Ten on Tuesday

1) Last Wednesday we met up with Darrel's cousins and Uncle over in Bedford for the annual hot dog roast. Do you remember my views on roasting a hot dog on a stick over a fire? I much prefer a skillet where I can throw them all in at once, rather than sit and wait for my hot dog to either catch on fire or fall in the ashes.... it's that patience thing remember? Guess then that it was a very nice thing my husband did by roasting both of our hot dogs huh? This is Darrel's cousin Cathy roasting the all important marshmallows for smores. We haven't gotten to see Cathy in like 7 years! She lives in Arizona so we were very excited for this visit!















2) To prove we were there too.. .well OK, you already saw Darrel here with Cathy... but anyways.. here is our self portrait. Not bad for a night time picture huh? And at least we weren't being like dive bombed by bugs at the time.















3) We met up with them again on Saturday so we could spend the day together and get some more visit in before Uncle Robert and Cathy had to return home. We decided to spend the day at Springmill State Park. So pretty there!















We stopped at KFC on the way and picked up lunch. Then we had a picnic in the park and spent the rest of the afternoon walking thru the pioneer village they have set up there. We hadn't been there in years so it made for a very nice day. Such a pretty park! I'd like to go back and do some serious walking/hiking and see more of the scenery.































4) For Date night on Friday we headed to the big city. I got all dressed up in one of my favorite little summer dresses and my new Jessica Simpson white wedge shoes and we had ourselves a nice dinner out. I heart those shoes... I was just noticing they come in turquoise... they are pretty cute in turquoise.. I better move on quickly to number 5 before I consider that too much...ya think? Especially since I did come home with a pair of shoes at the end of date night. I couldn't help myself. Jessica Simpson suede peep toe platforms with a patent leather mary jane strap... for $15. Now how was I supposed to walk out of the store and pass up that deal? You understand right?





















5)So... as I asked my facebook friends on Sunday... do you think perhaps this might scream my name? Do you get the daily email deals from Zulily? Well this was on Sunday's offers... Sunday. The day Jack took a turn for the worse. The day I spent most of the day sad and crying and hugging and/or petting my cat... So what do you think the odds are, under those circumstances that that purse found its way into my shopping cart... I'm thinking they were pretty darn good... I'm also thinking you would have been more shocked if I had said it didn't. I mean its fuchsia. It's got ruffles and a flower. It's completely fabulous... and I was completely sad.

6) I have decided I am not happy with my shower curtain choice.. I haven't even hung up the outer curtain yet and nope... don't think that will be happening. Problem is, haven't found anything I like better either. I know... I make no sense.. it's just something we all have to live with. :) I am considering this one... that Lisa pointed out to me from Pottery Barn or this one I found on kohls.com. Drawback on that one is that I'd probably have to do white and I was really wanting to start tying in the brown and blue colors.

7) In other bathroom news.. I am thinking I want to get one of these metal locker baskets to hold a few books/magazines cause less face it... the bathroom is also known as the library... Not liking the price on that basket.. but really like the basket.

8) While perusing Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware for the above 2 choices.. I came across this organizer. Now how cool is that? I totally think I need that when we redo the scrapbook room. Which of course is last on our remodeling list.. which probably means it will happen in like 10 years from now and this thing will no longer be available.. maybe I can get Darrel to build me one. :) Maybe if I buy it now, we bump up the scrapbook room on the to do list. Hmmmm

9) Tomorrow is my last day of work for the week! Yay!!! 5 days off. Holiday weekend. Darrel is off for at least 4 of those days, and possibly more. It could not have come at a better time. The events of this week leave me looking for some comfort and solitude and some time away sounds perfect. We plan to hit Holiday World again! yay! I am going to soak up all the rays I can by the wave pool. We also plan on a trip to Patoka lake for some swimming and fireworks! Cannot wait.

