Kip's Blog!

Works in Progress....

I have been heavily into mixed media the past 2-3 years and have taken several classes both in person and online.  Right now I have 3 canvases I'm working on and I thought I'd share them.  Linda Jenkins gave me a ton of blank canvases for Christmas as part of our Secret Santa and so I have lots to play on!

The first one here is one where I used Dylusions sprays which I love.
 Their vibrant colors are wonderful!  I took a class with their designer from England, Dyan Reaverly, who was a hoot and learned so much.  I love her journal that she came out with also. Here's one of my journal pages I'm working on too...
I have all her sprays and also have them in paint pens which really come in handy, for detailed coloring. 

For you Hilltoppers, Linda carries the Dylusion sprays, wonderful stencils and the water pens. Dyan's stencils are a lot of fun!

My second canvas is one I'm working on in Christy Tomlinson's "She Art 3" online class.  Her first two classes were so much fun and I'm really enjoying the new one which has all new techniques.  

This canvas is a mixture of acrylic paints, tissue paper, scrap paper and stencils or stamps.  We are going to make several backgrounds on which eventually we will be placing our She Art Girls.  Here's one of my She Art Girls from the earlier class..

You can tell it's from my first class with her and very basic but I enjoyed making it and made several others, some of which I have sold which is nice.

My third canvas is one I made last night in Donna Downey's class at Whimsodoodle and it also involved acrylic paints and stencils but we painted with our fingers!  It was quite a process and a fun one too...also, a WIP as I'm adding things to it...

I should have taken a picture of it "before" as you wouldn't have recognized it!  We just went crazy with stencils and colors at first and then you did your flower stencil and then worked over the background which totally changed it.  I really enjoyed the class as it was totally different than what I've done before.  She had a pan pastel class too which I wish I could have taken.  I have the pastels and have been playing with them for a year and took Donna's online class with them but yesterday's class did a beautiful "painting" with them.

So that's what I've been working on lately.  Also, on the scrapping side, I'm making a baby album for a friend who is going to be a first time Grandmother!

Okay, back to work....plenty to play with.....

overhaul...

I am in the process of doing a major overhaul of my site....I think I'll make it password protected while I'm working on it so stay tuned!

Fun Craft Fair Yesterday!

We had our first craft fair yesterday in Tampa at an empty office building that Elle and her husband own.  It was a lot of fun and everyone sold stuff!  Gerri Anne and Barb even came up from Ft. Myers to man Diana's booth since she was unable to be there due to her illness.   She did stop in for a bit though and we were all glad to see her.

Here's some of the projects and product that we had for sale yesterday...

This is a small part of what Elle had for sale.  Her jewelry is beautiful!

Kathy had all kinds of things for sale too which people loved.

Linda had her scarves for sale and she made delicious rum cakes and cream cheese pumpkin cakes which sold out I think.

Here are some of my canvases and cards for sale.  

and lots of mini albums I made for sale, from classes I've taken all over the US, as well as come of my own creations.

Diana had her scarves plus beautiful jewelry and these cool bird feeders for sale.

Teresa's booths were a huge hit with all her beautiful things she sews..this is only part of it.

I took the pic's before the people came so I could get a clear view of each table.

We are having our second Craft sale this Friday at Teresa's house, from 4:00-8:00pm.  She has a craft show each year with other women but this time she wanted to do her own at her house and invited all of us plus several others.  She always has a huge crowd so it should be fun.

It was a wierd week healthwise for several of us...Di was in the hospital for a couple of days with some leg problems, Elle is experiencing vertigo which is maddening and I went in for my epidural on my back and found out I'm diabetic!  The Dr. said if I keep losing weight, I'll be able to go off the pill so I'm hoping so.  I've lost 30 lbs from my highest weight and 23 (of the 30) since I started WW so I'm on a roll.

Happy December all and come to our Craft Fair!!

Thanksgiving Day, 2012!

I'm back, at least for today!!  I write so much on Facebook that my blog has suffered big time.  I hope to be better from now on!

Happy Thanksgiving!!  It is a GORGEOUS day down here today.  A high of 73, lots of sun and a beautiful breeze.  I was just out on the deck drying my hair.  

I'll be heading over to Barb and John's a little later for dinner.  We'll have Josh and Dina and Karen there too so wonderful group to spend turkey day with and lots of good food.  I'm bringing some roasted acorn squash with balsamic glaze today and that fabulous cranberry relish from Fresh Market!! 

I just talked to my brother and SIL and niece up in Marietta.  They're excited as they got VIP tickets for Lennox Square tonight for the lighting of the trees.  Pete got them through his job as sales manager for Elf on a Shelf.  He's giving me one for Xmas this year and I can't wait!

My sis and her best buddy and son are up in Weeki Wachee this week staying in a cabin so they're having a ball I'm sure.

What's new?  Biggest news is my weight I guess- 22lbs down so far!!  I've been doing weight watchers with Barb for 8 weeks and it's going well.  I finally got serious about losing weight when I was given this pic from my girlfriend, Sue, a couple of months ago. 

I thought to myself, "I could look like that again" and so off I went to WW with Barb.  We had been talking about it and both just jumped in.  We meet 3 other friends there so we have a nice group every Monday for the meetings.

Lots of crafts going on right now...a group of us are having a craft fair in Tampa on December 1st and then at Teresa's house on the 7th.  I'll be selling mini albums I"ve made, canvases, etc.  There will be all kinds of crafts being sold and they both should be fun.

We just got back from going up to Lake Pan for Ginni's crop last weekend.  Always a good time up there and a great motel to stay in that's not only nice but cheap!

No crops this month as too much is going on but January we'll start right back up again with Winter Retreat and Hilltopmemories.  We'll be over in Sebring the 18th-20th.

Our secret pal group is getting together on the 8th for our wonderful gift exchange and dinner and I'm really looking forward to that as always!

We've got the ornament exchange at Lynn's again this year but not sure of the date..I think it's the first week of Dec., better check.

At any rate, December is going to fly by!

I've been subbing a lot lately.  Two long jobs as a special request from friends.  I don't usually do multiple days at once but for both jobs they had special situations.  I was going to take the rest of Nov. and Dec. off but two friends emailed me and asked me to sub in their classes so I said yes.  The extra money is always nice and I've really enjoyed being with the kids.

Mudgy, Max and Rosie are all doing well too!

My asthma is totally under control now which is HUGE news to me.  So glad I finally found out what was wrong with me and got the right meds to correct it.  So glad I found that pulmonologist.  Losing the weight should also be better for it along with my back problems and maybe I can get off my bp med too.  

So that's it for now... a very quick catch up and a Happy Thanksgiving again to you and your family!!

Part II....the Ship: Rhapsody of the Seas

  Here was our ship the day we boarded...

We had a pretty quick boarding due to our room which was nice.  None of us had ever been in a suite before so were excited to see it.  It was called the Owner's Suite and it was at the front of the ship, second stateroom, next to the Royal Suite which had a baby grande piano!  Another cool thing was the Captain would drive the ship in and out of ports, right there by our room so we could watch.  Here is the captain with the tug captain, leaving Victoria...

The Captain was a pretty funny guy on the intercom during the trip!  So here we went, off to deck 8 and our stateroom.  First thing we saw was this- we had a doorbell!!   It

It was called the Hayden Suite.  You got a lot of perks being in that room and the one we used the most was you could order room service from the Dining Room!  So they'd bring you everything you wanted as if you were down there which was nice.  That included breakfast and lunch too and we had some fine meals in our room.

We walked in and were all thrilled! We went crazy when we saw the bathroom!!  It was huge with a tub with jacuzzi in it, a separate glass shower, toliet and bidet and two sinks and lots of storage.  

Then there was the main bedroom area which had a curtain that totally closed around it for privacy if you wanted it...

and two living areas...

There were two big screen TV's and both had DVD players and we had a DVD library which we could order from if needed.  The balcony was huge and had two chaise loungers and tables and then room to pull out two more chairs which we did. 

It's going to be real hard to go back to a regular stateroom after this experience!!  We enjoyed the heck out of it and with 4 of us, we were never crowded.  It had so much storage that we didn't even use it all!

The couch made into a huge bed which originally Linda was in alone and GA had a rollaway.  But they ended up sending back the rollaway since both of them could fit in the bed which he did make up everyday too so we could use it as a couch.  Here's the two of them, first day at sea, sick as dogs....

They and half the ship was sick that day due to 8 foot swells out in the Atlantic...

Thankfully, Barb and I were fine.  After that first day at sea, the girls were fine for the rest of the trip.

Here they are right before we headed off in Juneau, our first port...

No rain, except for 3 minutes later in the day, and cool which I loved.  Never sweated the whole week!!

I will continue our journey next time when we went into Juneau and Skagway which we loved.

Hope you enjoyed following along so far!

Where to begin??

 Our trip was fantabulous!!  A dream come true!  I loved, loved, Alaska and Victoria and hope to go back someday.  A whole different world for sure.  Sunset past 10pm and sunrise at 3 in the morning!  Believe it or not, you got used to it.  The weather could not have been better for us, both in Seattle and the whole trip.  We had about 3 min's of rain in Juneau and that was it!!  Even our first 3 days in Seattle was sunny!  The only bad weather we had was our first night and day on the ship when we entered the Atlantic...8 foot swells!  I had taken a Bomine and was perfectly fine and so was Barb.  Linda and GA- sick as dogs like most of the ship... but after that first day, they were fine and we had smooth sailing.

For the first time, I love the pic of us all getting on the ship and we didn't even plan on coordinating everything but it turned out great! 

We had just spent 2  1/2 days in Seattle and had a ball there.  Other then a "little" problem of two of us getting there, lol.  Long story but most of you heard it on facebook but Barb and Linda ended up coming about 12 hours late due to some missed planes!  Our hotel, the Warwich, was wonderful.  We had the space needle right outside our room off our balcony! 

We never did make it to the top of that as we were planning on going the day we got back to Seattle but it was raining that last day and we were all tired.  We did get down to the wonderful Pike's market though and had a ball wandering all around.  It was especially nice as Linda's daughter, Kim, came up from Portland for the day too.

The market was so cool....flowers galore and so cheap...

We all bought some very tasty jellies and some fruit and odds and ends and watched them throw the fish! 

The king crab claws were going for $38.00 a pound.

We even found the disgusting, but famous Gum Wall!! 

It is true, there is a Starbuck's on almost every corner too!  We never did go to the oldest one though but found several others where we rested...

We had breakfast at Lola's which was so good and right around from our hotel...

It had a very unique menu...

Gerri Anne and I feasted on this unique pizza the night before that was beyond good...

It was called Serious Pie and it was!!

Here's a pic of 3 of them going through security on that Wednesday...this was just before we lost Linda and Barbara! 

Barb and GA had come up the night before to spend the night and GA immediately bonded with the dogs, especially Rosie...

All in all, we had a great time in Seattle and were eagerly awaiting our trip to Alaska.  I'll stop now as this is getting long and pick up here next time around!

Maybe someone from out there can tell us what this popsicle was for???  No one we asked seemed to know...

We're Back!!

We flew in late Saturday night and got here just in time for Tropical Storm Debby!  I haven't even unpacked yet as suffering from a cold plus keeping an eye on the storm and occasionally letting water out of my pool which keeps topping out.  I have LOTS to tell you and many pictures to show.  I absolutely LOVED Alaska!!!  Want to go back for sure.  Stay tuned!

