My Layouts from our Scrapbook Weekend

  Finally---I'm ready to get them posted. I'm working on a heritage album for our Boewer family reunion

in April. They are not in any particular order.

                      This is a page about my dad's siblings. Just whatever random photos I had.

 This page is about my dad. When mom died, I got all of the "stuff." I scanned it all in and put the images on disks for my siblings. I didn't keep everything---split it up pretty evenly---but kept a few key things to put in the book---8th grade diploma, his rosary and ribbons with a couple medals.

 This layout commemorates my dad's death. The envelopes are a tiny representative of the over 350 cash gifts received to the "Eugene Zimmermann Memorial Fund." He was a well respected member of the community. Mom got offers for free house-painting, furnace repairs and other services.

Left is my grandpa and grandma Zimmermann's wedding photo with all of the "kids" on the right.

 This is the title page for the album---just your basic family tree---I plan to add some embellishments.

 These photos are just some random family and friends. Not all are identified. I plan to have post it notes at the reunion for people to add bits of information for me.

 I made a pocket here to hold my grandmother's eulogy. There's another article written by my cousin, Mark Zimmermann. He writes for the Catholic newspaper in Washington, D.C.

 This page is about my grandpa Zimmermann---I have photos of photos of his war helmet and military photo as well as scenes from the cemetery. I couldn't resist photoing the road sign to their house.

 This is just a big group of photos that I have no idea who the people are. Maybe some at the reunion will be able to help me identify some of them.

During my genealogical research, I discovered that my grandpa Zimmermann's mother, Amelia Bollenhagen, was in an orphanage along with her brother. I would really liked to have known that story. None of my aunts and uncles knew why they ended up there. AND THAT, MY FRIENDS, IS WHY I SCRAPBOOK---THE STORIES!! The most important thing to me!!!

Weekend Update

The weekend has unfolded just as I thought it would. I got up Saturday morning at 3:45 a.m. I stitched, watched tv, knitted, played on my computer---all of which I couldn't do if Butch was in the house. If he was home, I'd go upstairs and either scrapbook or work in my office. Both equally fun, but nice to be able to choose something else.

I didn't get to bed until 2 a.m. last night, and got up about 6---remember, my body is not used to this much prednisone. If I were to continue with this much, I would eventually get used to it and be able to sleep better. In the meantime, I'll just take advantage of the extra time to get stuff done!

I worked in my office for 5 hours---paying bills, wading through the piles on my desk, taking care of "mom" business, downloading photos, and a bunch of other organizational type things. A great feeling to get caught up with household details.

I'm goal oriented. I set goals, that's what I do. Then I set timelines to achieve my goals. I break tasks down to get there. I make endless lists. Here's my list for the weekend. I got it all done---what a great feeling! When I keep my lists, it allows me to accomplish things with just a few moments of time. Today, I had about 15 minutes before it was time to leave to meet the girls for lunch and the movie. In that time, I was able to clean the fireplace screens in the family room and living room---the two fireplaces we use the most. I even was able to clean the pendulum and weights inside the grandfather clock which I only do about once a year. My life is sort of on speed dial right now and I'm taking full advantage of it.

Did my fellow Gleeks catch this week's episode? I loved it! Especially since I knew we were going to be seeing Justin Bieber's 3D "Never Say Never" documentary. I thoroughly enjoyed Glee's "Justin Beber Experince"---and another of my favoritie performances from Rachel and Mercedes---"Take Me as I Am" from RENT---one of my top 5 favorite plays. Add to that, Sue's comment about Will---"sponge hair square jaw" (thanks Connie for helping me remember the exact line)---her comments just crack me up. Plus I like how they give her just enough "softness" to keep you loving her---knowing she's not really that heartless. Last week, Will took her to a children's hospital where she said to him, "Will, I'll never forgive you for this." Great show.

That brings us to the movie---RUN---don't walk---RUN to see this movie! It was so inspiring. What an incredible talent---from the age of 2 when he's drumming on a kitchen chair, you can see the talent---to the age of 10 wanting to play guitar and sing outside of theater in his hometown---the boy is driven and destined for greatness. You can just see that he has something very special. He is self-taught on so many different instruments and never had a singing lesson. He came in 2nd in the Canadian Idol competition at 12 yrs. old. It will make you cry and laugh. One thing is for sure, you can't sit still. Of course the music is great. Truly one of the best movies/documentaries I've ever seen. Oh, and the tickets "ain't" cheap---12 bucks---but totally worth it.