10) Today has been hard. I walked out to go to work today and Jack wasn't there walking across the yard yelling at me to let him in the garage. I had already had a hard time leaving the kitchen and closing our backdoor because I was totally having flashbacks to yesterday when Jack was still there in his little box. Then I walk in the garage and it totally still smells like him, and then there is the spot where he and his blanket should be and he wasn't there. I didn't even make it till noon before breaking my resolve not to cry again all day. I did pretty good while at work. Got a little weepy a few times, but coming home, it all hit me again. You pull in the driveway and think you will see him climbing down out of his tree. I pull in the garage and see the cat food. I walked past where we buried him and have this urge to still somehow go hug him and pet him. I just want to see him that much. I know it makes no sense.. but I can't seem to help it because this hurts so much. I loved him and I just want our cat back. I feel kind of stunned and a little disoriented about what day it is and where am I supposed to be and what am I supposed to be doing? It's kind of like a train hit this week and Darrel and I are standing here holding on to each other trying to figure out how this happened and what do we do from here...

I hope your week is a good one. I hope to add a pedi to my day tomorrow to improve my mood. Couldn't hurt right? Until later... blessings!

Our Buddy Jack

Jack.  I just love him... I think I've mentioned that a time or two perhaps huh?   Well today has been an incredibly difficult day.  Jack took a sudden and severe turn for the worse yesterday and so today about 5:30, he went to sleep with a little help from the vet.  My nose, eyes, and OK whole face is sore from all the tears I've shed the past two days.  Darrel and I have done a lot of talking and hugging this evening trying to help each other thru this and we feel like we are sad and grieving not only for the loss of our cat that we loved so much, but also feel like we need some recovery time for how emotional and hard the last two days have been.  A guess its been a few months ago now that Jack came home with a wound on his ear.  This was not unusual.  Jack loved loved loved to be outside and he liked to go hunt mice and climb trees and explore to his hearts content.  However since like birth he often comes home with scraps and scratches, enough so that we began to wonder if we should have named him like Bruiser or something. 

We thought he also must have an extra allotment of those 9 lives they say cats have because he never seemed any worse for the wear and always healed up and bounced back. Except for this last time. This last time the ear wound turned into an inner and outer ear infection.  We took him to the vet.  We got the antibiotics.  He seemed to get better.  Then we'd notice he was still holding his head funny.  He was still having balance issues, and he'd get to feeling bad and take to his blanket and stay put.  We tried round number 2 and 3 of the antibiotics.  Round 3 finished yesterday. 

This last time when he took to his bed, it got more serious.  Last Sunday we thought we were going to lose him.  Darrel and I were saying to each other this evening it was last Sunday that we both found we were kind of stunned to realize how serious this had become.  I felt like I wasn't understanding till then that we could actually lose him over an ear infection.  He stopped eating and drinking and became weak and dehydrated.  We wanted to help him have strength to fight the infection and let the antibiotics work so we started feeding him and giving him fluids.  My sweet, tender, strong, amazing, gentle husband... you should have seen him caring for Jack.  NO ONE could have taken better care of an animal or done more to nurse it back to health.  No one.  This man, 2-3 times a day would sit and gently open Jack's mouth, put the food in and wait for him to chew and swallow and then give him the next bite.  He would fill a bulb syringe with water and gently and patiently give Jack water.  It broke my heart, it touched my heart, it made me feel loved and comforted even though he was caring for the cat.  I did some of the feeding and water too, but Darrel handled the bulk of it.  If you've ever been attached to a pet you can imagine how much more you'd feel that way after a week plus of that kind of care and nursing.   This past week, the last few days, he started to eat a little on his own.  He seemed like he was getting stronger.  We thought there was hope and were ready to start the next round of meds. 

Then yesterday everything changed.  We got home from church to find him too weak to stand.  His legs were pretty stiff and his feet and legs were cold.  He would take a little food from Darrel but mostly just wanted to sleep.  He wasn't able to stand and no longer was trying to get to the litter box.  We both knew things were dire at this point.  If it weren't Sunday we likely would have headed to the vet then.  We knew he didn't have much time left.  There was no where we could take him so we did our best to make him comfortable and kept him right by us. 

