I'm 59 years old. I've been married to my hubby for ... WOW! 30 years! I'm Mom to 4 great kids - 2 girls, 2 boys - and one granddaughter, now 12, and a grandson who is 5!
I am a firm believer that Jesus Christ is my Savior, and I struggle daily to be the woman He wants me to be.
From who? THOM, of course! LOL! I have to love this meme though because when Thom stole it, it was from the Ellie Bellie Blog. When I was a child (9) we had this little song that we made up for each member of the group of us... I think the teens actually did it - don't blame the nine year olds! But anyway... I remember Meg's verse was Peg Leg Meg could drink a keg.... and MY verse was The cow kicked Melli in the Belly in the Barn! LOL! Soooooo anyway ... this is Melli's Ellie Bellie meme! Did you NEED to know all that? Probly not....
what are your most common nicknames? Mom & Hon...
what is today’s weather? COLLLLLLD for August! It is only supposed to go up to 69 today!!!
where did you go on vacation this year? Ummm... Wisconsin etc!
what did you do there? Played canasta... among many many MANY other things!
where did you stay? At the Holiday Inn in Neenah at night... very nice place!During the day I was at the Fortress with Dr. John & Betty!
what job do you do? My MAIN job is to try to keep my temper and avoid murder at all cost!
describe where you live. It's a dilapidated 3 story quasi Victorian - in much worse shape than it should be! It's only 22 years old!
what do you usually do on weekends? I don't have a "usual" weekend. Weekends are pretty much the same as any other day... either I have something entertaining to do, or I'm bored. Those are pretty much my two choices! Too many days of boredom in a row means I have to get creative.... or travel.
what food hits your ‘bliss spot’? IS there a bliss spot associated with food? Surely it must revolve around crab then!
what drink really does it for you? Does IT...? (define IT...) Quenches my thirst? Water ... Satisfies my taste buds? Pomegranate Tea of late... Gets me DRUNK? 3 Sexy Alligators!
describe the first friend that comes to your head. Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient
what was the last restaurant you went to? Ledo's ... twice... Saturday... Oy Vey!
where would you like to live if you had unlimited moneys and nothing stopping your dreams? Ohhhhhhh I don't know! TOO MANY places! Barcelona! Belgium! Israel! Maine! Texas! You know... I don't really wanna live ANYwhere. I wanna live EVERYwhere! LOL!
what is the likeliness of you achieving this dream home? Anything could happen! But not right now. I must be patient...
what do you like to do in your spare time? ALL of my time is spare time. I "live" in my spare time. And for those of you who are wishing you were me -- think twice! Be careful what you wish for! I wished for it -- and I'm okay with it... but God has a REAL sense of humor about HOW he gives us what we want! :)
what’s your favorite genre for TV programs? On the off chance that I might watch something, it should probably be a commercial free documentary!
what’s your favorite genre for music? Praise tunes, and Country
what’s your favorite song that’s sad? Two come to mind... both patriotic, and both date back a ways... One is Ballad of the Green Beret... remember that one? And the other is God Bless The USA - Lee Greenwood. It must be sad... it makes me cry every time I hear it!
what are you looking forward to at the moment? Hmmm.... I guess Tuesday! I'm going to meet a new blog friend. I'm delivering Ella to her and Ella will have new adventures! That's something to look forward to!
what are you dreading at the moment? It would probably be my next teeth cleaning... but it's not close enough yet for me to start dreading it.
how would you describe your personality?I try NOT to describe my personality. Why do I want to tie myself down to being a certain way? Why do "others" want to tie me down to being a certain way? Can't I just "be"? Oh, okay! I TRY to be a good Christian... how's that? I HOPE that I am able to be the woman God wants me to be, and to LET the love of Jesus flow through me. But of course, I'm a human sinner... so often I fail. The good news is ... God forgives.