When I analyzed the financial "toll" this weekend took, I decided that it's much cheaper to pay for Mindy to go somewhere on Southwest than to keep her in town! Last weekend, she ran the half marathon in New Orleans---and I do mean ran. Here's her medal to prove it!

She heads out tomorrow to New Hampshire for work and will be there for the next 3 weeks---home on weekends.

Stay tuned, I have a lot of things to share over the next few days!

The Start of a Fun Weekend!

Butch left for the Daytona 500 with his brother today. You know what they say---when the cat's away....

We've begun our girls' weekend. Mindy and Steph came over after work for cocktails to kick it off. They both have dinner plans tonight and I'm ready to chill and have the tv all to myself.

Tomorrow, Steph and Mindy are coming over at nine. While I'm teaching my class in Mt. Juliet, TN, they are going to be shopping across the street at a new shopping center---one of those outdoor fancy plaza type places. Then we'll have lunch together, stop for manicures and pedicures. The next plan is to stitch and watch movies together---that's a bit up in the air as the girls do have some "chores and errands" to do. Mindy just got back from a week out-of-town and will be traveling for the next 3 weeks.

Then on Sunday, Morgan and Jordan are joining us for lunch at Carrabbas and the movie---"Never Say Never"---Justin Bieber in 3D.

The fun continues on Monday when I meet my friends for lunch and the movie "Just Go With It."

Could there be a more perfect weekend? Only if Sandy were with us!! Someday....I keep hoping.....

I'm a Nervous Wreck!

I've never been the worryin' type. But that has all changed with my grandkids---specifically the teenagers. I never dreamed I'd feel like this---it's downright almost paralyzing for me. I'm hoping I'm on edge for a variety of reasons that will go away when I can taper down from this high dose of prednisone that I'm on. I'm hyper, jittery, can't sleep, highly emotional, and just worried all the time. I guess it doesn't help that Jordan had that accident the first day she got her license. Steph is a wreck too----the unbelievable insurance rate for a teen driver was completely unexpected---and this doesn't even account for what it might go up to since the accident---not to mention that it was still our car, so our insurance is going to be impacted too. With Morgan driving next year, she doesn't know how she'll swing it. The girls are already on the hunt for their summer jobs. They're going to need them.

With all that being said, you can understand my worry about Jordan taking herself to a doctor's appointment today---in an area (Hillsboro Village area for you locals) that she is unfamiliar with. I had to pick up Morgan to take her to the orthodontist. Jordan came out to the car for me to explain to her how to get to the doctor's since I've always been the one to take them. I drew her a little map and then worried she might try to look at it while driving. I told her to call me when she got there. She called me about 15 minutes later while parked in a church parking lot to tell me that she had gone the wrong way. She thought she knew where she needed to go, but wanted to verify that with me. About 15 minutes after that, she called me to say she had arrived---although she had passed it up and had to turn around. Whew!!! I told her to call me when she finished at the doctor's so I could explain what she needed to do to get home. There is not a light where she needed to make a left turn during rush hour traffic. I had her go right to the next light, make a right, turn around and go back to the light. That worked. I think I'm going to give her the advice that she needs to figure out how she can go everywhere by just making right turns. Works for me.

I started drinking before I even got the call that she had made it home safely. She said that once she got to the Green Hills area, she knew where she was. I'm on my second glass of wine and have a buzz for drinking on an empty stomach. That's all I need now on top of everything else is to turn into an alcoholic!

On a happier note, it was a good day at the bridge table. I don't know if we came in---I kind of doubt it---but I was happy to bid and make a slam that not another single person in the room bid. Most of the people won't try for it unless they think they have enough points. If I'm 3 points away, I'm willing to risk it. On this particular hand, there was no way I could make it. My only hope was to confuse the opponents by playing back and forth and all around so that they couldn't figure out my last 3 cards. My opponent tossed the jack of clubs and kept the king of diamonds. By end playing it, my little dinky 6 of clubs took the slam winning trick! I was pretty excited about that.