It's breaking my heart to think of it now.  He held on all the way till 5:15 today when we had an appointment with the vet.  Even the vet was surprised at the turn he had taken.  He also thought he had a shot at recovering.  We aren't sure what happened.  The last 24 hours have been some of the most difficult I've experienced.  Does that sound over the top when I am talking about our cat?  The poor little guy you just wanted to scoop him up and hug him and make him better.  I held him and petted him and cried a lot.  When he'd hear us near his bed he would still open his eyes and raise his head and look at us and give us a little meow.  He seemed to understand we were trying to help him and take care of him.  I don't and didn't want him to suffer but part of me is wishing so bad right now that he was still on his bed here next to me.  I miss him terribly.  I've had lots of different pets in my life, but I realized today this is the first I've lost to death.  It was SO difficult when Darrel walked out the door with him today.

We buried him in a special spot in our backyard this evening.  Just about the time I think I've cried all I can cry... here come the tears again.  We found a box for him because I couldn't bear for him to just be in the ground.  I wanted to wrap him in his favorite blanket or something you know?  Jack loved his spot in the garage and you would always find him either heading straight for his blanket or all comfy and having a nap there.  The blanket was big like for a queen bed, so as we prepared his box, my sweet husband cut two big pieces of Jack's blanket, one for him to rest on and one to put over him.... It somehow made me feel better.  Did some more crying as we laid him to rest.  We came inside and talked about all that's happened and yes.. did some more crying about that... I am thinking I won't be done crying for awhile yet.  I asked Darrel how long did it take me to stop crying for Gracie and his basic answer was.. had I stopped crying for Gracie yet?  I still love and miss her and now Jack, her baby. 

Right now I am wishing I could see him rolling around in the bird bath backwards and upside down like he loved to do.  Or sitting up in the tree crying about having to climb down.  I will miss watching him get up off the porch to go and greet Darrel when he gets home from work.  I mean who knew cats even do that?  I will miss hearing him out on the porch or coming across the yard yelling at us when he is ready to come back inside.  I will miss watching him pounce on Tanner as he walks by.  I will smile when I think of how he would complain if his dish did not have enough food in it.  You see 1/2 full was not enough food.  He needed it full to the top before he would begin to eat and he'd let you know that hello... my dish is not full enough thank you very much.. I will remember how when he was a baby he would sit on the floor in front of my husband and cry until Darrel would pick him up.  Those 2 had a thing early on. 

He was a huge sweetie and my husband and I loved him so much.  He only got to make it to 2 years old.. I am so wishing it were like 20.... I am feeling sad and hurt and surprised at how all this seemed to happen so quickly.  I just want our cat back... and in my pain today God brought to mind the words to a song Darrel and I sang at church recently...

"What if your blessings come thru raindrops
What if your healing comes thru tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near
What if my greatest disappointments and the aching of this life
are the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy

What if trials of this life

the rains the storms the hardest nights
are your mercies in disguise.... "

Thankful Thursday

Can you believe it? An actual medicine cabinet, light and working sink/vanity all in our actual bathroom. I keep needing to pinch myself to see if this really is our bathroom. I think I got too used to the bare wood floors with the gutted stud walls with just the lonely little toilet sitting in the middle. Now.. I'm like where am I? Nice hotel? Pottery Barn maybe? Ha! I don't really think its pottery barn, but my friend Lisa keeps saying that so I'll take her word for it. :) We haven't made a whole lot of progress this week other than getting that cabinet on the wall. We still need to work on molding, 1 broken tile, and getting the corner linen cabinet built. Oh, and fixing a temperamental toilet tank and then finishing the paint on 2 walls of wainscot. On the Linen cabinet, Yes.. I said built. Darrel plans on making it. Good thing... the one I saw online today (here) that I liked um it was like $500! Some were over $900... are they serious? Really liking the beadboard doors on that Lowe's one. Darrel says he can do that.. and I do not doubt that he can.

Did I tell you we are thinking of putting the original towel bar back on the wall? We saw this one at Restoration Hardware on Saturday. Well... the one we took off the wall, that has probably been there since the bathroom was created... it looks exactly like that.. just older! We like old stuff remember... so this is a good thing. I was going to put a hook on the wall for hand towels, but now I am really leaning towards using the old towel bar. The chrome end pieces just need some clean up. We figured we'd give that a try and see what we end up with.















