Today

Hello everyone!

Today is a busy day.  My niece is coming over for a couple of days and I'll be picking her up.   She actually arrived in Nebraska on Tuesday and has been visiting a friend for the past 2 days.  She's never been here before so I'm a little excited to have her see our town and house.  And I am hoping that she will tell my folks how lovely this area is so that they'll finally move out here!

Today, I also have a vet appointment for the kitties.  It's shot time.  I've already brought out the crates so they won't suspect anything when I pick them up to cuddle them this morning.  I can get them easily and then slide them into the crates.  Once they are in them they are fine.  It's the getting them that can be a challenge.  Then I will bring them back and then head  back out to get my niece.  And together we will do a little shopping at the Base since that is where her friend lives.

Today, I will do a little more re-arranging around the house.  I cleaned and picked up and tried to do some last minute organizing.  Which actually means, I've put things away where they don't necessarily go but I'm in a mad frenzy to get the place looking decent.  Does anyone else do that or is it just a lazy me thing?  Anyhow, I'm sure I'll be walking around the next couple of months trying to find that "thing" that was sitting on my desk the last time I looked and I'll be tearing the house apart undoing all the hard work I did the last few days, because I shoved that "thing" into some closet or drawer!  Blah.

Today, my hand hurts.  Yup, my fingers are hurting because I'm getting old and I have arthritis.  All that cleaning and picking up makes my fingers hurt.

Today, I will be putting the final touches, i.e. making the beds up, for the other guest bedroom which will be occupied by First Born, Dilly-Girl and the grand babies, tomorrow!!!  I rearranged the bedroom so it will be able to accommodate their 2 dogs and cat as well.  It will be a "cozy" little arrangement.  We are SO excited to spend time with them!!!  The grand babies are no longer babies, they are 3 & 4 and I have missed them LOADS!

There is so much more that I need to get done today, but I will put it off for a few days (luckily, they are things that can be put off!) We'll spend time with my niece and then settle the grand babies and Dilly-Girl and animals and then I will tackle those other things.

Right, I will end this now so I can do a few last minute tidying up and then take the kitties to the vet and then...

The rest of today, I will just enjoy my time with my niece.

I hope your today will be everything you want it to be.  If you have a long to do list, take 10 minutes out of the day and sit down with a cup of tea/coffee and relax, breathe and make a "10 things I'm grateful for" list in your head.  Trust me, you'll feel ever so much better for it!

Have a wonderful day.

Full house...

Hello all,

I am back and possibly using this blog as a means of procrastinating.

Imagine that!  There is so much to do and SO little time left to get them all done!  But, it is all good!

 My niece is visiting us for the first time ever!  She will be spending a couple days with us and possibly "scouting" the area for my father.  He has talked about moving out here and my Mother is all for it, but, I really don't think he wants to actually move.  Anyhow, I hope that my niece will tell him what a marvelous area we live in and then he'll decide to make the move.  One can hope.  So, she will be here and will be able to spend one day with...

 Our son and his family who will arrive the day before my niece leaves! They are coming here for Christmas!  Dilly-Girl  will arrive with the two grandkids and two dogs and one cat the day before my niece leaves.  (The last time they spent time together was when our grandson was born, 4 years ago!)   And because the A's are in the middle of a move (from Alaska to Florida) all the animals will be moving with them!  Our Son will be coming at a later date since he is bringing the car so that they can drive the rest of the way to their final destination.  He is leaving Alaska by way of the Ferry to Seattle and then driving here.  Prayers of safe travels would be greatly appreciated for all!

 Our daughter,  Son-in-law and their daughter will arrive on Christmas Eve and will probably bring their dog along as well and if they do... we will have 4 dogs (don't forget, we also have a dog) 3 cats (we also have 2 cats) 3 grandkids and 6 adults here for Christmas!  How marvelous is that!?

 As you can see, we will have a full house.  I am excited and nervous at the same time.  I am planning on enjoying the family and not worrying about everything!  I will get done what I can get done and leave the rest.  It's not everyday I get to spend time with both of my kids and their families all at the same time!!!  And by golly, I'm gonna enjoy it while I can!

 So, I hope that you all have the very best Christmas, enjoying all that life has to offer and I will return on the new year of 2015.

May God fill your heart with peace and joy

Ready, get set, SNOW!

Hello everyone!

We got snow!  I suppose by now most of you who get snow has gotten their first snow fall as well.  Ours was on Tuesday and we woke up to a lovely dusting of white.  What a wonderful way to wake up!  Since then we haven't gotten anything significant, just little flakes here and there, but OH MY GOODNESS it's gotten cold here!  This morning it is 19 degrees and windy!

