How Sweet it Is!

Don't you just love it when you pick a good one?

"Ditto"

One of the Plagues Hits Nashville

Growing up in St. Louis, I don't ever remember anything like this. But the very first year we moved to Nashville, we experienced the 13 year locusts. And this year is the 2nd go round. Not to mention the 7 year variety that we've already experienced a few times. 26 years ago (yes, that's how long we've been in Nashville), Mindy was a baby in the car seat. I was in the "hook up" line waiting for school to let out when she started screaming. She was only about 5 months old. I turned around to see one of these disgusting cicadas on her mouth---I think it was IN her mouth, but don't really remember. Steph challenged me on that, so I'm just saying "on" her mouth since I'm not so sure.

 I wish I had taken the picture BEFORE the mulch was added---the empty shells were solid---literally, thousands of them. They come up from underground.

 When the locusts hatch, they go up into the trees.

You can 't see them so easily in this shot, but it's such a good picture of this red-branched maple that I wanted to include it.

If you look closely---even click on this picture to see it bigger, you can see their creepy, red, "bug" eyes.

Now here's a little video I made---not too bad for my first time:

I forgot to mention that I took this little video first thing in the morning. They are so loud you can hear them inside. Sounds more like those stifling hot, humid, take your breath away, dog days of deep August.

Lots more to come....

The Naked Painter

I've said it before and I'll say it again---one thing leads to another. 

So, (there I go again with the "so-s")---we decided to replace the carpeting in the bedroom. We waited 2 weeks for it to come in. Installation was all set for Thursday---then this happened! The installers called Butch in to the room to show him a HUGE stain on the sub-flooring that was actually rotted. They assumed it was from a plant leaking. When Butch showed it to me, I said, "how could a plant leak in the middle of the room?" We have no idea what it 's from---the carpet was not stained in that area (my side of the bed), no ceiling leak above. All we can figure is that when we had the carpet replaced when we moved in, the "layers" just covered over it. Now, the sub-flooring is disintegrating. Luckily for us (or un-lucky---however you choose to look at it), these installers could replace the sub-flooring before putting in the new carpet. Of course, that required a trip to Home Depot. No telling how much that is going to cost. It took them from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to get it all done. I was ready for them to go---very nice, but talkers---if you know what I mean!

This is the rotted sub-floor---probably about a 4ft. square section.

As I said, one thing leads to another. Turns out, the new carpet wasn't as "tall" as the old carpet, so now we need to paint the baseboards. I weighed my options---do it myself---or---have my awesome painters do it while having them klip klopping around on my new carpet with their big 'ol honkin' shoes. I opted to do it myself. Now mind you, I haven't painted in about 27 years. When we moved to Nashville, I made Butch promise that we could "hire" stuff done. Anyhoo, here I am faced with a job I don't really want to do, but think will be a piece of cake. Butch has always said that one of my main faults is underestimating how long something will take. He left early this morning for a conference in Pittsburgh, so I thought it would be a good time to get it out of the way---30 minutes tops! Are you kidding me? It took me about that long to tape off the room, including running out of painter's tape and resorting to masking tape which I had to search for.

Here I am all set up to begin. I start to think this could be a disaster waiting to happen. I don't have any drop cloths. One wrong move and that sour cream container of paint could be all over the place. Then I came up with the genius idea to put a plastic bag underneath. I ended up using the piece of cardboard is a sort of paint pallet. I almost called Jeanne (she paints a lot) to see if this blue tape could stain the carpet, but decided I didn't have time to get on the phone. I was wingin' it.

I was down on my hands and knees, crawling around the room---even under some furniture. I started to get really hot. That's where the naked part comes in. I took off my clothes and painted naked. I kept thinking that if someone dropped by---or---God forbid---I spilled the paint and needed to run for rags, I'd be up a creek. None of that happened and I got the job done. Took an hour and a half---start to finish. Not too bad, but that did eat an hour of my day I hadn't planned. 

But what do I do with this? I probably should have kept the lid. Wouldn't it be funny if I put it in the refrigerator and someone thought it was sour cream? Lame joke as there's only one person I could pull it on and he's not here anyway. It would be just my luck, that I'd forget I was playing a joke and fall for it myself!! I just poured it down the sink. Only kidding, I'm not that stupid---hey---I'm not taking votes. I went back out to the garage and got the paint can that I had already put away and poured it back in. 