if you had a personality eraser, what part of yours might you erase? Ohhhhhh NO! I'm not messin' with that! We'll let God do the erasing ... thanks! I just finished studying Judges... and well... I don't wanna BE one... but... God's been known to use some sinful SINFUL people to do his work! I'm just sayin' ... he MIGHTa put that stubborn nature there for a "reason"... who knows???
you are given $5000 to spend in 1 day, what do you do with it? Well, at least this isn't another one of those MILLION dollar questions... I don't know. Do I have to spend it the day it's given to me??? Can I have a week or two to THINK about what I might want to do with it? Or am I simply handed it at 8:00 on a Monday morning and told it has to be GONE by 8:00 pm?Right now the food pantry at church is almost empty - I'd restock that! And then... I dunno... pay off a bill or two!
what is your biggest fear? A spider in my shoe? That would be difficult since mostly I wear flip flops... but that would have to be it though I guess!
Boy! I have not played this since Father's Day! How'd THAT happen? Guess I've been too busy livin' summer...
Well I haven't put up the Chesapeake Water Park yet - so I guess NOW is a good time! I think I'll stick to my personal favorites. . . you don't need the whole shebang!
Last year when I took Luz to the water park, she didn't have much fun. She really didn't like ANY of it. This year was a whole 'nother story! THIS year she goes under water! It's OKAY to splash her face... and she had a BALL! Look at her slide!
Here Liam tries the open slide... it requires a tube to go down.
Here Ronin comes off the Tube Slide - which requires NO tube to come down! LOL! He played on this one ALL DAY LONG. No joke... I think I saw him ONCE over in another part of the park!
Rhianna liked the open slide better. It is VERY dark inside that Tube Slide! I don't blame her! Liam, by the way, liked BOTH slides and used each equally I think!
*a strange child*, Ronin, Rhianna, Liam, Luz... Sometimes you just adopt an extra kid along the way!
Liam battles the snake!
Luz on the Pirate Ship slide!
She was SUCH a big girl that day! She EVEN learned how to JUMP into the pool off the wall! Amazin' I tell ya!
(the Texas kids learned nothin! They were born with fins and gills!)
I have had my eye on this wreath for moooonths... but it was just a wee bit out of my price range! A week ago it went on sale for less than half price! I ordered it immediately! A ribbon came with it that does not match my decor, so I am going to be on the lookout for something to jazz it up just a little... but I like it simply for it's simple self even without a ribbon or bow! Now... if I can just keep Kitty from eating it....
Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts Friday Fave Five in which we share our five favorite things from the past week. If you would like to play along just post your 5, link back to Susanne and visit her to see who else is playin'!
This has been a really slow week. I've been a bit bored. The Texas kids went home... Krysti went back to college... Luz started school... I got NOBODY to play with... *pout*... BUT... there have been favorite parts anyway! You knew there was...
1. Krysti and I spent her last two days at home at Paint & Pottery -- she was working on a Winnie the Pooh mug, and I was working first on a dinner plate for Derek, and then a sandwich plate for Luz. It's just a calm, quiet, peaceful way to spend time together - and we both have fun doing it! I MISS that little girl when she's at school!
2. I got to see Amanda, Hector & Luz several times this week! On Monday for Luz's birthday - we had dinner together, and then... being the blessedest Nana on the planet - I got to help see Luz off to her first day of Kindergarten on Tuesday! And then they stopped in to share with me all about Luz's first day of school! And then they stopped in AGAIN on Thursday! I really LIKE having her at the school in MY neighborhood! That means I get to see her -- and her Mom & Dad more often! LOL! ANYtime I get to see Luz is a favorite moment!
