Travel Tuesday

Everything went well with my colonoscopy and best of all, the doctor says I don't ever have to have another one! I'm sure that has more to do with my age--as you only do these every 10 years.

Since I had the very first appointment (I always choose early), we were home, I got ready and we were on our way to St. Louis by 9:30. I had an English muffin in the car--my first food since 6 p.m. Saturday night. We stopped for lunch about 1 p.m. at Freddy's in Marion, IL. That was the best hamburger and fries!! We got the senior meal and topped it off with a frozen custard turtle (hot fudge, hot caramel and pecans). The child-size custard cost as much as our senior meal!! 

We got to St. Louis just in time to miss the "hard" rush hour traffic. When we got to Jeanne and Jim's we talked and had happy hour. Jeanne had a charcuterie laid out--at which I scoffed! If we have that, then it's dinner! I nibbled, while Butch made it his dinner and by-passed the chili she'd made. We basically talked the whole evening while Jeanne rolled her eyes a lot! I asked her if she was bored! She already told me that I talk too much, but this time, Butch and Jim were doing their fair share of the talking--but mostly Butch! He can be a talker too--once he gets started! I was having a perfectly delightful time! We don't see Jim very much as it's mostly Jeanne and me doing things together so it was fun to hear all about what he'd been up to.

Now today, the work begins. The "boards" are much smaller than I expected. We have way too many pictures--way too many. Then I had a brainstorm in the middle of the night--we'll put two together. They are lightweight foam core, so that should work.

Later, I'm hoping to get to visit with Jackie--and the girls depending on what time they get home from school. Then tonight, we're all meeting Matt and Sharon for dinner at one of their favorite Italian restaurants. 

We cannot come to St. Louis without going Italian. I will stand by this statement: St. Louis has the BEST Italian food in all of the U.S. Every restaurant is a winner because there are so many, that they HAVE to be really good or they won't last. There is no better Italian salads and pizza anywhere. They have a style all their own! Oh, and don't get me started on the bread! 

Okeedokee, that's it for now. If all goes according to plan, we'll head home very early tomorrow morning--again, avoiding the nearly stand-still rush hour traffic! That's the big city for ya'!

Me on Monday

Well, I'm not exactly starting this day in a fun way! By the time you read this, I will have completed my colonoscopy. This is the first time I had to do--what I was told by my friends--was the very long prep process. Apparently the way my doctor used to do it is no longer an accepted practice. But as it turned out, I think they really over-exaggerated. It wasn't even a gallon of liquid. Basically, I had to take 4 Ducolax at noon. Then at 6 p.m. I had to drink 8 oz. every 15 minutes for one hour. Then, nothing else until 5 hours before my appointment--which was 1:30 a.m. At that time, I only had to drink 8 oz. every 15 minutes for 45 minutes. It wasn't fun to have to get up in the middle of the night and try to stay awake to ward off any problems--luckily it all went fine. To me, this was just an inconvenience. But on the other hand, I'll do anything to insure my good health. 

Since I am writing this in the middle of the night while I try to stay awake, I'm going to just tell you what's happening afterwards. 

We'll come home so I can get ready to go to St. Louis. Since I am unable to go for Janet's "Celebration of Life" on Saturday, (it's our annual family trip--this time to Costa Rica), I wanted to honor her as best I could. 

My sister, Jeanne and I have agreed to make the photo boards. I have gone through hundreds of photos provided by various family members and narrowed it down to 218! I first printed a contact sheet and then set up categories--one for each board. Then I went through, edited, cropped and printed all of the photos, cut them apart and cut off the white edges. Whew! A lot of work. In fact, I have 13.5 hours in pre-planning. That also includes the 10 titles I cut on my Cricut. We need to be ready to work when I get to St. Louis. Hopefully, since it's a matter of putting it all together, I'm hoping it won't be so hard--just time consuming. I guess it depends on how many photos we need to eliminate. 

There were so many times that I forgot that Janet was gone--thinking, "I need to call Janet and ask questions about some of these pictures!" It still hasn't sunk in! It's awful. 

There are just so many things I'm going to miss: Camp Aunt Barb, poker games, sister's trips, scrapbooking and traveling. I'm really sorry to miss her "party," but at least I can feel good that I honored her by helping to put these boards together. She was very particular about how she looked in photos, so I think she'll be happy with the pictures we picked. 

I'll be back on Wednesday so that I can make my dental appointment on Thursday morning. The only thing I have left for myself--healthwise is my mammogram in a couple weeks. Then I'll be good for another year! I prefer to get it all done within a few weeks. 

How about you? Are you up-to-date with all of your health appointments? 

Something for Sunday

February by the Numbers:

Movies Seen: 7

***Send Help

*****Sole Mio

Mercy (fell asleep)

***Wuthering Heights

*****Crime 101

*****I Can Only Imagine

*****Epic Elvis

Books Read—15 (When you don't have tv for a week, you get more reading done!)

5 star books:

   Revenge of the Tipping Point

   Hitler’s Last Days

   Dolly Parton Behind the Seams

   Where the Light Gets In

   My Friends

   Ain’t Nobody’s Fool

   Every Vow You Break

   Life’s Missing Instruction Manual

Podcasts:

Paul Burell—3

Lunch Out—11

Dinner Out:—1

Happy Hours—3

Bridge—2

Documentaries/Movies/Series  

Netflix :

*****The Suitcase Killer

*****Call Me Kate

*****The Confession Tapes (11E)

*****Don’t F**K with Cats (3E)

*****Simon Cowel (6E)

*****Lucy Letby Investigation

*****The Untold Fall of Favre

*****Bridgerton (11E)

*****Love & Death (7E)

*****Fool Me Once (8E)

*****Jeffrey Epstein (4E)

*****Alone (12E)

*****Naked Ambition

Prime:

****Lorena (4E)

*****Goliath (8E)

Scrapbook Pages Completed:

Trips & Events:

Morgan’s baby shower

Sandy & Greg in town

Andrea Boccelli concert w/Steph

During the Big Chill:

Things accomplished the week without internet/tv:

1. Cleaned out pool bath—towels and drawers
2. Cleaned out Margarita’s closet—UGH!
3. Cleaned between the washer and dryer.
4. Cleaned under the dryer.
5. Cleaned the fireplace screens and door of 3 fireplaces (the 4th one--in the library is currently covered by empty boxes! I'm determined to fill them with things to get rid of).
6. Sorted all of my jewelry—it took 2 hours! (I put it out on the dining room table when all the girls were here for Morgan's shower and then got rid of what was left).