Then I remembered why I don't like painting---it ruins a good manicure.

There's only one problem with the new carpeting---when you walk on it, it leaves marks that look like dirty smudges---just what I was trying to get rid of. Always trying to look on the bright side---I came up with this---it took 16 years for my other carpeting to look like this. In another 16 years when this new carpeting really is smudged and dirty looking, I won't be able to tell the difference---or, just maybe---at 75 yrs. old---I shutter at the thought---I won't even care. At least that's what I'm telling myself.

Lots of posts coming daily!!!

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

I've already mentioned how Mindy comes over every morning at 6:30 after her workout at the Y (when she's in town). Well, she decided to join Curves and convinced Stephanie to join also. This is a "major" deal for Steph as she is NOT a morning person by any stretch. Now she has to be up by 5 to get all her stuff together for work and get to Curves by 6. Which means, they BOTH come over here to get ready for work (our house is about 5 minutes from their office), have breakfast and make lunches (mostly Mindy). I don't mind a bit----except, it is completely disruptive to my schedule. By the time they get here and ready, it's 7:30. Normally, I would have already been upstairs in my office or scrapbook room an hour and a half. Now, my day doesn't seem to get started until 8 a.m. 

Sooooo, I decided that the best thing for me to do would be to just go ahead and join Curves again. I've done it before---faithfully for a couple of years. I fell off the Curves bandwagon in relationship to my hives. I go through these periods---"what's the use"---even my doctor says I can't lose weight while on these meds. This time, I'm taking a different attitude---even if I can't lose weight (and I'm really starting to lose hope in that regard), I can at least strengthen my muscles and bones. Since I'm a faller, this can only be good for me. Plus, when Mindy's out-of-town, it just might be the motivation Steph needs to keep getting up so early. Now my day officially starts at 8 a.m.

Side note---turns out Mindy LOVES being a morning person! It's nice to know that now I have 2 people I can call really early (Sandy is on Eastern time, so with her school schedule, she's always up) ---IF I wanted to get on the phone...

Wednesday, May 18---a fire in the fireplace. When I suggested it, Butch acted like I was crazy.  We turned the air conditioning on in April and haven't turned it off. It's not like it has been running. We had a cold snap. It's been downright freezing in the house---getting as low as 64 in the daytime. I refused to turn the heat back on. There's just something wrong with that. I don't ever recall this happening before. Anyway, since we were both snuggled up in socks, sweatshirts and afghans, Butch agreed it wasn't such a bad idea after all and went ahead and hauled the wood in. It was nice. I do love me a good fire. 

Now we'll see if 2 weeks with neither heat nor air makes any kind of difference in our utility bills. Probably not. Doesn't seem to work that way. Things only go up---never down. Sorry Sir Isaac Newton.

A Little Sad and a Little Funny!

At bridge today, I found out that one of the ladies passed away. It was shocking to me because I didn't know Nancy was sick. Turns out, she was diagnosed with cancer just 3 weeks ago. I guess it's best to go quickly, but still it seemed so sudden. I felt really bad because she had been trying to get me to come over and see her garden for quite awhile. I really wanted to see it, but the timing just never worked out. Now I regret that I didn't make it a priority. It always seems like there's plenty of time---or that you just don't think about it---when really, you never know. I try to appreciate all the little things in my life and be aware of how good my life is. When someone dies, it just reminds me of how short life is. I want to cherish every moment.

Another lady at bridge is 98 and so amazing. Adelaide still drives and is very sharp at the bridge table. I really hope I'm like that.

One thing I've noticed---with age, these ladies don't really care about what they do or what other people think. They would never cheat at the bridge table, but think nothing of taking food they are not entitled to.

Most of these ladies play bridge every day. It is just about their whole life. I guess it can get pretty expensive for them, so they really try to "cheap out" for lunch. Hillwood Country Club has the best salad bar---huge, with soups, sandwiches, assorted salads, fruits---just about everything you can think of. The salad bar is $9.95. Many of the ladies order a cup of soup, which is $4.50 versus the bowl which is $5.50. So rather than springing for the bowl, they get the cup and just refill it from the salad bar. While they're at it, they think nothing of helping themselves to a few sandwiches or some fruit. They'll top their soup with cheese and other toppings from the salad bar. Each table has a couple baskets of mini muffins and flatbreads. They eat those like nobody's business---requesting refills. The waitresses never say anything to them. I'm such a rule follower, that it shocks me that these ladies do this. Maybe I'll get like that when I'm older, but I doubt it. It's seems like stealing to me.