3. We found out on Tuesday that Hector has been accepted into my husband's Sheet Metal Local! We were hoping maybe he could get into the same company - but they are just not hiring right now - as a matter of fact, they're getting ready to lay off... This has been a realllly rough year for him and work -- he had JUST finished training to be a locksmith about 2 months ago - and was really enjoying it, when about 2 or 3 weeks ago he lost his job. I will tell you something though... This young man does NOT give up! He really amazes me. He had to leave the carpenter's union when he left Colorado to come here -- he just couldn't get carpentry work here. But he never gave up. He took a job with Target that was really beneath him - but jobs were scarce and he did what he had to do. When the opportunity to Locksmith came up, he jumped on that -- and I really DID think that was going to be his career - but I don't know everything and it was not to be! It's a great skill - but there just aren't many jobs out there for it! So, he applied at the Sheet Metal Workers, and now that is what he's going to be doing! He doesn't start until the end of September or early October, so things are really REALLY tight for them right now. But he NEVER gives up! He has a really strong work ethic! And now there is light at the end of the tunnel again! :) Amanda is also looking for work now that Luz is in school all day... So I'm still praying for HER to find something!
4. Corn on the cob! Yes... Twice in the past two weeks we have had a corn feast for dinner! LOL! Do any of you do that? NOTHING for dinner BUT corn on the cob? Okay - honestly I do put some fresh fruit out too - but very little of it gets eaten -- mostly we just eat corn! Good ol' buttered and salted corn on the cob! Even though we have always done this a couple of times - sometimes LOTS of times - each summer, Krysti looked at me like I had daisies sprouting from my ears or something when I said that's what we would have! We had something else instead... I waited for her to go back to school and then those of us who APPRECIATE corn on the cob had it! More for US! Yea! So... fess up! Do YOU ever have a corn feast?
5. Now, I know I started with Krysti & I at Paint & Pottery... but I'm also gonna finish there! Because today I went and picked UP our finished pieces ... and I can share them with you! I'm VERY happy with the way they turned out -- and Krysti is going to FREAK over the way her Pooh mug turned out! It's PERFECT! Sooooooo... here is the fruit of our labors!
This is the dinner plate I made for Derek Some of you have seen my "set" of hand painted dinnerware.
And then a little sandwich plate for Luz. She is a matchbox car fanatic and she didn't get to see this yet - but she's going to LOVE it! She'll never want to eat off of another plate again at my house!
And HERE... is Krysti's mug!!!
LOOK at that! She's been working with learning to shade with these paints. Ceramic paints are sO hard to work with -- it is NOT anything like working with acrylics or pastels or ANY other paints. If you've never worked with them you can't really appreciate how GOOD this is! But she will be verrrrry proud of it - and she should be!
And this is the flip side! CUTE, huh?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sooooooo about those credit card people.... Well, I DID finally get through to a person who I DO believe was knowledgeable about things of this nature, but all he really did was to assure me that what the other folks had told me really IS the way things are done! Yes... you DO fax it to our Correspondence Dept... No, there is no name. Apparently, it's not the MAIL room - but it is a room where many different kinds of correspondence come in, and as they come in they are given one by one, in order, to the next available person who's dealing with that sort of thing. I told this very nice gentleman that I have worked for large corporations before, and that I know that Chase Manhattan is NOT run by a large group of imbeciles, but to please open his ears and think HOW this sounds on MY end of the phone. I told him it sounds flat out SKETCHY! I told him I do not WANT to send "nobody" a copy of my power of attorney, because then I have NOBODY to call to make sure that it has indeed been received and has not "accidentally" fallen into "somebody's" hands that doesn't need to have it! We played ring a ring a rosie and then I just said all fall down! Dennis and I aren't sending the power of attorney to nobody. Dennis will pay off the bill and we will be done with them. That's the way WE work....
Ohhhh! And the last piece of news...
Luz is back to being a moppy top again! She likes her hair short! It's sassy!