Here you have a very sick kitty. Poor Jack... he is so pitiful right now I just want to hug him and pet him and not leave him alone. And what you see here... well this is vast improvement from Monday. I thought he was dying on Monday... I believe I told you about the weeping that accompanied those thoughts... Well we've been trying to nurse him back to health. We've been feeding him, and I mean literally opening his mouth and putting the food in, several times a day. We've been getting him fluids by using a bulb syringe. Finally just yesterday and today, he ate a little on his own. This was encouraging and we hope its a sign of improvement. Tonight he was shivering and wanting to sleep so we had him all tucked in his little box here.. under an old towel which served very nicely as a cat blanket. :) Have we seriously gone over the edge here? I didn't think so... We just love him. I love him and can't bear the thought of losing him. He loves being outside and keeps trying to go out when he sees the door open. Problem is he can hardly walk, and shakes and collapses when he does manage a few steps. This afternoon I sat out in the yard with him hugging him... and crying... So now who is pitiful.. me or the cat? We just keep praying this infection will heal and he will get his strength back.

This past week has brought many things to be thankful for... such as:

• so I was doing a little figuring today and um... is it a bad thing that 4 new pairs of shoes have come into the house this week? The 2 pairs of rhinestone flip flops arrived (and they are FABULOUS) and then the Jessica Simpson jungle wedges from Saturday... And then I love those so much.. I ordered them in white and they arrived today. Love Zappos.
• a wonderful anniversary day Saturday in Indy
• my beautiful pink necklace from my husband. LOVE
• birthday carrot cake
• a wonderful birthday evening with Darrel on Friday
• Father's Day with my Dad and family
• Jack still being with us today
• a great walk today. 4.5 miles!
• getting a haircut by my former hairdresser today. She came out of retirement for a short while to help out and I just happened to have an appointment! Happy about that!
• Mom and Dad being nearby in their RV
• loving the new bathroom, I think I could just spend like hours in the shower...
• Godiva chocolates
• Dinner at the Cheesecake Factory
• my Kindle! Been reading a lot lately when I have a moment or two to spare
• Pink roses
• memories of our wedding
• memories of our dating
• Seeing my husband enjoy his birthday and gifts
• summer skirts
• suntans
• benadryl...
• old pictures.. Darrel's cousin just gave me a bunch of Darrel when he was a kid.
• friends and family that care when I am sad about my cat
• time with Darrel
• feeling close to my husband
• our actual anniversary this past Monday
• a fun hot dog roast with Darrel's family
• a husband who loves animals and is the most gentle care giver around
• napping in my chair
• getting to brush my teeth in the bathroom at a new sink

Not a bad week huh? I hope yours has been good! Looking forward to date night tomorrow. Not sure yet of our plans.. just praying they will be peaceful, quiet, unhurried... Life has felt like its on fast forward lately so I am craving some peacefulness and calm...Until the weekend, Blessings!

Ten On Tuesday

1) So where were we last? Birthday eve... Lemon Blueberry Bread, 48 reasons to be thankful for my husband right? Well next came the big event! The big birthday celebration. We spent Friday evening at home. The birthday boy wanted steaks on the grill, baked potatoes, rolls and broccoli... and of course the all important carrot cake for dessert. We had a perfect dinner and then... yes...he blew out all 48 candles in one shot. See... he is even good at birthday candle blowing out. :) His main birthday/anniversary gift was a new air compressor. I also had a three things for him to open. He decided to do one each day for birthday, Father's Day and then our Anniversary. The first one he opened was this. He is a Back To The Future junkie. He speaks the language. He loved having the Blu-Ray trilogy and yes, we watched the first one that evening. We also watched this movie on Netflix. It wasn't bad and had a surprise twist at the end.















