what I mean!!

That is about it for me this week. Life is great and I am thankful I have probably been treated better than I deserve. Can't ask for more than that, can I?

Have a great weekend; enjoy your loved ones...and as always, find some time to create!!

It's a Great Journey!!!

Well, it is official!! Jim and I have officially been married 45 wonderful years as of yesterday!! It has been marvelous. It could not have been any better. Though we have been through so much, kids unconscious in hospitals, me with my muscle disease that they didn't know what it was for ten months and a myriad of other things along the way, I would not have changed a day of it!! I thank God for it all.

We went out to eat for our celebration and it was so nice. We went to Carabbas about 9:15 last night after the dinner crowd thinned out and it was so pleasant. Not the usual din of everyone talking and waiters and waitresses bumping and scurrying around. It was just a pleasant end to a wonderful day! And our waitress was super and made the evening even better!

I have been busy this weekend. I have scrapped, and have my navy bean soup on. We  haven't had home made been soup in so long. And I am going to make Bot Pie. That is homemade noodle dough cut in squares with sliced potatoes (like for scalloped potatoes) all cooked in beef stock and chunks of the beef roast torn up in it! Super yummm! It is a Pennsylvania Dutch recipe. Actually, we now call it Pot Pie but that is not the real name.

The first scrap page I did was of my mom and dad. This picture, along with the one of my grandma and grandpa in my last blog, were always on the mantel at gram's and gramp's. I had always laid claim to them but when they all had died I never could find them. I figured that my brother had them, only he said no. I thought he just didn't know because he is blind; that his wife had stuck them away somewhere and now that she is gone he would have no way of knowing. But low and behold we found them in that wonderful box that was in Nancy's attic!! Yeah!!! So I scrapped it.

Don't they look wonderful?

The I just finished this one. Guess you could say hot off the press!!!

You can click on the pic to read the journaling. This I did for a challenge at a new site I go to. It is for pen scrappers. If you don't know what that is...instead of using a mouse you use a pen and a tablet that goes with it. (It also comes with a mouse you can interchange with it.) It has a learning curve to get used to it, but once you are used to it you will NEVER go back to a mouse. It is way less tiring than a mouse and it is so much easier on me with my muscle weakness. I am sad to say I don't have one at work but will as soon as I can get the money for one. I have the one called Bamboo and it runs about $99. There are, of course, bigger and better, but I don't see a need for it for what the "normal" person needs. Check it out here. Everyone that stays with it long enough to get the hang of it, and it takes about a month, will never go back. But you definitely need to be committed to staying with it.

By the way,  if you click on the link picture at the top right of the blog you can vote for my LO! They have a contest each month!! I would appreciate it! (Is that begging? Oh well!!)

Well, time to get out of  here. Getting late and I really want to get lots more done. Nothing planned in particular but so much I would have fun doing.

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday because in a few hours, for most of us...Gloria, you excluded...argh!!! have to go to work!!! UGH!

Will catch you on the next rebound. Thanks for stopping!

He's Too Funny!!

I am having the time of my life watching Jim change since he has retired. I laugh so much at him!!

We needed a new skillet. He loves the Teflon coated ones...me, I don't. I like my Wearever but the handle is broken off and we never ordered a replacement. He won't use it without a handle and likes the non stick. Anywho...he went and bought a new pan. Very nice indeed.

In passing, I had asked him if there was anything on it about seasoning the pan. I know my cast iron you have to season, and since I don't use the Teflon ones I didn't know.

Now I need to tell you...this man NEVER reads directions. I guess it is just not him...all the men I work with or have had time to watch, goes at everything first and when it fails, reads the directions. Well, I need to add that Nancy, our DD is just the same. She and her dad are just alike, however, she is usually right and does not fail. I guess you might say she has that feminine mystic that can work anything out!! LOL

I mean, we are talking here about a young married man and father that puts an antenna completely together in his living room only to find he couldn't get it out the door! Get the picture? (But I did sit there and watch!)

But I digress, the evening after the new pan purchase I am at the computer and notice he is not beside me at his computer. I twirl around on my chair and find him in his relaxing chair, glasses on, reading a very long piece of cardboard. Upon questioning him as to what he was doing, he said...reading the directions for the pan.

With that remark, my office chair took off and whirled around four times and stopped before I could believe what I thought I had heard. Reading?      The directions?     For a pan?!!!      That was as long as his arm??  What is with this?

I finally caught my breath from laughing. And then it began. Did you know........you are not to use any oil ,only olive oil or peanut oil in a non stick pan? The others get too hot.

Do not cook with a non stick pan close to pets because there can be fumes and they can make them sick.

Do not cook on the highest heat, because it can make things stick.

DO NOT use non stick sprays because it will make things stick.

If something does stick, use vinegar and water and heat to loosen. (thinking to self...thought this was a NON STICK pan, but smart enough only to think it!!)

You can get the picture. That cardboard, and I kid you not, that was as long as his arm, went on, and on and on with this kind of information that I was read in toto!!! LOL Gotta love it! I was astounded to say the least!!!