If nothing else, I get blog fodder out of this. Mom's new credit card came yesterday. Not a new account -- just a replacement card for the account she's had for a million years - right. It's the card that all of her medications are charged to... ocassionally a doctor visit or something like that... everything else we cover for her. So the new card comes, Dennis gives it to me and says you need to call that number and veryify it yada yada yada. So I'm gettin' ready to go to bed last night, and the card is sitting on my desk, I thought I'll just go ahead and take care of this now... I dial the number and wait to punch in the card number... I do that and suddenly I am being whisked to a LIVE PERSON! Wow! Where are THEY when you WANT one??? So, the guy comes on the phone ... "To whom am I speaking?"... I play the game... Louise Lantz, I say. Well, he goes into some sscchpeel about how she's had this account for xx many years and she doesn't use this card much... and maybe she would like to absorb some of her other expenses ON to this card. No thanks. He goes on... same sscchpeel... just rearranged as though I might not have understood it the first time. I'm tired. I want to go to bed. All I wanted to do was punch in numbers and get the card verified. I FORGET to be her. I say... She doesn't HAVE any other expenses! She? WHO is this. (busted!) Okay... I'm Mary Lantz, her daughter in law. Well I need to speak with HER, where is she. She is in bed, and you can not speak with her. She has alzheimers. She doesn't even knOw who she is! (the fact is she doesn't know who she is - half the time she can't remember her last name anymore!) Look, I have power of attorney over her affairs; is there someone that I can fax it to and get this straightend out? Well... he doesn't know. He puts me on hold. He comes back ... I will transfer you. Next guy. How can I help you? I explain. He has NO idea. Apparently this had been a lateral move. I ask to speak to a supervisor and I'm put through to a woman. How can I help you? I explain. Well, we can't talk to you - we have to talk to her. Ma'am... you HAVE to talk to ME because talking to HER will get you nowhere. I'm switched again... bottom line... 5th person I talk to... and explain to... gives me a fax number and tells me to fax the power of attorney to this number. And WHO do I address it to? No who ma'am... it just goes to our Correspondence Department. Your Correspondence Dept? Yes ma'am. No.... I need a NAME of someone to send this verrrrrry important legal document to. I have no name ma'am... you just fax it there and they will take care of it. (now... my first "real" job was working in a mail room... I'm envisioning the "Correspondence Dept" as I'm speaking to him!) I said "Sir, do you understand that correspondence can be anything from a letter of complaint to an invoice request to a power of attorney? I need a...." click! He hung up on me. Now... with each person that I spoke with I heard the recording telling me that this call MAY be monitored OR recorded! I can only pray! I scribbled a note to the "correspondence dept." and asked for a "real person" to phone me at their convenience... and I went to bed! I woke up early enough to talk to Dennis about it this morning, and we have pretty much decided that if I can't get a NAME of someone - preferrably in their LEGAL dept. - to send this too, that we will just DROP Mom's credit card and put her stuff on one of ours. It really doesn't make a difference - the payment comes from the same place -- it just is kinda nice to be able to keep her stuff separate. It did however open my eyes to how LITTLE these people are trained to handle legitimate "honest" problems. They knew JUST what to do if I were a thief who had stolen this card! (and I have no doubt they thought that's who I was initially - maybe even in the end!) But after explaining to 5 people the real situation, you would think that I could have gotten a NAME of SOMEone to speak to! I couldn't even get the names of the people I WAS speaking to. I asked for one person's name and he said "Mark"... and I asked for his last name, and he said "I'll give you my supervisor's name"... I took it! Then I asked to speak to the supervisor... when HE wasn't there. LOL! I'm sO glad Dennis and I do NOT have an account with CHASE Master Card!!! Today, I will give ONE try to calling a different number on the back of the card, and see if I can get through to anyone who knows anything... and if not, I will simply cut the card up and toss it away! DONE!
If Thom and his shenanigans don't get MY blog involved in the craziest schemes sometimes.... yesterday he TAGGED me to create another message in a bottle. THIS time in an effort to help HIM escape the dungeon of some queen even crazier than the original Crazy Queen! THIS one goes by the name of Mimi Pencil Skirt Queen of Memes. At any rate, it seems for weeks now, she has been holding Oh My Darlin' Thom, locked in the dungeon of her palace, and of his own device he will (trust me) NEVER get free! Soooooo, he feels that if enough of us do indeed abide by the Queen's wishes and send a g'jillion bottles out to clutter up our sandy shores, that perhaps he may go free! Sooooooo... I'm a sucker and I said I would TRY... thus my attempts to gain Thom's freedom.