I did have an embarrassing moment today. The very first thing you are supposed to do when you take your hand out of the card holders is to count the cards---each person should have 13 cards. This is basic bridge 101. Our bidding was progressing when the director announced that someone was playing with only 12 cards. Yep, that was me. David gave me a hard time about it. But here's the best part. I ALWAYS count my cards. It just goes to show that when you do something so habitually, you don't even realize anymore what you're doing. I never even noticed when I counted that I was missing a card. To make matters worse, my partner and I played badly today---coming in 2nd to last. That's pretty unusual for us. We'll do better next week. I hope.

The home improvements are just about done inside the house. My bookcase was installed in the library yesterday and the new carpeting in the bedroom was installed today. I was planning on getting everything back in order tomorrow. But since the world is coming to an end on Saturday, I think I'll finish my book tomorrow. I'd hate to "go" without knowing the ending. Plus, why do all that work for nothing!!

Les Miserables...

is my all time favorite Broadway show. I've seen it in Chicago, New York and Nashville---and counting last night, a total of 6 times. I was especially excited about last night because I was taking Jordan and Morgan for the first time. They have grown up listening to the music and couldn't wait to see it. Les Mis did not disappoint. It is just fabulous. If you ever want to see it, I'll come anywhere to see it with you!!!

Actually, the whole family went. Steph and Nicky went with their friends, Merrill and Tucker Egbert---my friend, Nancy's son and daughter-in-law who happens to be Steph's best friend. Mindy was supposed to go with us too, but she had to be out-of -town this week, so I made Butch go. He's seen it years ago---probably 20 to be exact---but he doesn't like to see anything more than once.

We picked the girls up at 5 to go to dinner. We took them to Amerigo's---a slightly upscale Italian restaurant. We wanted to get there before 6 because they have great early bird specials. They looked so cute:

It makes me really happy that they like to do things with us once in awhile. They've been waiting a long time to see this and they loved it too! They still say that RENT is their favorite. That's probably my #2---with Phantom of the Opera. Anyway, I'm taking Jordan and Mindy to see RENT on Sunday. Morgan says she needs to study for exams. Steph will be busy trying to finish her book for our book club here on Monday night.  

And now, for your enjoyment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jo4FvpN3_g

Making the Most of My Memories Workshop

I've taught this workshop 4 times now. It's all about organizing your pictures in a way that encourages the stories behind the photos. I just finished my recent one last Thursday. I haven't had a single complaint, but rarely do you get any feedback. I've had a few positive comments and emails, but this one is really nice. I don't mean for it to seem self-serving, but wanted to share it so I have a permanent record of it on my blog---which is just another scrapbook for me---since I have it printed into a book each year.

"I have been an oil painter for many, many years. I have attended many,
many classes learning new and greater techniques. Since I have given up
oil painting that is when I decided to take up scrap booking. Barbara
this class I have enjoyed even more than my oil painting classes.  I
could set and listen to you talk for hours.  I learn so much just
listening to you about organization of my pictures.  It really works.
Also the journaling.  I have a whole new outlook on journaling.  Just
tell the story!    I am not sure if I will be there Thursday evening but
if I am not I will take a picture of my scrapbook page and send it to
you.  

I will keep my eye out for more classes you do at the Scrap Room.  And
if you offer something else outside of the Scrap Room let me know I
might just be interested in attending.  I love your personality "just
tell it how it is"  my wonderful girlfriend is the same way and you
remind me of her so much.  Enjoyed and keep up the good work.  I am sure
you touch people's hearts and minds every day.  You sure did mine. May
God Bless."


Isn't that nice?


And another thing---not related to MMMMW---since when did a 5 lb. bag of sugar start to only contain 4 lbs.? I guess the same time a half gallon of ice cream no longer contains a half gallon. Butch says that's how the food companies raise the prices without us knowing it. Basically keep the same price, but reduce the amount you get. Seems a little dishonest to me.


PS Sorry this didn't transfer very well. It looks fine here, but then when I post it, it's all messed up. Same for those large gaps between posts. Don't know how to fix it since they don't show up on the page I'm typing on.