The sort of header is a piece of glacier that floated by our ship one day!

Alaska, here we come!!

We're off this morning and all of us are SO excited!!!!

Hurricane season starts again!

Yup, it's June for sure....hot as hades, too hot for this early in the summer.  I'm so looking forward to getting out of the heat in 10 days!!

We did finally get some good rain and it was wonderful.  The grass was singing for sure!

Now if I can just get Rosie to go outside when it's wet....thank goodness for big puppy pads.  Mudgy and Max could care less and go right out in it.

Lots happening lately...I got a new phone which I'm in love with..tmobile's HTC Sensation.
 It has an 8mg camera on it for one thing and a zoom!  I took this, this morning...

It will be wonderful to take pics with when I'm on vacation and I love that I can send them right to facebook.  The best part was, my old phone quit charging so they updated me to this new one for free!

We're getting very excited here as we leave a week from Wednesday.  I can't wait to spend time in Seattle and finally see the famous fish market for one thing.  I haven't really started pulling clothes for it yet but have a good idea of what I'm going to take.  The temps should be perfect for me- 50's and 60's!

Let's see, what else happened...ahhh, my washer quit spinning...went to my tried and true Angie's List, got a repairman and they came right out and fixed it so I was happy.  Love Angie's List!

When it was pouring here, it was obvious that I needed my house gutters cleaned out so Handyman Dave is coming this week to clean them for me.  I'll also be headed over to Brandon as Kelly is going to cut my hair for me before the trip since Nita couldn't get here in time.  Looking forward to that as I love her work!

My friend, Midge, is back up in her north Georgia home and she said that the AC is off and it's wonderful- lucky girl to be out of this weather for the summer!

Okay, gonna run..things to do, places to go, people to meet...and the beat goes on!

I will probably not blog while away this time but do plan on putting up lots of pictures on facebook so look for them!

Happy May!!

 Once again, the month is flying by.  I've been extra busy these past couple of weeks with subbing.  Seems like a lot of teachers have taken a day off here and there.  I could work everyday if I wanted but I don't, lol.  This week I worked Monday at my old school in kindergarten, then today I'm at a new school for 3rd or 4th but only a half day and then Friday I'm at Bay Vista for 3rd.  Of course I love doing 3rd grade as it's my old grade.  I did kindergarten two days in a row last week and I was exhausted!!!  Keeping up with 18 five year olds for 7 1/2 hours is a job!!  I love doing it though and I especially love the extra monies.

This morning I completed my online registration for our upcoming trip.  It's about 23 days and we're off to Alaska which I still can't believe!  We are all very excited, especially to go on our side trips while there.  We're also looking forward to spending a couple of days in Seattle and checking out the fish market there which I've heard so much about.  We're also staying in this really lovely hotel, The Warwick, which is only 5 blocks from the market.  I need to start planning on what to wear there.  It should be wonderful with highs in the 50's so we'll get out of this heat for awhile.  I'm afraid this summer is going to be brutally hot.  Thank God for the pool as I'll be in it a lot.  I'm also planning another trip up to the mountains to my friend's cabin, in August which will be fun.

I wanted to tell you about this fabulous woman who runs an animal refuge in Arkansas called the Rocky Ridge Refuge.  She has all kinds of animals and they all live together and get along so well!  She does it totally by herself too along with donations. She was even on the ELLEN show last year and they said the donations were great for a year and then kind of pilfered away so I know she could use anything you could send.

You can also check her out on facebook and take a look at all the animals she has that live together.  I love her pictures.  Here's the one today 

She has a couple of bull terriers and this one, Butterbean, loves the baby deer and likes to sleep with them!  She is an incredible lady so check her refuge out even if it's just to look at the pictures.

Okay, I need to get ready to go today so have a great Wednesday!

Summer is coming quickly!

I can't believe we're into May already!  Four and 1/2 weeks and we'll be Seattle bound and then Alaska!!  Still seems like it's a dream as I've wanted to go there for so long.

I've been subbing here and there and actually have quite a few jobs these last few weeks of school, mainly in kindergarten.  They are a lot of fun to teach though very tiring after 7 1/2 hours with 18 of them, lol.

Yesterday, a NEW dog bed was bought...Rosie has chewed holes in the previous 4...Max claimed it right away! 

We'll see how long this one lasts!

If you're on facebook with me, you know that poor college roomie, Barb, had a tough week after taking a fall at TJ Maxx.  She walked into the store, her croc stuck on their rug and down she went.  She hit her knees first, then hands, then SPLAT, her poor face.  Here's how she looked last night...

She ended up with several stitches in her top lip and badly bruised face.  She also broke a finger and her kneecap!  And she severely bruised her wrists and had several hematomas.  She was a mess needless to say but she still found it in her to laugh at what happened.  Her son Josh, is looking for a bubble to put her in he said, lol!!

I was over there for dinner last night and it was yummy as always.  She also wanted me to take pic's of her back yard since she's been working in it a lot and the pool deck was finally finished off correctly.  Here's some pic's of it...

It looks very inviting doesn't it?  She is going to get her stitches out today which will help her eat better.  She won't have to have an operation on her knee but just wear the air brace for quite some time.  Please keep Barb in your prayers!!  She was just feeling so good lately and getting around great when this happened.

I'm off to Sarasota tomorrow for a Hilltop crop down in the old church which is such a great cropping space.  It will be fun to see all the girls again too.  I haven't seen everyone since we were in Sun N Fun a few weeks ago for a fabulous Spring Crop.

I am working on an album for Josh and Dina of their trip to France and it's coming along pretty nicely I think.

Have a wonderful weekend and I hope you get the great weather we're having right now!

Fun weekend coming up!!

  Hilltopmemories Spring Fling is this weekend and I can't wait!!  We are able to get in on Thursday this year so it will be a nice, long weekend.  I'm meeting Barb down there in the afternoon as we're sharing a cabin again.  I love the FunNSun resort!!  It's a great place to have a crop with all kinds of fun things happening at the center.  I'm going to be working mainly on Josh and Dina's France album along with some smaller projects that I'm making for our winter craft show we're having in Tampa this year.  I'll be selling all kinds of mini albums and canvases that I've made over the years so it should be fun.

Today, Barb and I are headed to Tampa to Josh's law office so I can pick up the kids' photos from their trip and then we'll have lunch.  I love, love being retired!!  Having lunch out is so much fun during the week.  I haven't subbed this week as I took it off though I had 3 different requests for Friday.  I love being able to pick and choose when I work and where I work.

I found the most wonderful web site yesterday by accident which I spent a couple hours on....it's called Cabin Porn!  Why it's called "porn" is beyond me as it has nothing to do with that, just wonderful pictures of different types of cabins around the world.  I fell in love with this one in Norway...

Incredible scenery!!!  Check it out if you love cabins.  There's another one shaped like an egg and the story behind it is really cool.

I just finished reading the best book which I highly recommend to everyone, especially if you are dealing with a stroke victim or you might someday.  It's called, " My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey" by Dr. Jill Taylor.  She was named by Time magazine as one of US's 100 most influential people in 2008.  Amazing information.

Okay, I'm off to start gathering my scrap supplies and do some packing.  Hope you have a nice end of week and weekend too!

I'm back!!

I know, I know...long time since blogging...again, life and facebook got in the way of me sitting down to do this but I'm here today to catch U up on what I've been doing lately....

Subbing..I've been doing it a couple times a week which is great and I'm still enjoying it a lot.  I'm working Thurs. and Fri. this week at two different schools, both second grades.  My friend is Principal at a school and she emailed me to see if I could sub for one of her teachers so I added the school to my list.  I haven't seen my friend in several years so it will be nice to see her again too.  We used to teach together on the same team, years ago.

IRS....need I say more...UGH.....because I didn't pay quarterly, I got hit pretty hard and had to write out a big check to them this year which slays me....I think it almost pays to be poor and not have to worry about things like taxes..well, not really but I am severely cutting back on things this year and trying to be more in line with what I should be doing..wish me luck.  

Alaska!!  Eight more weeks and we're on our way there and I can't wait...this will be my last BIG trip for a couple of years so I will enjoy it big time.  I'm as excited to be staying in Seattle for a couple of days with Linda, Barbara and Gerri Anne, as I am to go on the cruise to Alaska!  We are all pinching ourselves over this trip and what lies ahead and the 3 of them are a blast to travel with.....can you tell I'm excited??

Organics.....We have this cool organic farm right on the outskirts of our city and I went to it last Saturday as it was the last day for the season since it got so hot so early.  The pickings were all FREE too!  I got some of the cutest veggies....

See those little hot peppers and the tiny other red bell pepper plus eggplant and squash and cherry tomatoes...so cute and yummy too!  It was fun to go there and pick it yourself and I will definitely go back when it opens in the Fall.

I was suppose to go to Hilltop crop in Sarasota on Saturday but I left my cell phone in the room where I subbed that Friday, accidently and couldn't get it until Monday.  I didn't want to chance it on the highway without a phone so I decided not to go.  Hate missing Linda's crops and eating her yummy food too plus I love it down there. But we'll all be meeting week after next for our Spring Fling down at Fun N Sun, my fave place!!  Barbara and I are rooming again in one of their adorable places.  

I am going to make an album for Josh and Dina (Barb S's son and DIL) as they just got back from France.  They were there on a kind of lawyer exchange program which was neat and they had a fabulous time.  I have all kinds of ideas for this and their pictures are wonderful of course.  First they went to Le Harve to do the attorney business where they met some people that will be life-long friends for them now.  Here they are in the French robes for court...

and then they got to spend days in Paris where they had a ball!  Dina lives and breathes ballet so she was thrilled to be able to go to Palais Garnier Opera house!

Look how adorable she is!!  Barb is so proud of the two of them!!

Yesterday, Barb and I met Josh at Norstrom's Bistro for lunch which was so good.  Have you ever eaten there?  Then he took us to see (me for the first look as Barb and John had seen it) the lot they bought in south Tampa and to see the house they are going to have built for them.  This house is just like it but in a different place...

 It's going to be a 5 bedroom house and the bottom floor is an open plan with windows everywhere so very cool.  Today is their last day in their present house and they've been packing like crazy as they are moving to a different house while the new house is being built...so having to move twice!  Barb and John are excited too as they will be a lot closer to them now as right now they've been living in north Tampa.  We had a ball driving around and looking at homes too and Josh was a fun navigator!

TM.....yes, I recently went through the training classes (over 4 days) to learn transendental meditation.  Three friends did it with me.  It was a bit costly but totally worth it I think as we have fallen right into it and love it, meditating twice a day.  It is not a religion or a cult but just a technique you learn.  There have been hundreds of studies done on it through the NIH and Harvard where they have proven that TM helps with stress and can even alleviate problems with blood pressure, etc.  I know it works by the way I handled the whole IRS mess this year!!!  I"ve been interested in it for a long time and have a couple of friends from HS that have been doing it for 40 years and who have encouraged me.  I really look forward to my 20 minute meditating sessions twice a day and even the dogs have learned to be quiet when I'm doing it, lol!!

So, this has been long-winded so I'll wrap it up for now....I'm heading out to the pool with my good books and relaxing today!