Then about 2 hands later, I doubled a 5 heart contract---meaning I did not think they would make it, so we'd get more points. Not only did I have 4 hearts to the king, I had a single Ace of spades, Ace, king and queen of clubs and 19 high card points---just about half the points in the deck. There's no way she could make it. You have to have 26 points to make 4---28 for 5. Anyway, to keep this short, the distribution was so out of whack, that I only took 2 tricks. Bummer! That cost us big time!

After bridge, I had about an hour before picking up Morgan. I hit Target for a little speed and impulse shopping. Picked up some disposable clothes (any clothes you buy at Target), a few half-price Valentine's items, 3 books, and some tortilla chips. I only went to get paper plates and napkins and new underwear. I didn't get any of those things, but managed to spend $200. It adds up fast. I had to pay for all of it out of my allowance. Technically, the tortilla chips should come out of the family budget, but that $3.00 seems like the least of it!!

Wow, I'm feeling really good now. Writing is cathartic for me. Or it could still be the wine.

She's Promised to "GET" Me for This One!

Yesterday was my friend, Connie Potter's birthday. I won't say how old she is, but she's OLD---er than me. We've been friends for almost 25 years now---it began with our girls, which was pretty convenient for us. Sandy and Amanda, Stephanie and Malinda became best friends right away when they moved into the neighborhood. Mindy---who was just two---called Connie, "Mrs. Powder."

Connie is the nicest person you would ever want to meet. She goes out of her way for everyone---attending funerals and weddings of people she barely knows (maybe she's a funeral and wedding crasher instead). She shares my self-deprecating sense of humor---nothing we like better than when the joke is on us---and I've gotten many a laugh at her expense. She shares my love of theater, books, and stitching. She hates feet which is ironic because right now she is in a boot due to "plantars displaysia"---she tore the tendon that holds her toes together from jogging---they were all "splayed" out at our last pedicure---really weird looking---I could barely look at them---okay, so that wasn't so smart. She had to have a toe knuckle removed which she says looks terrible. I can't wait to laugh about that. Right now, the huge pin sticking out makes me cringe.

She's probably my clutziest friend---falling down a two-inch step in our hotel room in Chicago which required a trip to the ER. She pretty much wrecks or spills something whenever she comes over (Christmas---dribbling green bean casserole through the house---day I moved she put a plastic salad bowl on my BRAND NEW "hot" stovetop---touches a pillow and it suddenly unravels, and too many more to recall---luckily for her, nothing I have is a priceless antique). It got so bad for awhile that I had to assign someone to "watch" her when she was in the house.

She was my 5:30 a.m. walking partner for many years---much harder for her than me. She goes to work when they have a snow day. Her nose threatens to burst into blood whenever she cries. Seriously, she could give Rudolph a run...

She puts on one outfit and wears it all weekend---even if it has become a bib. We hardly have a meal together that she doesn't come away wearing half of it (I should talk...). My favorite was when we were coming home from a cruise and had a full day of traveling. Right off the bat at the airport, she dribbled Coke all down her white blouse---she looked like a total slob. To this day, she swears the straw had a hole in it. But everyone knows that if a straw has a hole in it, you can't get it to suck!

We've had many adventures over the years:  camping out for New Kids on the Block tickets---she threw me under the bus when the news reporter was interviewing HER. It went something like this---picture this---it's very cold out---I have the hood to my coat tied snuggly under my chin---real nerdy-like---the reporter asks Connie, "do you like NKOTB?" to which Connie responds, "well, my friend here watches them EVERY afternoon!" As soon as the camera stopped rolling, she turned to me and said, "Barb, I'm so sorrrrrryyyy!!!" Yeah, right, it was a big fat lie and made me look like a complete idiot on local tv.

Then there was the time we got a call about Malinda's stolen cell phone. We jumped in the car and headed to East Nashville (I guess "east" in any city is a bad place to be). On the way, we realized that if we disappeared, no one knew where we had gone. The fact that we were to meet the guy behind the gas station should have been a tip-off. I don't recall how it went, but we're still here.