Anyhow...  There hasn't been much in the way of excitement around here.  My friends and I have been trying to get back into an exercise routine.  We go out to the base where there is a HUGE gym, three times a week.  We individually work out doing what ever it is that we like and then the last 15 minutes we do something together.  So far, it's been just stretching, but eventually, we will do things like play a little tennis, or racquetball or do a little competitive rowing.  There are 4 of us and none of us know how to play tennis or racquetball, but it's never too late to learn...right?!  ;-/

The holiday hustle & bustle is gearing up!  This year (or has it always been the case and I've just not noticed..) it seems that the stores have geared up for Christmas in record time!  I was trying to get ready for Halloween and I'm seeing Christmas things everywhere!  What is going on!  Now I'm working on getting ready for Thanksgiving, although, our daughter is hosting our Thanksgiving again this year, I have promised to do a couple of things... dinner rolls and a pie or two.  It's nice not having to do it all and to see things done a little differently by the younger generation!  ;-)  And, this also means we'll have a little more free time to play with Little "M" which is a very good thing!

Well, this is just a short one.  I hope you are all doing well and are enjoying the hustle & bustle of the holiday season!

~J~

Where have I been...?

Hello anyone!

It has been an extremely long time since my last post.  Part of the reason is, I've been lazy about sitting down to write.  Another reason is because I've been having too much fun to sit down and write about it.  All in all, the reason seems to be that I've just not taken the time to write.  And for those of you who keep tabs on what is going on with me solely through this blog... I apologize.  And to reassure you all, life has been very good to me and my family!  So good in fact that I just kept going on and on living my full life!  So....

The main good news is that we have a new little one in our family!  Our Baby Girl & Darling Drew had a little girl this year.  Little "M" is SUCH a cutie!  She is 7 months old and already crawling and is such a happy, smiling baby all the time!  BG & DD recently purchased a house of their own and it is a lovely "old" house, much like our own only they have a much larger property!  So much so that they are able to install a fire pit near the back of their yard and still have plenty of room to play yard games!  Which they did a couple of weeks ago when we went to visit them during their towns annual Maple Leaf Festival weekend.  We enjoyed walking around and seeing all the vendors and food stalls and Carnival rides!  And then we were present for the first lighting of the fire pit at which time we also christened the fire pit with Smore makings!  YUM!!  And when the sun had gone down, they played Bocce Ball with balls that lit up!  I had no idea there were such things!  What a fun weekend!

The other good news is that First Born & Dilly-Girl and children will be moving back to the lower 48!  And I call it the extreme move since they are moving from Anchorage Alaska to Miami Florida! And they are doing it in the winter months!  From snow to sand!  ;-) WE are SO EXCITED to have them at a more accessible location.  Although... As some of you may know, Florida is not my favorite state.  But, I will go there because my favorite "A's" will be there!

Honey and I have been doing some traveling this year.  Nothing fancy, mainly to feed my knitting & wool spinning habit.  We went with Brother-in-law (BRIL-R) & Sister-in-law (SIL-K) to Colorado twice!  Once, in May, to Estes Park for the Wool Festival and spent the weekend at a cabin right outside the park, what a fantastically, wonderful time that was!  SIL-K, niece and I went to the festival and saw all kinds of animals and wonderful fibers and yarns!  And BRIL-R and nephew took photo's of my Honey while he rode down the mountain at the park!  He was practicing for his big bike ride later in the year called "The Triple Bypass"!  Anyhow, he enjoyed his altitude ride and BRIL-R also took care of all the food shopping, cooking and Ricky sitting for us!  Then we went back to Colorado, for the actual Triple Bypass bike ride in June!  And BRIL-R & SIL-K came along for the weekend, to help with shuttleing bikes & Ricky sitting and SIL-K & I went yarn and Fiber shopping.  She is an avid knitter and she has the memory of an elephant and helps me find things that I have forgotten I wanted!!!!!  ;-)  Then, in September we met up with them again and spent the day at yet another fiber related event in Mitchell, NE.  The boys went mountain trail hiking and site seeing and SIL-K and I went fiber shopping as well as a little site seeing with the boys.  All in all a most wonderful time was had at every location!  (a little side note, we will be doing the Estes Park Wool Festival again in 2015, and this time I promise to take pictures!  I was SO overwhelmed last time that I forgot!)

Another trip, taken by Baby Girl & myself this year, was to California.  We flew out with Little "M" and visited my folks as well as several other long time friends and family!  We spent some time in San Fransisco, Muir Woods, Davis, Vacaville, Fairfield & San Rafael.  It was whirlwind visit but we got everything done that we had planned including a four generational photo shoot with my mom, me, Baby Girl and Little "M"!

So, looks like we'll be staying close to home for a while at least.  I can get back to my spinning & knitting and plan for my next jaunt to wool fun in January!  Who says there is nothing in Wamego, KS?!  (Winter Woolfest 2015)

I hope that this wasn't too terribly boring for you all.  I am SO into spinning and knitting these days that I can promise nearly all my posts in the future will having something about those two subjects!  And I will be posting pictures of yarn made by me! ;-)

Thanks for hanging in there with me!  I do believe there is more to come so keep this blog on your list!  Have a wonderful day!