 

A little piece of paradise!

Dawn and Jay have found their paradise for sure, near Mt. Dora here in Florida.  On Saturday, Linda and I left the crop in the country for a couple of hours and drove east to see their new home and property.  They were up for the weekend as they haven't moved in fully yet so they could show us around.  The property itself is fabulous- 10 beautiful acres with a pond, main house and two "out" buildings.  One of these "out" buildings is much bigger than my house!

Jay has collected antique cars since he was a teenager and now owns 23!!  They have stored them before in rented storage places and at their home for years.  They are planning on retirement so they went looking for a new home, more accessible than south Florida, with a building for him to store his cars and another building for Dawn to have her own scraproom!!  Not asking too much, right?  Well believe it or not, after several years of looking, they found the perfect place and it suits them to a tee.

Here's the property, or part of it..they own as far as you can see...

then the side yards...

and the back of the house....

Here's linda and Dawn, in the kitchen of the main house...

and now, the building where Jay can not only keep his cars but a top part that is bigger than my house that he can use for a office, storage, etc....

The bottom part is something over 4000 sq. feet!!  It has a full bathroom in it and a "man cave", lol.  

Now, Dawn's scrap room where she hopes to have a crop or two someday...

It also has a full bath in it plus a covered patio in the back of it.  Inside, the previous owners left the tables as they used it for an office..perfect for scrapping...

Isn't it perfect for scrapping?  The sidewalk out front of it leads to the main house plus she has resident wildlife there! 

Now you can see why I said this is a piece of paradise.  How lucky they both are to have found something to support both their hobbies!!!

And here's Jay driving away in his fabulous  1965 (I believe) GTO! 

We had a nice visit with them and then drove back to Crop in the Country which was a blast this weekend.  They had a big group of women and Christina did great on the food again!  All in all, a terrific, peaceful weekend!

Fun weekend started early!

This was the great seats we had last night for the Festival of States Night Parade!  Midge, Ray and I got there early to be sure everything was set up and it was...the 400 Beach Seafood and Tap house was ready for us.  We had a group of 13 coming for dinner and then the parade and it was so much fun.  The parade lasted almost 2 hours and then there was fireworks.  Some of the people there were from our high school class too which made it even more fun- Susie Skaggs, Liz Dell, Rick Trefney and me and Midge.  Midge arranged the whole thing and did a bang up job of course.

The food was excellent too and the drinks plentiful and fun as we got there in time for Happy Hour!  I had fish tacos which I loved!

Now this morning, I'm headed off to Tampa to Linda's.  We'll drive up to "Crop in the Country" for the weekend and I'm really looking forward to that too.  Barb and Janet went up last night so Barb could get her famous frog legs!!   We're having a good size group up there this weekend and I can't wait.  Now I need to get my butt in gear and pack up the car so I'll say goodbye.  It's a good weekend to get out of town too as it's the St Pete Grand Prix weekend and I can hear all the cars from inside my house!  The sound carries right across the bay!!

Have a good one and Happy Spring Break to all my teacher friends!

My Most Memorable St. Paddy's Day....1973!!

 First off, excuse the photos you'll be seeing.  I took them with my cell phone from my 1973 plastic paged scrapbook.  It's falling apart plus it got water damaged in a storm so the pic's aren't the best but I wanted you to see who I was talking about.

I will never forget this day, in 1973.  To begin the story...Barb and I were in our first year teaching and sharing a two bedroom apartment.  Woody owned Shadrack's then and we still hung out there now and then.  One night, in that bar, the cutest guy came up to me and introduced himself and I was entranced!  I remember asking Barb, who was also there that night- "Can I bring someone from Toronto home to live with us?"!!!

It was Marcus O'Hara, lol.

 He was a model in Canada and did commercials.  He did come live with us for about 4 or 5 months which is another story as he was wayyyyyyyy over his visa into the US by then but we didn't know it or didn't care, can't remember which, lol.  The 3 of us had a great time together as he was so funny and he cooked and cleaned.  My mom called him our Canadian house boy!  I was deep into a crush with him at first and then we just became good friends, same with Barb.  We loved Marcus and loved having him around.  Sooooooooo, here comes St. Paddy's Day and of course, with him being so Irish, he was up for a party.

That night, Marcus, I and a friend named Susie, who was adorable and who Marcus had a crush on, went drinking.  Barb was smart and stayed home.  The 3 of us bar hopped, having a ball until about midnight and then I said, "Take me home"...I had, had enough to drink.  Marcus and Susie dropped me off and then they took off again in my little car.  Fast forward to about 3 in the morning and my phone by the bed, rings.  I didn't really even want to answer it as I was pretty drunk, but I did.  It was Marcus and he said, "Can you come get me?  I'm in jail!".  I said, "no", and hung up the phone!!!  I told you I was drunk....he calls again a couple hours later and tells me that the cops stopped them and got him for DWI.  They let Susie go and she drove my car to her house and they took him to ST. Pete Beach jail.  By the 2nd call, he had sobered up and he WANTED OUT of that jail!!  The bond would be $252.00 which was wayyyy over anything we had. You can see my maiden name on it.

 We were making $7100 a year and barely making our bills.  To make a long story short, Barb called her WONDERFUL brother, Dennis, and he came up with the money and gave it to me so I could go get Marcus out of jail.  Dennis was worried that Marcus would just leave and go back to Toronto and he'd be stuck but we assured him that Marcus would be good for it.  I went to the jail and bailed him out much to his happiness.  Now we had two problems...paying back Dennis and having to get a lawyer for Marcus as he was over his Visa on top of the DWI charge and actually, we were told Barb and I could have been charged with "harboring a fugutive"!!!!  We found a pro bono lawyer who was our life saver and he's another whole story which I'll tell another time.  Marcus got on the phone and called back to Toronto to his old girlfriend, Gilda Radner!!  At that time, Gilda was in Second City as this was pre SNL days!  I remember Gilda saying to Marcus, "Marcus, I can't follow you around the world, bailing you out"!  but she did send the money to him so he could repay Dennis which was so nice.

The next couple of months were spent working with the attorney to get Marcus off and then he needed to leave the US and go home as they were basically, kicking him out of the courntry.  So, if he had not gotten arrested that St Paddy's night, he could have been with us for a long time, lol!!!

We laugh about it all now but at the time, it was scary and you can see why I remember that night so well!  Thank goodness I had gone home or I'm sure I would have been in that jail with him and probably had my teaching certificate taken away!!  I've never gone out on St. Paddy's night since then!!

To fast forward the story, Marcus went home around May.  He was driving a toronto tourist's caddy home for him so I went as far as Atlanta with him.  We actually stopped in Gainesville first at Woody's bar up there and saw him.  Then we went to Becky and David's house in Atlanta area and I stayed there for a few days while he drove home to Toronto.  

In June, I flew to Toronto and stayed with him and his family for two weeks.  At that time, his sister was 16 and guess who she turned out to be later on?  Catherine O'Hara, the actress, from Beetlejuice, HOme Alone, etc.!!  She was just a young kid then and we shared a bedroom.  I also met Gilda when I was there and Dan Ackroyd too as they both were in Second City at the time, having just finished Godspell.  The next year is when Gilda make the breakthrough to Saturday Night Live which Catherine ended up being on too.

For many years, Marcus' parents wintered here in my area and I always went over to see them.  Sometimes Marcus was there too.  

I haven't seen him now for several  years but I know he's still up in Toronto and last I heard, he was running a bar owned by Dan Ackroyd.

So that's my St. Paddy's Day story from 1973!!  A memorable one for sure! 

All ages....

Yup, I did it....subbed in a kindergarten class today!!!  It was a lot of fun actually but I was whipped when it was over and I was only there for 1/2 a day!  We did Tubbing (manipulatives in different tubs in centers), calendar math, creative play inside and outside and I read to them plus they got to see two Dr. Seuss videos as it was his birthday today!  They are so funny!  My friend, who teaches the class, warned me that she had a class of drama queens who cried at the drop of a hat!  She only has 4 boys and then about 14 girls!  Yup, I had 3 girls crying at once during free time because "they hurt each others' feelings", lol.  We discussed and apologized and suddenly, they were fine again!  Five year olds get over things quickly- we could learn from them, lol.  

I was told that I didn't give them "enough" of their snack..animal crackers, so I had to give more, lol.  They had on Dr. Seuss hats that they made also.  I forgot and wore white pants..mistake...I had at least 30 feet on my lap or leg so I could tie their shoelaces!!  I really did enjoy it and the staff got a good chuckly out of me being in the K class when I was there a few days ago in a 5th grade class.  I really enjoy the different grades and being in and out of there with no conferencing, grades, etc...makes it fun cuz you really get to teach.

I just accepted a job for a first grade class on Monday at a differnent school.  I love their hours for teachers: 7-2:30!!   I try and not take more than 2-3 jobs a week but it's hard to turn down friends and I do enjoy making the extra money.  I only put down for 5 schools and I could sub everyday with just them if I wanted...but I don't.

I love to say that I'm taking off two days or the next day, etc. and then get to do what I want.  And I really enjoy being around the kids again and seeing my friends at the schools.  It's also fun being at the different schools as they are all quite different so it's a nice change up.

My conversation with one little girl today who made another girl cry when she called her a "cry baby"...

me:  Why did you call her a name?  Was that being kind?

her:  I DIDN'T CALL HER A NAME...I said that I was a cry baby!!

me: ah..no, you didn't call yourself a crybaby but nice try...now, was that kind?

her:  well no...but she's ALWAYS CRYING!!

LOL

So since I started subbing, I've done K, 1st, 3rd and 5th....still haven't done 2nd or 4th yet.  

Terrible weather in the mid west and one of my friends, Deb Harter, had a tornado touch down in her city and almost destroyed the high school where her son went. Thank goodness, she kept him home today.  I think I'll stick with hurricanes..at least you have a warning.

I got two new bags from "Thirty-One" today and I love, love them.  Have you seen the awesome blossom pattern? 

and I had KIP monogrammed on them too.  I'll use them this summer for my Alaska trip.  Thanks Colleen!!

I'm looking forward to this weekend a lot...more to come on that later!

 

It's been awhile!!

 I guess I'm like many others, facebook has taken over and we hardly blog anymore or for that matter, even read other blogs.  I do love facebook and it has allowed me to keep in touch with so many people from my past, including students who are now adults with children of their own.  I hate to get rid of my blog as it goes back several years and is a type of diary but it seems kind of senseless to keep paying every month for it too.  If you read my blog and are not connected to me on facebook, send me an email so we can connect as I might close this down.  One thing I do love about blogs though is that you can go into details about something.  I haven't made a final decision yet but we'll see how it goes.

February is flying by and so is our no-winter this year it seems.  It'll make for a very long summer and even more electricity bills through the roof which slay me as I keep my house cool.  We are enjoying a respite today with the weather but it's not going to last.