But... in case this one doesn't DO it...
Perhaps THIS one might help???
I simply refuse to tag anyone - which may wind ME up in the dungeon... but if you desire to help Thom... or just pleeeeease the Queen... do try!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In other news, my Luzi Goose had a WONDERFUL first day of school yesterday! I wasn't going to go out an meet her at the bus - figured I'd leave the little family alone - though I was itchin' to see her and find out how it went! Well... they knew! They brought her down to see me when she got off the bus! She LOVED her first day of school -- and her card stayed GREEN all day! (it starts green in the morning - but it could turn to yellow... or even RED during the course of the day! We wouldn't want THAT to happen!) We told her to keep hers green! She likes her teacher AND her aide, and she got to play on the BIG playground as well as the little one! They went to the library where my friend Debbie (the librarian) read them a story - about a kindergarteners first day! Imagine that! She did GREAT! Honestly -- I think all day kindergarten is tooooo much -- but it is what it is these days, and she did fine! But I bet she slept like a BRICK last night!!!
I've known for weeeeeks that my first RED Chili pepper was going to be a Ruby Tuesday one day...
What I didn't know... was how it would come out!
But it was PRICELESS!
Yesterday was Luz's real birthday and after her kindergarten orientation, we met at Ledo's for dinner so I could give her her presents. After she had opened them all, I had a lunch bag I had brought -- because I had TOLD her that she would get my first pepper! She LOVES them and she has been eyeballing it the whole time it was growing and changing color! So I opened the lunch bag and pulled it out to show it to her... and she took a BITE out of it!!! Right there in the restaurant! Neither Amanda nor I could believe it... but she did! And then Amanda told her she had to put the rest back and they would take it home and make a salad or something with it! She ALMOST bit into one of the tomatoes I brought her too! But Amanda stopped her! ROFL! She is such a funny kid! I love her so much!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So TODAY is Luz's first day of school! By a strange twist of fate, at the last minute she is no longer attending her neighborhood school, but is now attending MY neighborhood school instead. We do feel that this will be in her best interest... Amanda & Hector are once again doing some job maneuvering and if Luz is in school near me, then at least I am always available no matter what comes up in her day! Needless to say, I am THRILLED because she is in a school that I have taught in -- I know the principal and many of the teachers, and I am 100% comfortable knowing where she's at!
Pin on the nametag...
Last minute advice from Daddy...
She IS ready!
The bus arrives...
Bye-bye Baby Girl!!! Have a GREAT day!
Annnnnnnd.... The BOOK Meme... AGAIN - but it's different every time! I stole obtained THIS one from Quilly! Just this morning as a matter of fact!
The rules are:
1. Collect the book that you have most handy: WOF A Grand New Day (devotional)
2. Turn to page 161: 159... 160... yep! There it is!
3. Find the 5th complete sentence: Found it
4. Cite the sentence on your blog: “But there are signs along the way that one's body is changing." (not what ya expected from my devotional, huh?)
5. Pass it on to 5 other people: Yea... rules were made to be broken? If you wanna do it... do it! Then let me know! I'll come visit!
Macro Monday... (sorta) ... as in I'm posting one, but I'm not playing "the game".
Anyway... Meet Moth.
Aren't they supposed to be UGLY? I have moths around my house. They don't look like this guy! My moths are ugly. Or at least ... boring. This guy fascinates me! I think he's beauuuuutiful!
Take a closer look! Look at that hair do! Is that a hairdo you could hate? He's a REDHEAD for goodness sake!
Here... Look CLOSER...
See? I mean... is that a face only a mama could love? I don't think so!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stole this meme from (guess who?) Thom, who stole it from someone who probably stole it too! That's as far back as MY linkage is going! The idea of this one is to answer ALL the questions with song titles from ONE artist! I chose Kenny Rogers - cuz he's got a million songs! And I like MOST of them! So here we are...