But he used the pan and loves it, so it was worth studying the manual. LOL I might also add that we stopped at Kmart to get the dog a collar to replace the one about to break and just had to pick up three (3!!) different scrubbers (they were cheap) to see which would work the best. He is loving his new found love of the kitchen. For the record, I love it, too.

Anyway, we were talking today about how we are adjusting to the new perspective life has taken. It is different. And it is a good different. It is like there is a beautiful peace. We had it before, but it is just different. I wish I could explain it. I guess you will all just have to wait and experience it. AND I hope to feel it more completely soon. Whoa. I would love that word (retired) in my life, too. LOL

Life is so much fun. It is all in how you play it!! LOL

I did scrap today. Well, all this morning. I still am not fast and have finally decided that is OK. I just love fooling around with all the elements on that page and digging for just the right one that makes me happy. So here is what I came up with today. It is of my maternal grandparents. 

Time to shut down. I know I have rambled but oh well. I gotta be me.

Take care and thanks for stopping by!!

The Sun is Shining!!

Finally the sun has decided to shine!! It hasn't rained in a day. Things are looking more like Florida again. Only for the rain. We are in the rainy season and usually does rain every day. About 4:00 it will cloud up and rain so hard until about the time everyone is off the roads and home from work!! Then the sun comes back out and the humidity goes up...up...up!!! But we love it!

Very cool today, too. Only 88. Not to fear. It will kick back in only too soon!!

This has been an extremely boring day at work. I probably had enough work to do in one hour, however, it was spread out over a couple. Just a hit and miss...here I need this type of thing. Then I did two proposals and came back from lunch and had to withdraw them. It seems we were not given all the prints for it so only half of the job was figured. So all the work I did before lunch was down the tubes, too. Oh well. Good practice, but who needs practice at my age??

Just am finishing my Via instant Starbucks and posted the LO that I just finished. It is a baby picture of me that my mother had colored when she worked at a photographers. I had forgotten that she did that and she also painted the faces on rubber baby dolls when she worked at Sun Rubber Company, too. She was always good with her hands.

I just got an email back from my DS Brian that said isn't it a bit egotistic to call yourself sweetness? Hope no one thinks that. But I do think that picture is a picture of sweetness. And HE doesn't know...maybe I WAS sweet!!! LOL Arg. Kids!! LOL

Don't know what is going on tonight. I think I will organize my stash some. Scrapping is coming hard to me right now. I think I need a break. And, yes, I still don't have my things organized in ACDSee yet. Part of the problem is that I organize to good. I list things in so many categories. Like the paper above would be under Paper: print, neutral, pink, green and circles. So I would have to list it in five categories. That takes a while.

Also, Sara Horton at Designer Digitals sent me information on how to correctly back up ACDSee. I have been putting that off because every time I try something on the computer I can make a mess of it. But my courage in mounting on this one. Just about ready to tackle it.

Going to get things ready to shut down here at work. Have a great night. Thanks for stopping by.

Oh NO!!!

Oh no! It has come to my attention that my wonderful three day weekend is just about over!! How can that be?

Well, at least I really enjoyed the three days!! We didn't do anything but that is what is fun to me. I did a little cleaning, but not much. Mostly just played around on the computer and did a LO. Watched some movies. And would you believe that today we spent about three hours just watching Clean House on TV?

Even Jim was engrossed. These were the dirtiest houses in America!! And believe me they were. One even had 25 pounds of cat dodo in the "cat" closet where the liter box  was!! And so much clutter on the floors they had to walk on it. Even lay on it to sleep at night. For two of them they had to rent empty stores...you know...like where Kmarts had been...in order to hold the garage sale to get rid of all their clutter. They donated all those proceeds to charity. And one house netted them...get this...$17,000 and some dollars!! In garage sale prices I think you can tell how much stuff was there.

My only concern is that is wasn't the clutter. It was their minds. I bet in a year at most they will be back in the same situation. It is a head problem not a clutter problem. But it was interesting to watch. Really.  I feel very sorry for them because everyone thinks they are just dirty and it goes far beyond that. If it were just that, it wouldn't bother them. They want out of  where they are. They just don't know how to do it.  They gave them clean houses inside and out. Told Jim maybe I should dirty ours up and get a new house out of it. He said it would never work for me. I would make a mess of the house and not be chosen!!! He knows me so well!!! LOL

Nancy found a box of pictures in her attic when she sent Torrey up to search for a book, or really, journal, that my great grandfather  had written. I thought my brother had it, but she thought it was in a box that she packed away when mom died.

She found it along with a bunch of other treasures! All sorts of pictures of the family, including my mom and dad and grandma and grandpa. I was thrilled. So now I am going to be busy scrapping them. Heritage pages don't come easy for me but I bet I will soon get the hang of it after all that I have to do!!

So here are the two LO's I did this week. The one of Mom is probably when she was in her late twenties I would guess. I was thrilled with these because other than recent pictures I have of her shortly before she died I only had two toddler pics of her. So these were a treasure.

The second one is one of her again and my ninth grade graduation picture. I did it because I was amazed at how much we looked alike.

Hope you enjoy.