 

I woke up to some bad news today as another union friend whom I met in the 80's, died early this morning, Bill Bakewell.  What a love he was!  Always smiling and in a good mood.  He played bartender for all our union parties and we also worked in Tallahassee together as member-lobbyists for many years.  He had broken his hip last Fall when his wife, Kathy, was down in NZ and Australia.  She flew right home and poor Bill had to go into rehad where he's been since then, recuperating.  Kathy was our former local and state President of the union for many years and a love too.  I had just seen her last month at a scrap party and gave her a heart wreath I made for Bill for his room which she said he loved.  He was looking good last week but then the past few days, complications arose and it was too much.  Bill and Kathy traveled extensively, including a couple cross Atlantic cruises.  Here's a picture of them in Switzerland in 2009.. as you can see, Both were very active travelers and had been to that country many times.

 

It seems like I only see my old union pals at funerals nowadays as we last went to one for dear Janey Ball in the Fall.  Funny thing, she was suppose to go on that Australia/NZ trip too.  Bill's dad lived to be 107 years old and was a friend of my mother-in-law.  I just assumed Bill would live to be that old too.  RIP lovely man.

Tonight, I'm going to "Painting with a Twist" for a breast cancer fund raiser sponsored by Vera Bradley and Marion's.  We're doing this beautiful painting..

 

 There is going to be door prizes and a raffle with some neat prizes too so looking forward to that.

I was suppose to go to this other charity crop in Tampa yesterday but woke up with the worse sinus headache and felt yucky all day so had to skip it.  I finished up my meds from the last asthma/bronchitis round and as soon as they stopped, I could feel myself getting congested again.  So over this.

I did some subbing week before last at a fundamental school and had the best time.  It was a dream class and the kids were fabulous!  It was fun to see Beth Griffin too who works there and whom I hadn't seen in quite awhile.  She and I used to work together and I had her daughter, Amanda, in my class years ago.  

I can't believe that in less than 4 months, I'll be going to Alaska!!  It seems too good to be true!  I think I'm going to make another fabric album for that trip like the one I made for the Utah trip.

Okay, enough running on, I'm going to go read the newspaper and see what's happening in the world.  Have a good day!

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

 

I can't believe I haven't blogged in so long.  Time seems to slip away nowadays.  I've been enjoying the New Year and having some fun with friends and some fun just doing what I want around the house.  I never get tired of that it seems.

Exciting news- my brother got a job after being out of work almost a year!  He's the Sales Manager for ELF ON A SHELF.  They are based right in Marietta and he worked for them part time over the holidays but now he's on full time.  I'm so happy for him and the family.  If you're not familiar with them, check out their web site.  It's so cute!  He's up in NYC right now at a toy convention which I bet is a blast!

My sis and Mitch are plugging away on their plant business and doing well too.  I love going over to her house and seeing all the plants and flowers!

My older brother, Nels to most, Chick to us, is also doing well with his photography business.  I do love so many of his photos.  Check out his web site too!  This is one of his photos that I love...

I have to admit I haven't subbed lately.  It seems like something comes up everyday and you know how that goes...I need to do it again this month or they'll take me off the rolls!

I was at the vet's this morning with Miss Rosie, to the tune of $329.00!!  She had her yearly shots, her license, her anti-flea,etc. meds and then she had an ear infection in one ear which means, ear flush, ear drops, antibiotics, etc. etc....it sure adds up quickly.  I was a little leery of how she'd be there as she is skittish in unfamiliar situations unlike Mudgy who I could take to the middle of Times' Square and he'd be absolutely fine!  But she was great!  She was "talking" to the other dogs and to the people and very expressive, lol.  She let them give her shots, trim her nails, poke her ears, etc, and was fine with it so that was real good.  She's only 40lbs and she eats like a horse so I think she'll just be a dog that is on the slim side.  She was excellent in the car too and rode sitting up in the front seat without trying to jump anywhere.  She was VERY glad to get home to Max and Mudgy though!!

I had a wonderful surprise when I got home- a package on my front door step!  I thought it was something that I bought but no, it was the prettiest red scarf from my Secret Santa pal!!!  Thank you whomever you are- I Love IT!!

I went and saw "The Descendants" on Sunday which was very good and tonight, MIdge and I are going to see "The Artist" which is suppose to be fabulous and also up for an acadamy award.  Love going to the movies and we've been going quite a bit this past year.

I am still taking a couple of online classes that I love to do.  I'm taking Donna Downey's canvas class which is so much fun and also finishing up Jane Davenport's Drawing class.  There are so many neat classes being offered nowadays that you can take from the comfort of your own home.

Okay, it's gorgeous outside today and I'm going to sit outside in the sun and do some reading today so I'll head out.  Hope your Valentine is good to you today!

 

A lovely weekend down in Sarasota!

 

  The Hilltop gang was down at Fun N Sun this past weekend for Winter Retreat East and we had a ball.  It was held in the Cypress room this time which turned out to be great.

Barb (from Ft Myers) and I roomed again and that's always fun.  We had a nice crowd down there and it was relaxing and we all got a lot done.  The weather was fantastic too.  Boy that place was FULL of snowbirds, the fullest I've ever seen it.  They just built their new exercise/indoors pool building which is fantastic! 

 

The pool was huge and heated!  They have all kinds of classes offered too and it's open to everyone 12 and older if you're staying there plus they're going to offer yearly memberships and a daily rate I believe, in the summertime for nearby residents.  That whole resort is huge and taken care of so nice.  It's always a pleasure staying there.

Linda did her usual wonderful cooking which included a baked potato bar one afternoon, baked ziti and salad and garlic bread for dinner and sausage biscuits,pancakes, eggs and bacon for breakfast so we ate well!  Friday night we all headed over to Yoder's again for a yummy dinner and their wonderful pie to go.  I get the coconut cream which is to die for!

Some of the things I worked on was this wreath which I need to spread out the green area tonight while I'm watching TV...

I made it with fabric squares and it was fun to make.  I also used a Laura  Denison tutorial and made this album from scratch for Valentines Day...

Kathy Lubenthal was making some of her stick pins and I loved these! 

She sells them for $1.50 a piece which is very reasonable I think.  Of course, Miss Chulupa was there in her winter coat and she actually had pearls on too but I couldn't get a pic of them! 

 Typepad has added some new features and it's acting wonky today so I think I'll close now before I lose this!  Hope you're having a good week!

Fun day scrapping with the old gang...

Today I finally got to meet up with a bunch of the women I used to hang around with a lot back in my union days, either working on committees, on the Board or lobbying in Tallahassee.  I sure miss seeing them too.  They meet up once a month to scrap and I've never been able to make it before so was so happy to go today.  Several of them just got back from a 3 week trip to Australia and New Zealand.  This group travels a lot and have also been to China, on an African safari and in South America and the Galapagos Islands as well as Ecuador.

Charley, whose house it was held at, works for Florida Education Association and travels a lot and most of the other girls, but not all, are now retired too.  Here's a pic of some of them there today who went on the last trip...

That's Charley on the far left side.  Kathy, second from the right, used to be our President in Pinellas and then State President and on the NEA national board for several years.  I worked on many campaigns for her and she was an excellent leader.

They carried out their "down under" theme today with the food which was neat.  Jana (in blue shirt above) made this NZ dessert- pavlova which is a meringue-type base served with fruit and it was delicious! 

While they were all together today, they skyped with their tour guide from down under,
whom they all grown very fond of over the 3 weeks they were there.  It was cute with them talking back and forth and each showing the others the inside of their houses on Charley's IPad.

Charley has a fabulous condo/home which is two stories on a lake.  Her bedroom furniture was so cool and all handmade by her father! 

Even the headboard and the curtain "rod" was made by him!!

Her whole house is furnished with momentos from her many trips abroad.

I think there were about 12-14 women there in total today and we all fit comfortably in her living room which was nice.  I worked on a couple of gifts I wanted to make for Valentine's day today and got them done.

So fun day with a great group of ladies!!

I talked to Linda briefly, who is at her crop in Sarasota and she really had a full house down there today.  I know they're having a ball and I'll see them all next weekend at the big crop.

Beautiful weather all day- typical, fabulous Florida winter time!!

Last Weekend....

We sure had a great, relaxing time in Sebring last weekend!  And it was especially nice that it carried over to Monday so we stayed 3 nights.  Barb, Sonya and I had a small suite that was very nice and we were very comfortable.  It was very chilly the first two nights and then it let up but overall, the temps were wonderful.

Sue Neal, the Utah designer, came for the weekend with her husband who was a doll.  She had 4 classes in all and I took 3 of them and then bought the kit for the 4th.  She does some very clever cards with neat techniques which I love.  Here's a couple of the things we did...

and...

and..

When I wasn't in class, I worked on this project from Melissa Samuels which I finished also...

When we weren't scrapping, we were out on the wonderful front porch of the lodge, yakking it up.  Everyone was saying how relaxed they were and how it was such a wonderful weekend- no drama at all!  We actually haven't had any drama for a long time now which is nice!  It's a wonderful group of women that go to these and I'm lucky to be part of it I know.

We'll be meeting again the weekend after next, down in FunNSun for another long weekend.  I really love that place and always look forward to going to it, especially since it's only 40 minutes away from my house.  Barb and I will be rooming again down there.  I think Gerri Ann and Sonya have their own place this time which they love as they stay up really late and get up late, lol.  I think Linda has decided to do the January crop in Sebring again next year as it was so successful.

Kelly was there and I got two wonderful chair massages too.

Sunday night, a group of us went out to Red Lobster for dinner and my oh my.  I hadn't been there in quite awhile and they have these new specials now.  Linda and I got the Lobster Bake and it was to die for....

It had lobster, mussels, scallops and shrimp over linguini with this wonderful sauce...just thinking about it now makes me want to go there again!

We had Ann and her girlfriend come all the way down from Pensacola, Susie from Alabama and even Kelcey made it this time from the East Coast plus Dawn from Miami so we really had a wonderful time!  We are so lucky to have Linda and her Hilltopmemories traveling store.  She cooked of course and Saturday night she made her famous chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches which are always so yummy!  That girl can cook.  You should have seen her walking down from the 3rd floor on the grand staircase carrying a huge pan of baked beans, lol!  She cooked up in the "Penthouse" suite where she, Kathy and Teresa were staying.

I came home Monday to pups that were very happy to see me!  We're still having really nice weather here so I have the windows open which I love!

Now I'm having a relaxing week at home and hope you do to.  Life is good.

Another quick one...

Here's one of the group shots in Sebring taken by Cathie.  We have a few people missing in it as we did it pretty early one morning.  We all had a fabulous time!!  I just got home awhile ago.  Now I have two more weeks and we'll meet again, this time in Sarasota.

Sitting in front of me is designer, Sue Neal, who lives in Utah.  She came for the weekend and did 4 classes which were great.  We first met her when we went to Utah a couple years ago and she had come to our mountain lodge to do a class and everyone loved her.

This was the first time Linda split up our Winter Retreat crop so we're having an east and west one this year.  Plus we extended the weekend through Monday and 90% of us stayed over which was great.  Just a fun, fun time!

Cathie took this picture too of our lodge.

 One more picture I'll show you is of my roomie, Barb, who is going to  Alaska with me in June.  She was FREEZING this weekend so we're all wondering how she'll do up there, lol!! 

More pics by Cathie...

One of my roomies, Barb, and I waiting for the others to come for the picture.

There was a nice fire every night in the lodge and we really enjoyed sitting by it.

 

Quick note...

Can't believe it's Thursday already!!  We had a bit of rain yesterday and now getting some cooler temps again which is nice.  I have all the windows open today but tomorrow will be down in the 50's so a tad cooler.