A little bit of craziness....

Hi all!

I hope that all of you are doing better than I!  I am a procrastinator from waaaaay back!  I can hold off doing something for a very long time. I've told myself for many years that "I work best under pressure".  Not really, it's just what I've had to do in order to actually get things done.   I'm not proud of that.   It's a terrible habit and I pray that one day I will learn to do better.  But, so far, well, I've not figured out how to change.

I have been sewing (yes, sewing!) for the past few days.  I made Quillows for my grandchildren and my nephews and niece.  I cranked out 5 Quillows in three days!  I amazed myself.  But don't you all get all happy for me.  It wasn't a difficult item to make.  All straight stitching on a two yard fabric, batting and an 18 inch square.  You put it together and then stitch a few stitches here and there with some thread and voila!  Little quilts that fold into pillows.

So then I wrapped all the gifts that I have going to Alaska and California and then hauled everything out to the FEDEX store.  I thought for some strange reason, that it would be cheaper.  NOT!  And to top it off, they tore the wrapping on my gifts as they were trying to pack them in a larger box!  When they told me what it would cost to send them to Alaska... well, I had them unpack that box so I could try to get them to the post office, and that is when I saw the torn wrapping.  UGH!  Anyhow,  finally managed to get everything sent out and they are on their way to their respective states!  If you want a shocker!  Read my tweet for today.  Crazy!

Now, I'm going to work on a few gifts that I need to finish by Christmas eve.  And I have a few other little tidbits that I have sew up for a few friends.  I hope I can get them done.  I'm also working on a few Christmas cards that have a little knitted something that goes with it.  I got this idea from two different ladies on Youtube.  Check it out!

Very Pink Knits 

 K Werner Design

I watch Staci's channel often.  I learn something new from her all the time!  And this is the first time I've gone to K Werners channel.  She certainly made me feel like I too could make these cute little cards.  So, there you go.  Check them out, maybe you'll find more things of interest on these two channels.

I need to get busy if I'm going to complete anything else I've yet to get done.  I hope you all are ahead of the "holiday" game and are able to enjoy the true meaning of Christmas!

Like Seinfeld... about nothing

Hello everyone!

First let me say, I hope you all had a marvelous Thanksgiving!  We had a wonderful one with our Baby Girl and Darling Drew!  It is so wonderful to be able to go to their home and see the beautiful job of cooking the Thanksgiving meal being done by your wonderfully grown up child and her Darling.  I would have taken pictures of her table with all the wonderful food on it, but we got a little too eager to enjoy the feast and I forgot.   We are so fortunate to be able to live as close to them as we do.  One down, one to go!  ;-)

So,  welcome to the post about nothing.  Yes, I said nothing.  I'm not sure what is going on except that I do believe I am feeling quite overwhelmed with all that is needing to be done this month.  So much so that I just can't seem to get motivated to do anything at all!  So here I sit, using my blog as a procrastination tool.  Telling myself I am actually doing something that needs to be done instead of doing something that is the least necessary item on my terribly long list of things needing to be done in the month of December!

I have sewing projects that still need to be completed.  (pffft, let's just tell it like it is, I haven't even started the projects!)  And those are projects that also need to be mailed off.  I haven't finished my knitted projects yet either.  Although, I must say, I'm closer to completing those more than the sewing.

And as late as Thanksgiving was... I still haven't put up any Christmas decorations yet.  I plan to do that tomorrow and Saturday.

So, this blog is about nothing that I've accomplished.  And about everything yet still to do.

I leave you now, in the hopes that I will accomplish one thing on my list before my next blog.

(wish me luck.)

A most lovely day...

Hello again.  What a wonderful day it is!  The sun is shinning and there is a dusting of snow on the ground.  I love waking up to snow, even a dusting!

 I know that this is only the beginning and that there will be more to come in the next few months and that makes me happy.  Of course there will be some of those people who will groan at this site.  And they won't enjoy my happy comments about the snow but that is okay.  It will be a pleasure to share my joy of snow with them and help them to see the beauty and wonder of it!  (or not... some people just can't be convinced)   And for those of you who think I don't do my part in the sweeping & shoveling of the snow...  I do!  Although, I do let my honey do the fun part which is using the snow blower!  (ha-ha)

There hasn't been much going on here since my last post.  Mostly trying to catch up on whittling down my Christmas List "to do" items.  I've been knitting up a storm and even trying out new stitch patterns!

There is a hat that goes with this.  Although, if I don't figure out how to finish the mitten top soon, there may only be a hat to gift!  This will be my first mitten.  Up until now, I've only done fingerless gloves.  Now I remember why.  ;-/

So, today, I will make a pot of stew and listen to some music and get to knitting!  I hope you all are having a most lovely day and I'll be back again soon!