MY LIFE, ACCORDING TO KENNY ROGERS
-Are you a male or female? Lady
-Describe yourself Crazy Me
-How do you feel right now? I Wanna Make You Smile
-If you could go anywhere, where would you go? Islands in the Stream
-Your favorite form of transportation? Blue Train
-Describe Your Morning Routine? I'll Just Write My Music and Sing My Songs
-Your best friend is? She Rides Wild Horses
-What’s the weather like? The Greatest
-Pet Peeve? I Can't Believe Your Eyes
-If your life was a TV show, what would it be called? Every Time Two Fools Collide
-Your relationship? The Vows Go Unbroken
-Your Fear? Sayin' Goodbye
-What is the best advice you have to give? Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town
-If you could change your name, you would change it to? Lucille
-What do you say when you are frustrated? Anything At All
-Thought for the day? They Don't Make Them Like They Used To
-How you would like to die? Blaze of Glory
-Your soul’s present condition? I Trust You -Your motto? Life is Good, Love is Better
This was FUN! I miiiiiight have to do it again... with a different artist...
Saints preserve us! After two days of struggling with collages and slide shows, I wasn't sure I would ever post this! Well... because of the SMALL size I'm limited to on this blog, collages were out of the question... but the video (though it would be better larger too) is good... now that I've finally got it made and THINK it may even upload and be a productive part of this post ... though that remains to be seen... let's get ON with this story!
Our day at Port Discovery was absolutely positively AWESOME! It was NOTHING what I thought it would be... much more playful, and much LESS museumish! Guess that's why it's a CHILDREN'S museum - though I've been to others that have still been much more museumish!
When you walk in to PD the first thing you see is a huuuuuuuuuge 3 story playground! It is THE center attraction of the whole building and it can be gotten into and out of on all 3 stories! Very worrisome actually to a by self Nana with 4 wiggly wandery kids! And I did actually lose a couple of them during the day... but the place is such that even when they're lost, they mostly don't THINK they are, and if you can just hang on to 3 of them, eventually you spot the 4th one and a reunion is arranged! Only ONE ended up in tears - and that was right at the beginning - before they figured out the ins and outs of it all. Eventually they all thought I was nuts and that they should just be allowed to run off and do whatever they wanted and I should just sit tight and wait for them... but that WASN'T happening!!! ROFL!
I decided our best strategy was to stick together and tackle this place ONE floor at a time!!! We started on the bottom - cuz that's where we were - and worked our way around and up... starting in a cool little play area that had a kid sized, but REAL grocery store set up, with checkouts and scanners and a freezer section and scales. The works! And right next to it was a gas station with a REAL car - a little green volkswagon - that the kids could drive if they only had a key... and an air pump to fill the tires, and an ATM machine that gave play money! Pretty darned cool! The kids liked it a lot - but it was verrrrrry crowded and so we moved on to the Chagall art exhibit!
Chagall was awesome! Every single exhibit had hands on SOMEthing for the kids to do. And each exhibit also had a phone the kids could listen to a description about that particular piece of work. In the one above the boys were taking a rubbing. In another the girls were arranging flowers. Yet another - Paris Through The Window - had magnetic portions where they could actually change the view that one saw through the window! And in my favorite they actually became part of the artwork! There was about a dozen different things... it was very neat!