I'm leaving about noon tomorrow with Teresa and heading to Sebring and I can't wait!!

'Corse I'm not packed at all so doing that today and getting the house ready for my dog sitter, Jane, to come stay with the kids.  Speaking of....look at this adorable pic I took last night of Rosie and Mudge..

Rosie STILL goes in that small desk hole but is too big for it now so her head always sticks out.  Along comes Mudgy who will lay underneath it and then Rosie can rest her head on his head!  They'll stay like this for an hour or more.  Rosie is so limber that she actually goes into the hole head first and is able to still turn around inside!!

I'm feeling better so the meds are kicking in, yayyyyyyyyyyy....thank God for antibiotics!

Have a good Thursday!

Time flies...

Wow, can't believe I haven't blogged since the 1st!  I'm on facebook so much and interacting with everyone there and I forget sometimes I have a blog.  Anyway, January is zooming by and we're getting ready for some more cool weather and big rain tomorrow.  The past few days have been glorious- all the windows open and sunshine but not hot, just right.  We did have a few very cold days there for a bit and much to Max's dismay, he couldn't get warm!!  He even allowed me to put a jacket on him and then I find him in this position...

Too damn funny!!  I love my pups....they sure have a nice life!  I've discussed with Mudgy the fact he's too big for Max's little bed but he ignores me and thinks he fits in it fine...

and then there's Rosie...who likes her comfort too...

It's tough being a dog in the Mitchell house, lol!

So far, knock on wood, I've escaped any real illness with all this temperature changing but did get another lovely sinus infection so off I went to the Dr. yesterday and got some meds for it.  I'm not happy with my Dr's office anymore and am looking into changing to a new one...first though, I'll get my blood tests done and my Well Woman exam and then change.  I'd love to find a woman Dr. again and was given a name yesterday that I'm going to check out.

I'm REALLY looking forward to this long weekend coming up!  The Hilltop gang will be in good ole Sebring again at the wonderful old hotel for Winter Retreat East from Friday to Monday and we have Sue Neal coming to give us 3 classes too!  My roomies, Barb and Gerri Anne and I have the big suite up on the 3rd floor this time so we should be very comfy.  I haven't cropped in awhile and I'm ready!!  It'll just be great to see everyone too.  I'm riding there with Teresa again which is great for me.  Then in two weeks we all will be back together at SunNFun in Sarasota for Winter Retreat West!  We have an East and West just this year.  Again, Barb and I will have our wonderful little mobile home there which we love.  Love that park too and so glad Linda found it.  

Thanks to Barb and Gerri Anne, our trip in June's activities are all completed- we even have our plane reservations made, all tours, hotels in Seattle and cruise.  We went a little more pricier this time but I think it will be well worth it, especially our large cabin suite on the ship.  Can't believe I'm finally going to see Alaska!!  The four of us are going to have a ball I know.

So that's it around here...haven't subbed yet this year but have had to turn down a few jobs due to my medical app'ts and one long term job which I didn't want to do..we'll see how next week goes.

Hope 2012 is starting out well for you too and you're enjoying our winter weather lately!!

I was CRABBY last night!

Thanks to a friend of a friend, who has traps, I indulged in a couple of pounds of stone crab claws last night..well, actually, didn't eat all of them and have some for today..they were yummy.  Perfect New Year Eve's dinner!

Happy 2012!!

Happy, Happy New Year!!

I'm eagerly awaiting

2012 and hope you are too.  It's been a heck of a year this year with many more memories in place.  There have been so many highs including adopting my little/big girl, Rosie, from Suncoast Animal Hospital, traveling all over the place again both in Florida (too numerous to count), around the US (Georgia, NC, Texas, Tennessee, etc) and abroad (several new islands in the Caribbean), meeting up with old friends and students and reconnecting through facebook which has been FABULOUS!!

I've lost some dear friends unfortunately which seems to be part of my life now that I'm this "age"....but other friends have had numerous new births which have been exciting too.

I'm looking forward to several neat things in 2012, going to many new places, especially Alaska in June and continuing the wonderful friendships that I have with so many people.  I know I'm a very lucky person.

With each year comes a little more wisdom and a lot more gratitude for my life and I don't take anyone or anything for granted.

I hope to continue to grow in the artistic field too with plans on taking many new classes and learning many new techniques.  It just keeps getting better and better!!

I'm hoping to get a handle on my weight this year too and that this asthma thing goes far, far away, lol.  Not going to make resolutions, just plans for making myself a better person all around...hope you're on this journey with me again as we experience a whole new year and a world of possibilities!

 

Almost Happy New Year!

 I'm looking forward to 2012 as it's a nice, neat, even number which means it has to be a good year, right?  That's the way I think anyway, lol.

Christmas was very nice as always.  I spent that day with my besties, Barb and John, in their wonderfully, warm Christmas-like home.  We had a delicious dinner that night with Josh and Dina and his friend, Craig and his girlfriend which was sweet.  We had prime rib which was delish plus this special veggie Barb made from a Fresh Market recipe for green beans which was to die for..loved it.  Dina brought some of her mother's famous rum cake too and I loved it and brought some home.

Barb loved her lap quilt which I got her from Teresa's craft night...

She got me several things including this darling hat she bought when in NYC...

I love hats!!  I received a couple of gift cards too from her and my sister which were greatly appreciated!

I bought myself the Tim Holtz die cut machine this year and a couple of dies and can't wait to use it!

I also went over to my sister's house when she got home from across the bridge and we exchanged gifts too which was fun.  She came by yesterday also to pick up some old pots I have which she's putting plants in for me.  

We finally got some cool weather last night after some rain, yayyyyyyyyyy...so glad as it was 80 on Christmas Day which was the pits.  Next year I think I'm going north for Xmas!!  No more hot Christmas Days!

Tonight, Midge and I are headed to see the movie, "The War Horse" which I heard is very good, but sad...hope it's not too sad...I'm looking forward to movie theater popcorn too!

All in all, another wonderful holiday so no complaints from me except for the stupid weather, lol. 

Movie to see!!

If you don't mind sex and violence, go see "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"!!  It was a wonderful movie that will surely keep you entertained.  I read the first book a long time ago and had forgotten most of it.  Barb has the 2nd book in the trilogy and I'll get it next.  She, her son, Josh, and myself went to the Cine Bistro in Hyde Park to see it last night.  I love that theater.  You pay more for the movie but have a wonderful seat and ottoman to sit in plus you can order dinner and drinks!  We've gone there once before so this was my second time.

I ordered the fish tacos which were really yummy and a nice glass of cabernet.  I've done more drinking this week than I've done in a year!

They have these type theaters
 in different states so you might have one near you.  Check out the link I gave for the different locations.  Here's their menu for Hyde park too.  MENU

The 3 of us had a great time and I thank Josh for buying my ticket!!

I'm pretty bummed out over this Christmas weather of ours but I"m sure people from up north are thrilled.  It's going up to 82 today!  Not exactly "get you in the mood for Christmas" kind of temps.  It is good beach weather though and I'll probably sit out on the pool deck today and do some reading and get some sun and dry out this stupid nose of mine.

The end of 2011 is coming soon- hard to believe!  The year has flown by for me.

It's Brother Time!

 I had a wonderful two days with my brother this week.  He was down here to pick up his mother-in-law's car to drive it back up to Marietta as she'll be moving in with Kathy and him at the end of the month.  He stayed at my house this time though and it was fun having him here plus the dogs loved it!

He wanted to take me and my sister, Annie, out for dinner so we headed to his favorite place on John's Pass called "Walt's Shak".  Walt's is unique and hidden way in the back of the Pass behind the shops and boardwalk...

It was just an old house so very small inside.  They serve only FRESH fish and so they are only open 3 days a week from like 4pm until the food runs out and they're not kidding. Check out his sign, lol...
 You get there too late and it'll be closed.  He bought us all the appetizers which we loved.

The grouper cakes were to die for as was the fish spread and huge steamed shrimp.  They also serve generous glasses of vino! 

I don't drink very much anymore but the cabernet tasted good that night!  Annie and I were full with the appetizers so we passed on dinner but Pete got the lightly fried grouper which he loves...

We had a great time talking and laughing and eating and drinking.  A perfect dinner for 3 siblings! 

We then walked on the boardwalk after dinner, reminiscing of the old days when it first opened and only the Friendly Fisherman's restaurant was there and a few shops. That's when I lived on Sunset Beach and Pete lived on St Pete Beach, back in the late 70's and early 80's. The pirate ship sat empty after doing its' sunset cruise I'm sure..

On the way driving home, there is a two story house near Annie's house that had a unique Christmas light display! 

Is that a hoot!!!  A martini on the 2nd floor, lol!

So fun time and so glad we got together to do it.  Pete left this morning to drive back to Marietta and the house seems empty now!

Signs of getting older and poorer vision??

  What a night I had last night!!  At one point I thought to myself, "I can't believe you screwed this up so bad Kip" and the rest of the time I was saying, "You'll get there eventually, hope they wait for me"!

I was to pick up Barb and John at the airport around 7pm last night.  My plan, which I told Barb but she forgot, was to go to the cell phone lot there, wait til she called me to tell me they had picked up their luggage, and then whip up to pick them up.  Dina and Josh had their own car to get home.

So I got to the cell phone lot at 6:20..plenty of time...went to the bathroom twice- no toliet paper I might add- and read my color nook which I had brought with me.  It finally was around 7:12 and I was thinking that they should have been in so I called Barb on her cell phone.  She answered and told me yes, they were in but they actually flew in on Jet blue, not American like she told me, so Josh was down there schlepping their luggage to American for them.  I told her I was in the cell phone lot (you are?), yes, I am, and I will be there in just a minute.  I head out of the lot which I've been in dozens of times, and head around to the airport.  There are a gazillion cars all of a sudden coming out of the lot and they seemed to be stopped in the right lane (for good reason I found out..), so I whip around to the left lane.  Guess what?  It's the EXIT for the airport lane and no one will let me back in the right lane.  So I exit..now keep in mind, my eyes aren't good for signs anymore at night and it's pitch black out tonight.  I have two ways to go- one is back to St Pete, over the Howard Franklin bridge, which I don't want to do, or exit into downtown Tampa where I figured I could turn around and come back.  Well...it ended on a road, way out in nowhere and I didn't have a clue where I was.  I'm turning right and left, zig zagging here and there, trying to read signs with my reading glasses on (!) and going no where.  Meanwhile, my cell phone flies to the floorboard, along with my purse and Nook, when I took one of my crazy turns.  The phone is ringing like crazy and I know it's barb wondering where the hell I am!  

Finally, at a light in no where, I take off my seat belt to get the damn phone and call and I get Josh..I tell him I'll be a few minutes late as I got in the wrong lane and to hold on.  I hang up and still have no idea where I am cuz I can't read the damn signs!