But the best adventure or worst---would be our visit to a nude beach in St. Maartens---where Miss Goodie Two Shoes Here (that would be me) did not want to go---having been coerced by her friends to find that the only nude people on the beach shouldn't have been. Upon returning to our cars, we found that the Potters wallets had been stolen. Carma's a bitch...

So here we are at her birthday last night. We stitched first (every Tuesday) and then went to dinner. She picked Cinco de Mayo---I told her it didn't have to be a cheap place even though I'm on a fixed allowance. Upon ordering, I made sure the waiter knew it was her birthday. I'll do anything for a free dessert. What I didn't know was that during the singing part, one of the waiters fed her part of the dessert. She said she's going to "get me" for this.

I love you Connie and this is my love letter to you....
your "bestie!"

All Kinds of Random Stuff

Here you see my Campfire vest. I was thinking about how much I love Russell Stover chocolates and it all began here. The cactus looking patches represented how many boxes of candy I sold. All I remember about them is that the red ones were for selling 15 boxes. My best was that yellow one which signified 100 boxes. The box of chocolates sold for $2.00 a box, the peanut brittle was 75 cents. I can remember a few times that I ate the candy without having the  money to pay for it. To this day, I can recognize every, single one in the box. My favorite is the cherry nougat followed by the maple cream. The beads were earned for all different things. I did one heck of a lot of babysitting, dishwashing, leaf raking, and a zillion other things to earn all those beads. The back is covered.

This is a post card I sent home from Camp Derricott.  Even then it was all about the food. "Seconds" in our house was rare---especially if you were a slow eater. The biggest treat at camp was getting as much food as you wanted. Don't get me wrong, we all had plenty of food to eat at home. but we didn't have snacks around and mom didn't make many desserts. Saturday nights were the best---remember "Saturday Night at the Movies" on television? Dad made malts and mom made popcorn. Sometimes we had soda ---which mom had every day at lunch and dinner---so unfair---we had to drink milk.

Looks like someone "stole" my mirror idea and had it published in a magazine!
Too bad, I didn't think of the gallery rails.

 My new car that I ran out of gas on the highway before I ever put gas in it for the first time.

Now I'm not known to be the most observant person in the world. But when describing my car, I said that it is top-of-the-line-fully-loaded with 2 bottom of the line features. One is the manual (rather than power) adjustable steering wheel and the other is the cheap tires. I just liked them better. Turns out, I didn't get the cheap ones after all. Butch just told me on Friday night in front of Jack and Connie that I got the expensive ones! That's pretty bad. But what's worse is when we picked up the car, I said something about the color. Butch couldn't believe I picked the same as his. I said, "no I didn't." Yes I did---and even after having his car around here for 6 months, I had no idea. I swear, it looked different on the lot---darker. I like my new car and "love" certain features---like that auto start, OnStar and handsfree phone. There's also this little foot rest that is just perfect for me. Taking it on a road trip the day after picking it up probably wasn't such a great idea---it was filthy inside and out---not to mention the gum Butch had to get off my new carpet---I didn't even know I had "drug" it in. Thankfully he cleaned it all up just like brand new again.

Mindy gave me this orchid for my birthday. This is the only bloom that remains.

So, Jeanne, my orchid looks like your ammaryllis---should I toss it? I think not. I'll wait and see if I get another sprout. Orchids are tough.

And now, a report after one year of retirement. It's really worked out pretty well. I've adjusted to having Butch's "office" in the kitchen. I gave him a big basket which helps keeping the table clear most of the time.

I have discovered that he's a "compulsive compactor"---especially when I'm trying to nap.

Seriously, I don't know what I would have done without him this year---helping with the girls, moving Mindy while I was dealing with mom's death, fighting with the cell phone company over fraudulent charges and a bunch of other household chores that really helped me out. Last week, while I was at the scrapbook retreat, he even went to Michaels and bought 25 photo boxes for my classes. "Bless his heart," (when southerners start off a sentence this way, you know that something not very nice is following---hinting that the person is a little dimwitted---as in "bless her heart, she had no idea her husband was running around on her." Or "bless his heart", he's not the sharpest crayon in the box."---you get the idea). "Bless his heart, he carried all of those boxes upstairs and stacked them neatly---only for me to have to haul them all back downstairs again." He's a great errand boy---luckily he can't sit still for too long.