One display area was Egyptian... it had a lot of cool stuff too! When you entered the area the first thing to catch the children's eye is a raft to get you over the river (the Nile, I'm assuming)... they had to have strong muscles to pull themselves (and the raft) across. There were also stepping stones to hop across ... but they appeared to be in the sand! LOL! There were all sorts of very sturdy recreations of pottery and tools that the ancient Egyptians used - and absolutely everything is touchable! There were some really cool puzzles... and there was the Pharoah's Tomb! I gotta tell ya - the kids did NOT want to go in that room! The 3 bigger ones started in and then turned around to wait for me... and discussed the possibility of NOT going... Luz was clinging to my hand and wanted me to CARRY her! I was laughing! I reminded them it was a CHILDREN's museum and it would be okay! Well, once we got in there and they saw the MUMMY and other cool stuff - they LOVED it! One thing in particular was the xray boxes. You could look into them and push a button and they let you see what it looked like INSIDE the mummy at that place. The boxes slid the entire length of the mummy so they could look at the whole thing! Very cool.
Of course, playing in the caskets was cool too! (did ya know it's DARK in there? duh!)
Another WELL loved part of the museum was the Water Works room. I admit it was rather warm in the building -- of course, it was about 98 degrees outside that day too... but the building was warm - and so going into the water room was a treat! They got to explore things like buoyancy, and water pressure, and there was even music to be made with water. The favorite parts were trying to create a BUBBLE big enough to completely encompass one's self and another area where they got totally DRENCHED in which they were basically plumbers. They got to put pipes together and figure out how to redirect water to get it to where they wanted it to be! They loved that!
But the absolute number ONE favoritest of alllllllll possible favorite things that they got to do that day, was the lasssssssst place we went... who'da known? They could have spent 8 hours doing just this ONE area! It was a mystery story, and THEY were the detectives! It was all about the Baffled Family... all 4 members of the family had gone missing and the children had to search the house and find clues to help them discover WHAT had happened to each member - and how, and where they were now! We went through it once... and they solved NONE. Then we went down to play at the grocery store, and then came back to play the mystery again. The 2nd time through, the did successfully discover what happened to Grandma! (I'm not tellin'! That would ruin the game!) They all left though HOPING above all HOPE that they would be able to return to Maryland one day and go to Port Discovery AGAIN so they could solve the rest of those mysteries! It was FABULOUS!
Rhi & Luz go down the drain... *glub*glub*glub*
As I said... it was a GREAT day!
... and she hits publish and wonders... will the slide show work?
Ya know what? I spent the ENTIRE day today -- except for the part where I went to get my nails done (Equadorable Coral, the color) - trying to create a stupid video slide show so that I could share Port Discovery with y'all! (because I knOw you don't want to scroll through 200 pictures... and I don't even want to post that many -- but even 35 would really be ... too many!) Apparently, even using something as simple (i'm assured) as Picaso to assist me, I AM a video/movie/slideshow IGNORAMOUS! Therefore I posted NOTHING, and will not post ANYthing until I get this all figured out to my satisfaction... it will be sometime... quite awhile... after church tomorrow! Maybe Wednesday! In the meantime... I will still visit you and love you just the same! But now I'm going to bed... I need to *sigh* reFRESH... and rejuvinate... and be ready to do battle once again tomorrow ... AFTER, of course, I go to church and PRAISE God that HE did not invent Picaso... He just gave some MAN the idea... I'm sure it was the MAN that misconstrued things and is now causing ME headaches. (okay ... it MIGHT have been a woman! But it wasn't God...) Amen... and goodnight! And good morning -- cuz I won't be here!
Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts Friday Fave Five in which we share our five favorite things from the past week. If you would like to play along just post your 5, link back to Susanne and visit her to see who else is playin'!
I must say that this past week has been a GREAT one for me! Come on along and you shall SEE why!
1. Some of you know that my grand-niece and two grand-nephews were in town from Texas. They were staying with my daughter for the past 3 weeks, and I've been spending some time with them all too. But this week, I actually got them to myself for a little while! Last Friday, I took them all up to Baltimore to the Port Discovery Children's Museum, where we had a totally awesome time for about 5 hours! We easily could have made 8 but we didn't get there until noon and they close at 5:00.... if you get a chance, I highly recommend it! It's only 12.50 per person and worth EVERY penny!
We at lunch with the Robot Tree at McDonalds!