Suddenly, I'm next to the International Mall which is near the airport.  For some ungodly reason, I turn into the mall.  Why?  I don't have a clue..maybe so I can ask someone how to get to the airport??  Of course there are 1000 cars there and 5000 people walking around and horns honking and the usual Christmas mall mess.  I finally find this nice gentleman and ask him how to get back to the airport.  He says to me, go on out of here and do you know where One Buc Place used to be?  Ahhh, no, I don't.  Well go out and take a right and there SHOULD be signs leading you to the airport.....it takes me forever to get out of the parking lot mess, I take a right and go for it...nothing looks familiar still...I decide to go straight and lo and behold I see a "Welcome to the Airport Sign"!!!  I was never so happy.  I finally pulled up to where Barb and John were and got them and their luggage and we rode back to St Pete with me telling them my saga and laughing by then.  Ridiculous...I will say if it had been light, I could have figured it out quicky but being that it was pitch black, I was lost...I REALLY need to get some new glasses.....

Fun Friday!

 I had the best time on Friday doing two things- reading the "Polar Express" to two classes at BPE and then having lunch with some of my middle school teacher friends who have retired too.

First, I went to BPE, in my Santa hat, ready to read.  Bonnie, the media specialist, was all ready for us as there were about 5 of us that had retired and were coming to read that day.  It was the last day before break for the kids so they were excited.  I read to a kindergarten class first and then a 3rd grade class which was so much fun.

The kids got to enjoy hot chocolate while we were reading and then at the end they all got a bell on a ribbon for around their neck to go along with the story.  There was me, Ron Motyka, Gretchen Ackerson, Polly Layton and Tiffany Spoor there...

Ron Woolums came later on to read too but I missed him.  It was so much fun to see everyone too of course.  The cute Polar Express train in the background was done by Andrea, the tech specialist who took on the job after I left and is doing a great job.

It was almost 80 degrees though so I was dying in the hot Santa hat, lol!!  I'll be back in a couple of months to help out with the book fair again too, if not subbing.

Then I headed to the wonderful Chattaway for lunch with my friends who taught with me in middle school eons ago.  That is such a funky place to go to with really good food.  It is mainly an outside eating place on their patios but it does have an inside room too where we all met...

Norah and Nora (mother and daughter) were there of course... Nora used to teach foreign language and I had Norah in my class years ago.

and Hal and Nancy...she used to be a reading teacher with me..

B.K. made it this time too which was great as we don't see her often.  She was our tech person at BP Middle and who taught me so much.  Another person who made it this time was Elaine Ranieri who taught math and it was great to see her too!

I took some pic's of the patio area that was "decorated" for Christmas...

And they even had a jazz player there playing in the afternoon...

I think I told you once that years ago, my parents used to go to this place with other young couples when my dad was in the Coast Guard and they lived near it.  Mom said they had really cheap beer and they all were poor so that was their entertainment!  It's nice to still have the restaurant be around after all those years!

Today, Sunday, we are finally having a coolish day but it'll be gone by tomorrow..looks like it'll definitely be AC on for Christmas Day here this year :(

I guess our cold weather will come in dribs and drabs in January.  We never get to wear our Christmas outfits as it's too darn hot, lol.

Barb and John are having a blast in NYC and will be home tomorrow.  I'll be picking them up from the airport.  Then on Tuesday, I'll be picking up my brother from the airport as he'll be in for a quick trip to pick up his MIL's car and drive it back to Atlanta.  She's moving in with Kathy and Pete up there in January which will be nice.

Hope your week before Christmas isn't a stressful one and you get to really enjoy the time and holidays!

10 days and counting!

Yesterday was so much fun!  My HS friend, Midge Trubey, and I headed off downtown to the Historical Museum as they had up all the info on the final 3 new Pier projects which will be voted on in January.  I had been encouraged to go look at the detailed photos and drawings and not judge them just by the newspaper photos and I'm so glad we did.

The one that really stood out to Midge and I is called "The Lens"...

You could really tell that the architects had spent considerable time on not only the new pier but how it could be incorporated into our city.  Here's a cool photo of how it could look on the waterfront..

It even had an amphitheater at the base of it which was really cool plus a draw bridge linking the Vinoy Hotel with a park.  We really loved it and it was our No. 1 vote.  The least liked one was called the Shell and our 2nd place one was called The Wave.

After spending time there we headed down to the Hanger Restaurant which is literally right beside our small commuter airport downtown.  You can sit outside which we did as it was beautiful outside, on this 2nd floor porch and watch the planes take off and back on...

You can see the rail by our table here and a plane landing.  Here was another one..

The food was very good too.  I had this jumbo hamburger and Midge had the quesidillas.  We then rode a bit around the city admiring the parks and the new Salvadore Dali Museum which was fun.  I love my city!!  We have the prettiest waterfront too.
 Here's looking over towards the Vinoy from the museum..

Saturday night, Midge and I are going to go out and look at the Christmas lights too which I'm looking forward to as there is a lot out there this year.

I actually have the AC off for awhile this morning and am enjoying the cool breeze!!

Today is college roomie Barb's birthday too so I'll be heading over there later.  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARB!!!

Wonderful Weekend!

I had the best time this weekend, nestled amongst good friends- what could be better!

I headed over Saturday afternoon to meet up with Gerri Ann and Barb at our hotel in Tampa near Linda's house.  We had fun catching up and piling all the gifts in the car to head over to her house.  Once there, it was food central!!  Tons of good food including this fabulous tray you can order from Publix with such yummy things in it...

The family room was filled to the hilt with fabulous presents to each stocking pal and everyone agreed that this was one of our most favorite nights of the year!  The homemade gifts were to die for, with I think Elle topping it with her fabric album she made for Barbara.  She spent something like 80 hours on it and it consisted of all antique lace, buttons, etc. and was gorgeous! 

I have put up many pictures on a facebook album and will include all the pages to this too as you have to see it!  Fabulous!

Both Gerri Ann and Mary both got the Tim Holtz boxes too and were thrilled!! 

 Can you tell she was excited!!

We would open gifts and then stop and eat for awhile, open gifts, ....we didn't leave Linda's til almost 2am so that tells you how much fun we had.  Laughs and hugs galore.  I'm so happy to be part of this wonderful group of friends!  Certainly makes my Christmas since I live alone too!  I brought everything home, some still wrapped and put them under my almost tree....lol.

Sunday, GA, Barb and I headed back to Linda's around 10am and ended up meeting til about 4pm going over our up coming trip in June.  We made reservations for our Seattle hotels- Warwich Hotel for 2 nights, Holiday Inn Express for 1 night when back from the cruise.  The Warwich is near the fish market that we all want to see plus they tell us we'll see the space needle from our room!  Linda was on the phone for an hour with Warwich, going over everything and us laughing up a storm.

We also decided on all our tours for the cruise and have them ordered....can't wait, so excited as one of them is going out on a boat and whale watching!!  We are also VERY excited about our suite on the ship as we went BIG- Owner's suite
!  There are 4 of us so we wanted room and we got one with a bedroom and living area plus a balcony that is 116 square feet which is big for a ship balcony!  We'll be out there a lot I'm sure enjoying the beautiful Alaskan scenery.  Wouldn't you like to join us!!  We're going with Cruise and Crop this time.  It's also a scrapping cruise when at sea put on my Embellish IT!!  It's sold out already!  Leaving from Seattle, Washington and sailing to Juneau, Skagway, Tracy Arm Fjord & Victoria, British Columbia. The cruise also cruises through the Inside Passage.  To say we're excited is putting it mildly!!  It'll be costly but oh so worth it.  I'll be subbing a lot the next 6 months, lol.

I've wanted to go to Alaska forever and can't believe I'm finally going!  We're flying into Seattle two days ahead of time so we can enjoy the city first which should be a blast too.  We just have to firm up our flight plans now and Gerri Ann is working on that.  So by the time I left Linda's, I had a full car full of gifts and definite plans for next June!  We'll be leaving June 13th and getting back home on the 23rd.  

The pups were sure glad to see me and we had a lovely restful evening last night, reading the paper, etc.  Today, I'm still pooped but taking it easy.  I'm not going to sub this week as I have several things planned including lunch with Midge and looking at the new pier plans at the downtown museum and on Friday, reading the "Polar Express" to kindergarteners at Bay Point Elementary.

So now you're caught up with me!  How was your weekend and what is your week looking like?  Hope it's a fabulous one!

17 More Days!!

  It's coming quickly!!  And lots of fun activities have been happening and will continue through this weekend.  Oh, and we finally got some chilly temps today too which I love!

Tonight, I'm going over to Lynn's house for the ornament exchange she has each year. These are friends of Barb's and I was lucky to be invited several years ago and now go each year.  It's one of those funny parties where you trade gifts which I love.  Actually we did this also when I was in Texas and we had a ball.  It's always tons of laughs.  There are usually about 25 women there and this year, Barb's DIL, Dina, will be coming too which will be fun.  I'll show you the gift I chose to bring this year, tomorrow.

Here's a couple of pic's from the party last year...

As you can see, we don't really exchange ornaments, but gifts and they're all so cool!

So looking forward to that tonight.  

Tomorrow, I'm at the fundamental school subbing in a 5th grade class all day.  I wasn't going to work any more this week as I've already done it 3 times in 7 days which was more than I had planned on, lol, but I decided to go ahead and do it as I like that grade level.  First grade on Monday was a trip!  They pack a lot of curriculum nowadays in that grade level and it was a very busy day.  I think I'll be off all next week as most teachers don't take off the last week before break unless they're really sick so that should be a nice, long 3 week break for me.  I am enjoying the subbing though and love making money again!

I'm really looking forward to going over to Teresa's group on Friday night as they have their craft show with several vendors.  I missed this last year so definitely want to go to it this year as I'm sure I'll find some cute things.

Saturday evening is the wonderful stocking girl party at Linda's!!  Gerri Anne, Barbara and I will be staying over at a hotel nearby too so I don't have to worry about driving late at night.  Can't wait to see what all the girls get this year!

I am also picking up my Tim Holtz Vagabond die cut machine that day too and can't wait to get it!!  Linda ordered it for me and it came in.

I think the plan for Sunday is for Linda, GA, Barbara and I to get together and decide on our side trips for our Alaskan cruise this coming June.  There's many to pick from and some very cool ones.

If you're looking for some neat photography, you need to check out my older brother's web page.  He has some beautiful pictures  and good prices too.  Check him out here- Nels Johnson Photography.

I've been taking a couple of online classes too for holiday ornaments and gifts with Margie Romney and Christy Tomlinson and 11 other mixed media artists.  There has been some great ideas and I've really enjoyed the classes.

Okay, gotta run and wrap some gifts...Have a great day and weekend!

 

My Backpack Mini Album!

I found this designer, Laura Dennison, and absolutely LOVE her designs for mini albums.  You can click on her name to go to her site where you can find all the things she makes.  You will have to pay for her directions which usually come with a video too.

I was up late last night finishing this one up and love it.

don't you love the little straps on the back of it like a real backpack and the little tag to hang it up!!

She shows you how to make the little ring binder for it too which I love.

So there you have it!

Tag #1 of Tim Holtz's Christmas tags

I need some more practice making these cones for sure but had fun today trying!

Check out Tim's blog for the directions.

Thanks Whimsodoodle for having all the products there for us to use today!

Welcome December!!

 Wow, 25 days away and it's already Christmas!!