2) Saturday we headed to Indianapolis to spend the day together and celebrate our anniversary. We had a perfect day. We took this photo before we left the house. Do you see how dark it was outside thru the kitchen window behind me? Um.. it was like 10 AM people... it was that dreary and rainy. Didn't really matter too much to us though. We planned to be at the mall. :)




















3) First stop was Circle Centre Mall downtown. While there we of course made sure to check out Cinnabon and um... Godiva. SO good. We also did a little shopping. I got a fabulous pair of Jessica Simpson shoes on clearance at Nordstrom. These black rope wedges. LOVE them. They are tall.. like 5" but they are comfortable.. like no pinching, no hurting. I've worn them 2 days to work and no hurting feet. Apparently I am a Jessica Simpson shoe fan since I think this is now my 3rd pair. :)

4) Next stop was the Fashion Mall. It was here that we had an early dinner (so as to avoid spending an hour or more of our day waiting on a table...) at The Cheesecake Factory. They had the perfect Harry Connick/Michael Buble' music playing. We had a nice booth. We had yummy dessert... It was perfect.

5) While at the Fashion Mall we checked out Pottery Barn and The Container Store looking for some items we are wanting for the new bathroom, such as a clock. We found the perfect one at Pottery Barn. LOVE it. We got the large one in the dark bronze finish. I can't wait to see it up on the wall.

6) We are also wanting a glass shelf for the bathroom. We saw this one at Restoration Hardware... but um are thinking we can likely find a very nice glass shelf for less than $109. They had some awesome stuff there. Just not in our budget...

7) We then went to Castleton Square to finish out our day. Darrel did more shopping than I did. Honest. He bought some fishing stuff for himself and a gift for a friend at Dicks. Then.. he ditched me to do some shopping of his own. It was anniversary shopping so I was OK with being ditched. :) Ha! Apparently he was quite the planner and had found what he wanted for my anniversary gift online. He called the store, knowing we would be there Saturday and made his purchase over the phone and then all he had to do was stop in and pick it up! I was impressed! Want to see what I got? LOOK! LOVE LOVE LOVE it. It is perfect. It's a cushion cut pink Sapphire. It is gorgeous and I just might have to wear it every day. You'd think he like knows me or something huh?

8) For Sunday we spent Father's Day first at church, and then headed to my brothers for Fathers Day with my Mom and Dad. We were going to meet up at Mom & Dad's RV at the campground but the weather had other thoughts about that. We cooked out and visited and had a nice day. Darrel opened gift #2 which was a car dock that he had asked for (for Christmas... so I'm slow..) for his Android phone. It also came with a car charger which will come in quite handy and will help him never to miss his wife's calls or texts right? What a good idea.



















9) For our actual anniversary on Monday... well at first it didn't start out too good. Why? Our cat Jack is very sick. We thought he was dying on Sunday and Monday. He was in bad shape and I was (am) quite upset about that. He has had a bad ear infection for months and we haven't been able to get it to clear up. By Sunday he had stopped eating or drinking. We realized he was dehydrated and weak from no food so we have started feeding him by hand and giving him fluids using a bulb syringe. He improved on Sunday, but Monday before I left for work he was the worst I had seen him. I cried all the way to work... got nothing accomplished at work and came back home for a short bit to try and care for him. After I got more food, water, and medicine in him and cleaned his wound, he seemed better and I was able to get a grip and go on with my day. Am I complete dork for loving my cat so much? You are remembering he is my beloved Gracie's baby right? Gracie has been gone from us for a year and I don't want to lose Jack too.

With Jack showing some improvement, and feeling like I had done all I could, I was feeling a little better and was able to enjoy my flowers that I found on my desk when I got to work Monday, and then enjoy our evening together. Aren't the flowers beautiful? Love the pink roses. He is so sweet. For the evening, we went to dinner at La Carreta and then had a romantic evening at home where we exchanged our gifts and then had birthday carrot cake. Darrel's 3rd gift was The Mummy movies triology on Blu-Ray. Yes, my husband likes movies. He has also asked for this for Christmas. See.. when your budget doesn't permit, you just save those other ideas for the next gift giving occasion. :)

Jack has been to the vet today. He is still pretty weak and not doing so well. We are going to continue this 3rd course of antibiotics and are continuing to feed and hydrate him. This evening for the first time in days, he ate some on his own. I am praying that trend will continue.