Well, it's been a minute and a lot has happened!

I have not had the wherewithal to blog. It's been a sad few days.

 

So. Last weekend was our winter scrapbook retreat. You might recall that my sister-in-law was not able to come because she was sick. To make a long story short, we found out on Saturday that she passed away. OMGosh! It was such a shock. We are all going to miss her so much--especially our family. She has been one of our sisters for 50 years. And my scrapbooking buddy for 25 years. Plus, we've done a lot of traveling together. I talked to my sister, Jeanne, every day since it happened. We still can't believe it. It's going to take awhile to adjust to life without her. 

One of our early scrapbook retreats. 

This is our current favorite place to scrapbook. This is where we were when we got the news. 

Last spring, I had the pleasure of showing her around London. 

From the back, Janet, Jennifer, Janice, Jeanne and me. I don't remember where we were in this picture. Missing are Joyce and Sharon to round out our sisterhood.

Our first mother/daughter trip to Savannah, GA.

Our most recent trip--2024--in Charleston, SC.

This was last winter--Nancy is behind the camera.

This was my 70th birthday party. My sister, Janice, sils, Sharon and Janet came down and surprised me. I couldn't believe it. That meant a lot to me that they would take the time to make the trip.

Here is her obituary. Her daughter, Jackie wrote it. I've removed last names because, well, this is the internet!!

Janet passed away on February 21, 2026.

She was preceded in death by her husband Ronald and her parents Claude “Jack” and Doris. She was the loving mother of Michael and Jacquelyn (Gregory); cherished grandmother “Gram” of Evelyn and Josephine; beloved sister of Jerry (Karen) and Susan (John) treasured aunt and great-aunt to many.

To know Janet was to love Janet. She had the most generous and caring heart and always knew how to make people feel special. She enjoyed traveling with her friends and family and was always up for a new adventure. Janet loved her kids without limit and was always there for them. She was the best Gram a kid could ask for; planning special activities and games, taking fun trips, making holidays memorable, cheering on the sidelines, and loving her granddaughters with her whole heart. Sunday evenings will never be the same without her lavish dinners, catching up on the week, and playing games. She will be missed beyond measure.

A Celebration of Life will take place at a later date.

************************************

Janet, I am going to miss you so much!! Love, Barb

Scrapbook Saturday

I am still on my winter scrapbook retreat on Kentucky Lake. Janet was unable to come at the last minute as she is home with the flu (we think). I'll be making her title and end pages for her.

This year our theme is all about our home. I always design the title and end page of our album. So, the girls are able to make them while we're all together. I always have every detail pre-cut, because if I don't, someone will mess it up!!

The title page starts with 2 large pictures of each person's house. 

The inside is a map of where the house is located--cut into a large heart. Then it's sewn down the middle on the sewing machine and folded in half. I used a gold star to designate where we actually live. I used the heart folded in half as a template to cut the part of the house that will match up to the base photo.

I cut out all of the little houses on the Cricut. The title "For the Love of" is printed on a transparency. "HOME" on the inside map circle is stamped. It's closed with a photo turn. I used the latblemaker to print the address for everyone. Pretty simple, yet really fun to make.

For the end page, I decided to do a weaving technique. I cut all of the base frames for the weaving. That was a bit time-consuming, but had to be exact. I didn't have extra paper to spare. The quote is printed on a transparency and adhered on top. Buttons just give it a little 3-dimensional element.

I used the leftovers to make the little houses and stapled a piece of twill ribbon on top. Add the year and voila'--done!

Another retreat in the books!

Friday Funnies

Ten Things Thursday

Today, it's ten random things:

How cute are these t-shirts for a family vacation or reunion? I don't know if this is a single family or siblings. My best friend growing up was one of 14 children, so it's definitely possible.

I think this is the cutest thing! What a fun way to retire old rocking horses!

Believe it or not, this is a painted building! It looks so real!

I'm surprised we've never heard anything about this. It seems like an interesting public interest story. And pretty unbelievable to boot!

I've had this photo in my file for a long time. I don't know where this is, but it sure would be fun to have a meal here. So beautiful inside and overlooking the water.

I had this game growing up--and I have it now--although it's not my original game. I picked it up at an antique shop somewhere. I always went for Tom to be my boyfriend, and my prom dress was always the pink one--if I could get it!

This is interesting and a great use of old jeans and their zippers. Still, I wouldn't want it hanging on my wall. Maybe in a kid's room. But aren't people so creative? I would never have thought of something like this. I would definitely have to be able to sew much better than I do!

I'm not sure how I feel about this. Looking at the face, this little kitty seems adorable. But then when you look at the whole thing, it's kind of creepy!

These are the kinds of things that you can't be sure are really true. One thing I knew from Paul Newman's book was that he was a pretty serious alcoholic. But if this is true, how sweet--and what a gift to leave behind.

When visiting London, I always visit Fortnum and Mason. I wish I had actually seen this in person. I have no idea what the event was about.