2. While I was gone with the kids, Tree Planter Man showed up at my house and dug up our little dead flowering almond tree, and replaced it with my beautiful new RED Crepe Myrtle! I have always wanted one of these beautiful trees, and now I have one planted up by the mailbox! I am literally PRAYING that this tree lives! It is the 4th attempt in 20 years to have a tree up there!
3. The kids came home with me and spent the night camped out on my living room floor Friday night. Saturday morning we got up and went to the Chesaeake Beach Water Park. Another FABULOUS FUN day! All of these kids are FISH and the water park was just phenomenal fun for them! And for ME too!
4. My daughter picked them up Saturday night -- but they returned to my house Sunday afternoon for little Luz's 5th birthday party!
5. And then on MONDAY I spent the day at Sandy Point State Park BEACH with Amanda, Hector and all the kids! It was soooo much FUN! I am just sO blessed to have had this time to spend with all the kids. My adult ones included!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Texas kids left Wednesday and arrived safely back home. They are back in the arms of their Mom & Dad who missed them horribly - but were also excited that the kids were having such a great vacation in Maryland! They go back to school on Monday and will have quite a bit to write about HOW they spent their summer vacation! :)
Luz will be starting KINDERGARTEN on Wednesday! They have orientation/meet the teachers Tuesday evening (ON Luz's real birthday!) and then on Wednesday morning that little peanut gets up bright and early for her very first day of school! I can hardly STAND it ... and yet, I am thrilled for her! She is just growing up SO darned fast though! (when you don't get them until they're 3, they really grow FAST!)
This morning I am down at the radiology lab getting my carotid doppler. Whisper little prayers that all goes well! I'm really not worried a bit -- but maybe I'm stupid! I remember an acquaintance of ours going in for his doppler and they wouldn't let him go home! They put him straight in the hospital for surgery because his artery was sO clogged! I'm sure I'll be home though -- in time to go to Paint & Pottery with Krysti! I have a new plate to finish! :)
Thematic Photographic 63 hosted by Carmi Today's Theme: Summer
SPLASH Down!
Lots more water park fun to come!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh! Yesterday's #3 was left blank because I didn't have a bloomin' thing I was wonderin' about ... Quilly said it best - all my wonders are pretty much solved by GOOGLE!
I saw this at Barb's, who saw it at Brenda’s, who saw it at Diane’s, who made it up. WOW! How often do you actually get to know where the meme originated??? Anyway - all you've heard about forever now is the kids... so let's just toss this out there! Besides... it's (supposedly) a rainy day... and a meme is always good for a rainy day!
1. How come I can never find: my style of underwear in MY size!?
2. I wish I’d never started: letting myself re-gain my weight. (WHAT was I thinking???)
3. I wonder why:
4. Mama always told me: It's just as easy to marry a rich man as a poor one -- but she was wrong. Of course, she also always told me to love Jesus and trust Him with my life ... and she was right...
5. There’s this one thing in my closet that I just can’t seem to get rid of: Ohhhhh no ya don't! I DID get rid of it! That ratty t-shirt is GONE! *nods* Six more ratty ones have taken it's place... but THAT one is gone!
6. My favorite guilty pleasure is: pedicures! So frivolous. So ... well, I can't say unnecessary... on MY feet they really ARE necessary -- but I could do them at home more often.
7. I always forget to: tell Dennis when the car needs something done...
8. I have never: been out of the country, water skied, cheated on my husband... (there are a b'zillion things I've never done! This is silly!)
9. I’m obsessed with: God. (thank You God!)
10. One of my favorite memories is: Well, of course, the birth of each of my children... and they day they told me Luz was coming... but how about THE DAY I got a truly spontaneous HUG from Derek! There's only been ONE since he was about 5 years old... so it's a treasure for sure.
Feel free to play along, and if you do, let me know, and you might let Diane know, too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LOOK!
Last Wednesday my peppers were just starting to turn red...
TODAY, they are ALMOST there!!! *sigh* ... patience... patience... patience Melli...