I had a fun and busy week this week.  First and foremost, George was in town from Louieville and he, Barb and I got together for our annual luncheon.  We took him to Ricky P's this time which he loved!!  Ricky is from New Orleans and makes the BEST food!!  He has a place on 4th Street north and he's also at the Saturday morning market each week.  We went on Tuesday as that is crab bisque day and you just die over it.  The other thing I love there, or one of them anyway, is the shrimp po boy and then there's the dessert of bread pudding..oh my!!  Here's some pic's from our lunch...

shrimp po boy....and I get the basket sometimes too...

my fave..spicy crab bisque!

We were all sitting around talking about how unreal it is all be social security age now!!  We remember when we all were in college and talked about how the 3 of us were going to live together and our combined income would be $21,000 which seemed like a million to us, lol.  George has been up in Louieville for 30 years or more and loves it but comes home at least twice a year thank goodness.  

Out back by Barb's pool..as you can see it was a beautiful, warm day!

I also had my first sub job this week in a 3rd grade class at my old school and LOVED it!!  I had the best class and really enjoyed it.  I also loved talked to everyone, the teachers, secretaries, HPO, everyone!  Great to catch up and they all seem happy to see me too.  I've got a job tomorrow at Bay Vista Fundamental and one on Monday too.  I really don't want to work everyday but the jobs are coming in if I want them which is nice.  I'm really going to enjoy this as I get to actually teach and not have to do all that other stuff that drives teachers crazy!

I'm off this morning to Whimsodoodle to make Tim Holtz's first Christmas tag.  They provide everything and you pay $12 each time.  They have a couple of the girls coming in at 6am each morning he does this, to make the tag for the day as a sample for us and to help us.  Great deal and can't wait to do it!  We use his pine cone die today which I'm anxious to try.  I ran by there yesterday too to pick up my kit from Debby Schuh and can't wait to dig into that.  LOVE that store!!  Jill has everything in it I swear, every product out there it seems.

Okay, I'm outta here...have a great Thursday!

Fa, La, La, La La!! ♥

 I'm starting to get into the spirit of things around here!!  I think it started when I was at Publix last night and smelled the delicious Christmas trees they had outside.  While I won't be getting a real tree, I'll get a wreath and hope to have that wonderful aroma in my house.

Most of you who know me, know that I love to take online classes.  You can do them when you want which I love.  I have two I'm going to do in December.  One is Christy Tomlinson's (and 11 other artists) " The 12 Artsy ornaments of Christmas" and the other is one by Margie Romney called, "SPARK your Christmas" after her SPARK retreat that she holds each year.  Margie's is using recycled materials to make fun things and Christy's of course, is showing unique ways to make ornaments.  Both sound so much fun and they are very reasonably priced.  I'll give you the links to them if you want to check them out:

http://margieromney-aslett.typepad.com/im_just_a_girl/2011/11/spark-your-christmas.html

http://christytomlinson.typepad.com/christytomlinson/2011/11/sneak-peeks-holiday-cheer.html

This weekend, a bunch of us are getting together Saturday morning to attend the Santa parade downtown and have lunch at this restaurant right on the route afterwards where we have a table saved for us by the one and only Midge!!  Can't wait for that and it's suppose to be chilly too!

We have had rain come in today and now cooler temps with it which I'm sooooo looking forward to...I want to wear my fabulous fingerless gloves I got from Texas!!

I probably won't be able to wear them until January but I can't wait!  The girls in Texas sure got a hoot out of them when I bought them.

Well, I'm officially in the sub system as of today.  I was in at 8:45 and I swear at 8:50 I got a call to sub TODAY!!  I turned it down of course but thought it was funny.  I am subbing, for a half day, for my friend, Chrissy's 3rd grade class on Wednesday at my old school.  Can't wait to see everyone and do it!  As I said, I will be very picky about who I sub for and where as I just want to do it now and then.  The only qualifications from the county is that I do an "average" of two days a month.  I've started a fund to tile my big family room and that's where the money I make will go.

OKay, I'm outta here now as I have a good book I'm reading and want to get back to it!

Thanksgiving week!

In this peaceful surroundings, we had Thanksgiving dinner at my sister's house.  It was so nice and relaxing and she put out a wonderful dinner!  The weather was gorgeous so she set up a table under her canopy in her back patio and we were surrounded by all her plants.  She and Mitch are deep into a big season for their nursery and her yard is filled with the nicest plants as well as what they have down in the nursery over the bridge.  Here's some of them...

On the side yard here, she has a plant that smells like cooked popcorn!!!  I've never seen that before...she has lots of lovely herbs which she used in her cooking...

This is a huge rosemary plant! 

She has lots of pretty poinsettas too...

Just lots of color around...

They are at the St Pete Saturday morning market each week as well as the Tarpon Springs market too which they started this year.  She wasn't too happy with their spot there last time but they are moving to a better corner this week.  If you're around, come see them!  Mitch Armstrong Nursery!

I also had another Thanksgiving dinner on the Sunday before, at Barb and John's house.  Her brother, Dennis, and his wonderful and funny wife, Carol, flew down from Wisconsin for it which was so nice.  Dina and Josh were there too and we all ate like pigs!  So I had lots of good food this week and even got some to bring home!  My new find this year was the cranberry relish from Fresh Market..omg, I've bought it 3 times already!!  It has orange zest, apples, walnuts, real cranberries and honey in it and it's to die for..try it!

December will soon be here and it's going to be a busy month.  Kath asked me to come to Arkansas for Christmas but I can't find a reasonable flight for it.  I've got Lynn's ornament exchange coming up and the stocking girls party so I'm looking forward to both of them too.  Hard to believe it's almost 2012!

Hope you had a wonderful week too!

More photos from the retreat...

I forgot two very important food photos last time!!!  First, the sausage bread which I could have eaten the whole thing...

And the other was the Puff Pastry pancake that was to die for....

Oh my, this was good with the maple syrup on it and the fruit!!!

Here's two of the mini albums I made (from Buttonfarms)...perfect projects when you don't want to bring a lot of materials to a crop as everything comes in the kits...

Here's some more photos of the great house we stayed in...this was a second dining area...

I loved that cupboard!

This old suitcase is one Paula found in one of the thrift stores downtown.  The inside of it was in perfect condition too.

Here's my beloved stool I purchased from the estate sale...the seat part of it can be moved up or down...

I also purchased some beautiful embroidered table cloth and napkins, some pillows, a lace valence and a very old purse.  I'll have to take pic's of all them to show you later.

This was a class Tisha did, making the Xmas configuration box...so fun and so cute!

These were darling Thanksgiving cards Tisha made....tons of them!!!

She also makes her Xmas cards, something like 300 of them!!!

Okay, so that's some more examples of the fun I had in Texas and you can see why I loved it so much!

 

The FOOD at Southern Comfort Inn

 I told you I'd have to do a whole post on just the food at this retreat in Texas.  Get ready to salivate!!  Obviously, this wasn't normal crop food as it would be totally out of the question, price-wise, for one thing with the size crops I go to usually.  Keep in mind this was a bed and breakfast, thus, food was a huge part of it.

Our meal plans started Friday evening and we were summoned with a dinner bell and we walked into the beautiful dining room which was always set up like this for dinner for the 10 of us...

Beautiful cutlery and plates and crystal.  We were served buffet style on the buffet server each meal and tonight's meal was this mouth watering concoction...

It was a roast that melted in your mouth, potatoes and onions and carrots that were so yummy and homemade rolls.  I can't remember what dessert was that night as I was too stuffed to have it.....Then each morning when we got up, we had this...

 We also had little cinnamon rolls the last morning, plus plenty of coffee and juice.

Then around 11am on Saturday and Sunday, we had brunch...

Her sausage gravy was so good I could have eaten the whole bowl plus I loved the homemade jellies and jams.   

Then mid afternoon, we had a snack...

That was homemade salsa which I loved and the avocado was to die for...not to mention the chocolate chip cookies, lol.

Dinner came about 7:30ish and on Saturday night we had this...

Oh my, smothered pork chops that again, melted in your mouth...and for dessert there were cakes, cookies and ice cream!

Sunday morning brought more food of course and brunch was this...

The hot fruit was so yummy and the big dish was a delicious Amish casserole. 

I forgot, we also had homemade pecan pie...they have pecan trees in the front yard...

So as you can see, we ate very well all weekend long!!  I gained 4 lbs I might add....

What a fun weekend we had!!

I LOVE Texas!

  Once again, I had a fabulous time last week while in Dallas and Mineola, Texas with the girls there!!  The time flew by it seemed but we did so much.  It'll take me a few blog posts to cover it all but I'll do a bit today.

I flew in Wednesday around dinner time and Tisha picked me up and off we went to this restaurant to meet up with Kath and Paula who had driven in from Arkansas plus a few others...

. 

Mexican food is serious business in Texas like you can imagine...nothing like our hometown food.  I had this snapper and shrimp taco thing that was to die for...

The taco though, had this EXTREMELY hot sauce on it and I could only eat a little of it but boy was it good...check out the dessert Paula and Kath had...

And they ate the whole thing, lol!!!  They had a pretty short 5 hour trip to Texas so that was nice for them.  I brought two suitcases- one with clothes and one with scrap supplies, mostly kits so I could narrow down what I needed.  It worked out great EXCEPT for the shopping I did there and the estate sale...but that will be later on!

Tish, me, Paula and Kath went back to her lovely home in Plano which is north Dallas, 

She had a very cool house and a pool area that I absolutely loved...

as well as a scrap room that was so organzied we all were floored! 

Those notebooks on the left are all her stamps organzied by themes...it was all unreal.  She is very talented and had so many cool things in her house that she made..this wall was made up of collages showing her family...

I had a very American themed bedroom that was very comfortable with a bath and Paula and Kath were on the other side of the bathroom in another lovely bedroom.  Cathy, one of the girls in Texas and her husband, Dennis, came back to Tisha's house Wed. night so we could all talk.  We had a great time talking to them.  Cathy joined us on the weekend too.  

We got to bed pretty late and left Tisha in the living room working on her computer as she had to get some work done before leaving for the weekend.  

We got up early and headed off to a Starbuck's to meet up with two other of the women who were going to the retreat. One of them is Jenny who I met last June and I love and the other was this less than 5 foot ball of fire, Christy!!  She has a scrapbook store in her house and she brought some of it to the crop.  We then all rode about an hour west to Mineola, a darling little town.  

It had the cutest little shops and great restaurants..

We did get a chance to go shopping and that'll be another post, lol!  We ate lunch at this place that was so delish and the desserts were to die for..check out Kath's little chocolate pyramid..

and Paula's small cheesecake piece lol, 

are you noticing a theme here with Kath and Paula and desserts? LOL.

We then drove two blocks from downtown to the most wonderful bed and breakfast!! 

Southern Comfort House owned by Linda and Bill, a wonderful couple.  Our bedroom was the window on top on the left!  The former family room is now a crop room that fits 12 people and has comfortable chairs, big tables and a great light.  

That's my table on the end there by the bookshelf.  Loved it!

I have lots more to tell you so you'll have to keep coming back this week to hear about it.  I did end up with a darn head cold, from the plane I'm sure, so not feeling tip top right now.  I see naps in my future...

I was so lucky when I went to that crop last June in Whitesboro, Texas and knew not a soul, that Sherri, the owner, put me at the table with Tisha, Janis, Jenny and Lucette and we all hit it off and became fast friends.  I feel very fortunate to be included in their circle of friends and now Kath and Paula are too as they loved everyone as well.  Fun times!

