my Grandma

This is one of my Grandma's paintings. It has her signature and the date April 1963 on the back. I wasn't even born yet! It's a simple painting. She did some elaborate ones too. This was one of my favorites as a child. She has been gone for a while now. I miss her terribly. My Grandfather let me have this one. Today was her birthday.

She was my biggest fan. I could do no wrong according to her. She encouraged me in everything and believed in me more than anyone in this world. She told me stories every single night when I little. She would tell them to me over and over, no matter how tired she was. She could make bananas float in jello and always had gum and pen and paper in her purse during church. If someone loved me, she loved them. She made the best birthday cakes. They were always from scratch and were decorated like crazy. I loved to hear her sing. She made me more dresses than I can remember. I still have a few in my memory boxes.

I got from her, my love of yellow roses, my interest in photography, my dyed blond hair, the need to own hundreds of pairs of shoes, the thrill of seeing the look in my kids eyes when they see their birthday cakes I stayed up all night to create, my ability to pray, my patience and my obsession with lotion!! Happy Birthday Grandma, I love you.

I think dragon breath is made from these...

OK, I have this love of flamin hot cheetos, and I have been know to eat funyuns every once in a while. So imagine my excitement when my daughter brought these home last night. I just tried them. Let's just say it's a good thing my husband isn't home tonight, 'cause I now have flamin hot onion breath :)

let's go

I played a game of Go with my son tonight. Yes I am the black stones, and yes I know I am losing. I don't know if I will ever get the hang of this game. He is really good at it. That explains why everyone in my family plays chess and I play checkers.

girls night out

Dinner at the local mexican place + going to a chocolate party = A fun girls night out!

Yes mine is the one with whipped cream, imagine that.

i play in the dark now...

OK, I got all of my to do list done today which makes me happy. Being happy makes me smile. When I think smile, I think of my rock band drums. That's because my family says I am too loud when I play them. So I get rock band drum pads for my birthday. Yeah!! I like smiley faces as much as anybody so when I got these I was excited. BUT, when you have 4 very bright colored smiles in a row right in front of you, it is a little much. I play in the dark now! BUT, that's not the worst part. They had a slight adhesive on the back and was suppose to stick on their own. So after overzealous me and several teenage boys with way more wicked skills than me have played, they lost their stickiness. No problem, right, just remove them. OOOOOhhhhh no, they have left this sticky residue all around the edge of the drums. They fall off during every song and land on my feet, cause I play barefoot in my pajamas. And they all land in the exact same spot like some adhesive landing spot or something. So now they are in a pile and have transferred their little stickiness balls to the top of each pad. The close up pic is for your viewing pleasure of the little balls of goo. Enjoy, and Rock On Man!!!

parking lot castle

If it had a drawbridge, it would be way cooler.

sunset glow

As soon as I lifted the camera to take the pic, the sun sank behind the hill. It left a nice glow though.

on the road again

Spent over 4 hours driving around today being chauffeur to my teenager that only has a permit. I am a sing along with the radio pro now!

you crafted for me!

I love my friend. She made this for me. It has a stand and everything. Thanks Jennifer.

for Pat

My mom's best friend passed away this week. Tonight was the memorial service. God Bless her. She loved my kids.

design in the wood

I like this pattern. It's on a lot of my furniture.

music to my ears

I was only halfway through the door tonight after work and I hear "Mom, I made dinner." My 16 year old son fixed dinner. It was frozen pizza and he was already eating, and it was great!

dead plants 32,986 vs live plants 1

This plant was covered in big leaves a month ago. I have this talent for killing every plant I have ever had. Yes, I keep buying more and my family keeps giving them to me as gifts. This is the latest victim. I have one ivy plant left, and it isn't in that great of shape right now. My Mom has this amazing green thumb, she can put a dead stick in water and grow a palm tree, ok, maybe not that good, but she has some plants older than me, and I am old. Some are so big if she wants to move it somewhere else in the house, people have to come over and wear those lifting belts. You would think that I would have at least inherited a green hangnail or something. I think I will double check and see if I was adopted.

smoooooooooooth

Dry winter skin all gone. This stuff is amazing.

shopping

Spent a lot of the afternoon here buying a new dishwasher!

doddle

I had a busy workload this week at work. But, during a meeting I found time to draw this. I think it is crying because I just saw how much my health insurance preminum was going to be.

pretending to be a rock star

Feeling low on energy. Have a not so perfect day. Need a pick me up. Play a little rock band and kick it at 94% on the drums. Oh Yeah! I rock!

time

Ever have one of those days? There just didn't seem to be enough time today to do, watch, read, clean, move, organize, shop, cook, relax, write, talk on facebook, or even get a kiss goodnight.

trash or treasure?

Ok, it's way past Christmas. How long do I keep this cutesy sugary stuff that no one will eat but it's too cute to throw away.

candles

Just a Monday night at home doing chores and watching tv. These are much prettier than a drain full of dishes and a tv screen. They smell better too!

superbowl sunday

My favorite moment of the Superbowl. I watch for the commercials, but I was happy to see Pilot Sully and the crew recognized.

rub the budda

Is it just me, or does this look like Boy George painted gold doing an end zone dance?

you scream, I scream...

my favorite ice cream

my drive home from work

Took these through the windshield on the way home. It was easy since everyone was going 15 miles an hour. It was worse going to work, but I didn't think to take pictures then :)

snowed and iced in

A stay at home day. I am counting my blessings we had power. Made soup and finished the Twilight books. Look how big some of the snowflakes are!

snow and ice

Poor willow tree trapped in a sea of ice covered snow. I couldn't get any closer than this without ice skates on.

obsession

I didn't make a post yesterday due to my newest obsession. I can not stop reading the Twilight books. Stephenie Meyer is a genius writer. Even when the book gets too sappy or I want Bella to stop being so needy I still am enthralled and can't stop turning the pages.

sweet sign

The Pie Kitchen is awesome.

white lights

Things decorated with white lights make me feel romantic and wishful, even a tree in the median at a stop light.

sunrise

I take these pics with my iphone so sometimes they are a little fuzzy. There was a really pretty sunrise this morning. This is at the end of my driveway, the little spec in the middle is my son waiting for the bus.

mini snow peoples

Jennifer and I went for a walk on break and found enough snow to make three little mini snowmen.

lamp

oops, almost went to bed without posting a pic, so here is my bedside lamp.

heart

pattern on my purse

yummy

My strawberry daiquiri at dinner.

snow light

light beams on the dusty snow covered drive

Learning to play

My daughter and I spent 2 hours today teaching ourselves to play. I have always wanted to play piano. This is as close as I am going to get for now.