Today, I had an issue with him "printing over the top of me." We share a printer. He was working in his "office" while I was in mine. I was printing labels for my next two sold out classes. All of a sudden, my labels came out with his "crap" printed on them. Labels aren't exactly cheap! Frustrating. But then....

You can hardly stay aggravated with a guy when you discover that he cleaned out the refrigerator. That was a nice surprise. He does a lot of stuff around the house. We usually unload the dishwasher together, but if anyone does it alone, it's him more often than me.

I had a shredder mishap yesterday. Since inheriting mom's shredder, I've really used it a lot. Yesterday, I realized too late that I shredded the bills before I actually paid them! I shredded 4 before I caught myself. I was able to remember what they were. I had cross-checked my receipts with my credit card bill and couldn't remember exactly how much that was, so I just guessed "high" to be on the safe side. The others, electric, and gas, I just paid what I paid last month plus $25.00. The last one was Church and I send the same amount every month, so that was easy to figure out. I really must pay more attention.

And lastly, I could really go for a vanocolate malt from Steak and Shake. Go ahead, try to pronounce it. I've already warned Janice and Jeanne that I'm using it in Scrabble.

Something Terrible Happened Today

Okay, so, (notice I start a lot of my posts this way---kind of coversationally? Well today is worth a double "okay, so" as I really need to talk). Okay, so, I've been pretty emotional lately and feeling pretty fragile---which isn't like me. I feel like a lot of things are getting me down---and my "downess" usually ends up beginning with my hives. I'm just so sick of them, just when I think they're "solved", they crop up again. Anyway, then a day like today happens and makes me realize how grateful I should be for my hives---just a minor nuisance in the scheme of things.

Okay, so, I had my class in Glasgow, KY---a big one with girls driving in from all over---from GA(4 1/2 hours), Clarksville, TN, Shepherdsville and Louisville, KY---several hours. Everything was going great---I'm really good at this. I was happy, bright, funny, had them rolling---Jeanne's purse story always sends them over the edge and gets the biggest laugh. I can get very "preachy" in a fun way about trying to get them to understand that scrapbooking is really about telling the story--I'm so passionate about that. In other words, everyone was "in" to the class and enjoying it---I was "rockin' it!"

Then, all of a sudden, someone started screaming and wailing. I was taken off guard and didn't even realize the gal was from my class. I thought some "looney" had entered the store. The other GA girls jumped up. They said they had to leave---the woman's 12 or 16 month granddaughter had "died!" There was confusion, we never really knew what happened. Those ladies had a long ride home.Then another lady in the class said that yesterday would have been the second birthday of her granddaughter who had died last summer of SIDS. The whole scenario knocked the wind out of my sails. Where do you go from there?? Everything I had to say after that seemed so trivial. The mojo was gone---I didn't even try to get it back. The class lasted about 45 minutes more as I trudged on through the rest of it. The ladies were very nice and gave me a lot of positive feedback. I packed up and left.

On the way home, I prayed for that family, and felt like I had a rock in my stomach. I can't imagine that pain. From there, I was sad about mom and how life is really pretty tragic and unpredictable. Then one of my favorite songs from "Aida" came on---"Written in the Stars." There's a line in the song that really hit me---"is this God's Experiment, in which we have no say, in which we're given paradise, but only for one day." Then came the cry. I just feel so bad.

When I got home, Butch could tell right away that something had happened. He hugged me while I sobbed the story. I then told him that I needed a nap. Maybe all this medicine is making me hyper emotional too. I don't know.

But here's the question I thought about between prayers: If something so horrible has happened, that you can do nothing about, should you be called right away? Or would it have been more compassionate to wait until you got home to get the news---knowing that others with you would also have to deal with the situation. If it can't possibly make a difference, and there's never a good time for that sort of news, wouldn't you rather learn it later than sooner? I think I would.

If any of you ladies happen to see this, just know that my prayers are with you. I'll offer my Mass tomorrow in memory of that baby.