Starting left to right, bottome first...Cathy, Christy, Pam, Jenny, Lissa, Tisha, Kath, me, Arlene and Paula.

Texas here I come!

I fly out at 2:30 today and will be in Dallas at 5:30, their time.  Excited!!

Texas is coming soon!

Kath and I have been emailing back and forth and we're excited about the up-coming retreat in Texas!  She and Paula will drive from Arkansas as it's only about 5 hours from them she said which is great.  I fly into Dallas at 5:30pm Wednesday eve and Tisha is picking me up and then we're all meeting at a restaurant there for dinner.  Then Kath, Paula and I will stay with Tisha that night and then we'll all head to Mineola the next day.  I can't wait to get to this cool place!  The pictures are wonderful...

It's an old house that has been converted into a retreat.  This is part of the living room...here's the dining area..

Check out the craft area which comes with a light even, for everyone...

You'd have to be a crafter to know how important those lights are, lol.  There is I think about 16 of us for the long weekend...

Here's the beautiful bedroom where Paula, Kath and I will be staying for 3 nights...

 There are 4 beds in the room.  Isn't it pretty?

We'll be eating out until Friday evening when the official retreat starts and I love the food in Texas so looking forward to that too.

Today I went shopping for a few things..headed to wonderful Whimsodoodle as I needed a white elephant gift to bring to the retreat and it's suppose to be scrapbook related...I picked out two neat things which I hope someone likes.  Then I hit Office Depot as I needed to buy a new home phone.  I bought my last one in a hurry and when I got home and plugged the damn thing in, it had no answering service and wasn't cordless...what was I thinking?  So now I have a nice cordless one that is warming up as we speak that has everything.  

I'm excited as we're getting an Office Depot right here in the NE shopping center which I will love!

Then I headed to Beall's and picked up a few things for the trip too so now I have some fun things to bring with me Wednesday.

I HATE how it gets dark so darn early, don't you?  Geez, feels like the day is so much shorter...I'd never make it living in Alaska year-round!

Tomorrow is packing day and get the house ready for the dog sitter which will go very fast and then I'm meeting up with my old friend, Melissa, for dinner which will be fun.

I decided not to bring my laptop to Texas for a change.  I can get email and facebook on my phone if I need it and that should be sufficient instead of lugging all the other with me so no blogging for sure.

All in all, a great way to start the week.  Hope you had a great day too!

Wonderful Halloween!

Talk about a crowd!!!  Where Barb lives in Woodlawn, there is also a huge turnout as most of the houses participate and some of them in a big way.  One house around the corner from Barb cooks hot dogs for everyone on the street and gives out other goodies too.  The neighbors kick in extra hot dogs for them too.  As my sister and I were driving out at 8:45pm last night to go home, another house had a band playing in their driveway, lol.  Look at the line of kids here as I was leaving that late...

That was Josh and Dina (barb's son and DIL) up front, handing out the candies...they're both so darling..

Both, hard-working attorneys and then they stay out there late giving out candy to everyone.  Dina also made these delicious cupcakes which I snagged one again today...

John, Barb's husband, made this dessert and oh my was it good...cheesecake...

and I don't normally eat cheesecake but had to have this!

Barb and John always have lots of friends over for a party while this is going on too and it was fun to see everyone.  They were serving hot Cuban sandwiches, yellow rice and black beans, etc. and everyone was diving into the food.

It's a tradition every year at the Sheridan's and one I hope continues for a long, long time.

This morning, I was up very early and went up to the Admin building for processing, i.e. filling out a lot of papers for subbing.  I go back on the 17th for an informational meeting and then 5-7 days after that, I'll be in the system.  I already have a job lined up for Nov. 30th with a teacher from my old school.  I think I'm really going to enjoy this and will really love making the extra money for my travels.

This Saturday is a big garage sale day in Woodlawn so I'll be back over to Barb's house selling some things and then that evening is Michele and Brad's wedding which I'm really looking forward to attending!  I'm driving up with Teresa for that event.  

Then next Wednesday, I fly out to Dallas for 6 days to go to a Scrapbook retreat and I can't wait for that!

November is starting out on a wonderful note!

Last weekend in October...

 Another month is flying by and it's been a good one.  We've been really lucky with some great weather lately, cool mornings and sunny afternoons.  I sat out back yesterday reading my new Steven Jobs biography and got a bit of a burn actually.  Today is overcast and a perfect day to stay inside and read, nap or just chill.

Last night I went to another painting class and loved it.  Pam, Larry and Paula were also there which is even more fun.  Pam was doing her 10th painting!  That was my 4th one.  Here's our class shot...

You can see how everyone's painting is a little different which is cool.  I loved this one for Fall and will keep it out until Xmas probably.  Love the colors in it....

Here's the studio downstairs and they also have a smaller one upstairs so sometimes they run two classes at once.  It's just such a relaxed atmosphere and the people who work there are really cool.  I have my eye on another one for next month that I might take...   Isn't it pretty?

This last week was an eventful one with my neighbor behind me on the alley.  She and her husband are divorcing and the house is going to go into foreclosure but hadn't yet.  They both moved out and it's been empty about a month but Raina still came over every day to get her mail, etc. and check on it plus she left furniture in it that she's selling on craigslist.  Lo and behold, a week ago last Sunday, a youngish couple moved in, changed the locks and had the electricity turned on using a bogus lease!!  Real squatters!!  Evidently, this is going on all over the US in foreclosed homes.  Hard to believe the arrogance of these people.  To make a long story short, Raina gave them 24 hours to get out and they were suppose to be gone by 5pm last Monday night.  The guy refused to move so the police had told Raina, move his things out and change the locks.  We ( 4 of us) spent 4 hours moving everything out and you would have thought they had lived there for a year with all their stuff!  We put it out by the alley along with the big trailer they left behind.  The police called the guy and told him he had til 9pm to come get the trailer or he'd have it towed.

The guy and several of his low life friends, got there about 8:45pm and started moving things out til about 1am.  I wasn't around when they got there but listened all their talk from my side inside the fence.  This guy and his girlfriend also have rap sheets from Hillsborough county for drugs, stealing, etc.  Here's what we moved out! 

When I went over the next day, all the stuff was gone except for all the trash they left plus they sprayed tobasco sauce on the back walls and windows.  Real class act.

Hard to believe this kind of thing happens!!!  So it made for an eventful couple of days, lol.

This weekend should be a nice one and I'm heading to Whimsodoodle tomorrow to take a class with Debby Schuh, a designer whom I love.  She actually is doing 3 classes but I'm only doing the one Christmas album.  All 3 of her classes are new ones and look very cool.

I've got Handy Dave coming over tomorrow too to wash some windows and screens for me out front.  Can't wait to see them clean!!

So that's what's happening in my world..busy as always but having a ball.  Next week I go up to the admin building for my substitute teaching processing too and then the following week a short orientation and then I'm ready to sub when I want.  I already have several friends/teachers who are waiting for me to begin so I think I'll be as busy as I want to be.   It will be nice to earn some extra money for all my trips.  Texas is coming up in 2 weeks and I can't wait to see everyone again!!

Okay, I'm off to read some more of Job's biography which is really, really interesting. Have a great weekend!

FABULOUS long Weekend!!

What fun!!!  Barb and I got to Fun N Sun in Sarasota Thursday afternoon so we had a nice, long weekend.  We headed to St. Armand's Key that night and ate at the Columbia restaurant which is always fun.  By the time we got back to our "home", Ann had come in from Pensacola so she came over and we talked and drank a bit of vino and laughed a lot until late that night.  Janet, Gerri Anne and Sonya came in the next day along with the whole Hilltop gang for our Creepover Crop weekend.

I have to jump ahead and tell you that this year's contest was to decorate this chipboard witch hat that we found at Michael's.  MY GOODNESS, people outdid themselves!!  We had such a competition and you really had the worst time deciding a winner as so many were fabulous.  The winner, Kelly West, ended up getting one of the Winter Retreat weekends paid for in January!! (We're having two winter retreats in 2012- East and West; Sebring and Sarasota).

Anyway, here was Kelly's winning hat which was amazing as she made the whole thing complete with lights and a sound box....

Don't you love the legs and shoes!!!

Here's a collage of some of the hats...

Some outstanding ones (but not all as there were so many)...

This was Gerri Ann's..Can you see the witch's fingers?  They opened the hat and inside was an album...

This was Laura's and she even made the spider!

Another terrific one with whole album also made by Patricia Glasnap...

Susan's hat which I loved and which you had to see in person to see how wonderful it was..inside was a chandelier which lit up a whole room complete with furniture, rug and pictures on the wall!

Cathie's was truly elegant and also lit up..

Here was mine...

This side had the spider album...

I LOVED this clever one too...play on words...

SAND WITCH  and it had the sandwich on it, lol!

It was a hoot and everyone did such a great job.  The crop was wonderful of course, lots of good food, especially desserts this time and cute and yummy little treats...

Cake pops!!

 Graveyard pudding!

Cute pic of Elle and Kathy...

I LOVED Kathy's apron...

I have a bunch of pic's on my phone too which I'll put up later...

There something to be said for being with a roomful of women all weekend, having fun, relaxing, laughing and just having a great time with absolutely no drama!  You come away from it so refreshed!

I think that's enough pictures for now...will check back in later this week..lots happening in the next couple of months and all fun!

Busy days.....love it!

Last weekend was a blast at our SPHS reunion.  We had a wonderful turnout and Bonnie and her team did a splendid job of putting it all together.  Our Sat. nite event was at the Yacht club and it was beautifully decorated and had fabulous food including a pasta bar!!  We took many group pictures and everyone was laughing and had such a good time while trying to be good for the picture, lol...here's one...

Our class has had many reunions including a "social security" party, lol and now they're thinking we'll need a "medicare" party, LOL!  Just a fun group of people and it was great to meet up with everyone again.  Larry Larsen and Gordon Sloan came by my house on Saturday afternoon and we just sat around and talked and had the best time catching up.  I love both those guys.

Monday morning, I took off to go down to Ft. Myers and then Bonita Springs to see Barb and to go to Jen Starr's class at Scrapbooks ETC.  I had taken Jen's first class at Whim's last week but wanted to also do this other class which was so much fun.  It was a first too as I actually finished the WHOLE mini album in class!! 

We used lots of Tim Holtz product including his Distress stains.  The inside of the album had some cool pages including tri-folds, pockets and tags...

We did a little stitching on the binding too which was fun.

Janet and Coleen had a nice group of ladies from down there and we all had a fun time with Jen.  I then spent the nite with Barb and left to come home Tuesday morning.  It rained almost the whole way home, but not a real hard rain thank goodness and I was back home by 10:30am.

Now I'm unpacking and repacking as I leave tomorrow to go down to Fun N Sun for Creepover weekend with the Hilltop girls which is always a blast!  Barb, Janet and I like to get down there on Thursday so we can go to the Amish restaurant and just relax.  I haven't put together any scrap stuff yet so need to get on that today.

We're suppose to have cooler temps the next few days- down in the 60's!!  I can't wait!!

I'll leave you with my "coming home" bridge picture which I alway take...

It had stopped raining by the time I got to the bridge and not real windy which is good.  I'll be driving back over it tomorrow!

I'll try and check in while I'm down there and will be home on Sunday.