10) On bathroom progress, we have a functioning sink with running water. I actually got to brush my teeth in the bathroom. I can wash my hands in the bathroom. Who knew that could make you feel so completely spoiled? Ha! LOVE the new faucet. Is it not the coolest?! This evening we got the medicine cabinet up. Yay! Another step closer to completion. We still need to finish a coat of paint on 2 walls of wainscot. Fix the broken tile. Put up the molding... and then Darrel is building a linen cabinet for the corner. I also want a picture/pictures for the wall over the toilet. I am regretting not buying 2 we saw at Carson Pirie Scot on Saturday. Hoping I can find something comparable.

Whew... I think that catches us up! Tomorrow we have a hot dog roast with Darrel's family. His cousin and Uncle from Arizona are here and we are excited about that because we don't get to see them too often. Hoping the weather cooperates!

So how has your week been? Hope its going well! See you on Thursday! Blessings.

Thankful Thursday

What am I thankful for?  This guy.  This picture was taken 24 years ago on his 24th birthday.  It was 3 days before our wedding.  I was living in our new home, which was a mobile home with no air conditioner.  I swear it was 100 degrees in that mobile home, yet my 20 year old self was determined to make this man a birthday dinner and a birthday cake from scratch.  Being my inexperienced 20 year old self, I of course picked a recipe that was a 3 layer cake with homemade whipped cream between the layers and homemade icing.  Now I know I've told this story before... but it still makes me shake my head that I was cooking in an extremely hot kitchen yet I pick a recipe that tells you to make the icing and filling in a bowl sitting in a bowl filled with ice.  This should have given me a clue that this was not the best pick on a hot June day.... I gave it my best shot anyways.  Darrel still swears to this day that it was a great cake and I need to make it again.. I think perhaps he was just love sick... :)  Although, I guess that would be a good thing and a compliment too.  We had a very nice dinner, pizza casserole, even though I also messed that up... You were supposed to remove the sausage from the casing and brown it.  I just cut it into chunks.. I was not happy about this later when I figured out what I did.  You know, I don't think I have made that recipe again since?  Memories of things I goofed up, but very good memories just the same.  Our first dinner, and our first celebration in our new home.  Darrel was still living with his parents but we knew in just a few short days we would begin our life together.  And yes... just typing this is making me remember those days and yes they make me smile. 

Tomorrow is Darrel's 48th birthday.  How did we get from 24 to 48?  when did that happen?  Better question... how did I get from 20 to 44?  I thought us girls didn't get older... :)  I was so young, so happy, so in love back in those days.  The amazing part?  How much our love, our friendship, our relationship, our oneness has grown in those 24 years.  I wonder if one can understand it until it's happened to you?  I didn't know I could be this much more in love and more happy and that it would be so much deeper.  Feeling so blessed.

So in honor of my amazing husband and his 48th birthday... Let's see if I can tell you 48 great things about him that I am thankful for...

1. He still calls me Princess
2. He is pretty cute.....
3. He starts dinner... and OK... finishes dinner.. most weekday evenings just so I can go do my walking and get cleaned up.
4. He helps with housework when he can.
5. He does amazing home improvement work.
6. He gives the most amazing hugs.
7. Have I mentioned his kisses?  TMI?  Sorry... can't help myself ;)
8. He is so kind.
9. He is willing to help anyone that needs his help.
10. He is a strong Christian man and loves Jesus.
11. He just totally "gets" me... I have never felt so understood or so accepted.
12. He seems to think I'm cute too.... I think its that love sickness thing..
13. He makes me breakfast every Saturday and is the world's best pancake and french toast maker.
14. He walks with me when he can, just to support me and be with me.
15. When I spoke to our church on Mother's Day a few years ago, he sat in the congregation with the most amazing look of love and devotion on his face....
16. He is an excellent son, brother and Uncle.
17. He has a huge heart.
18. He has a gentle spirit.
19. He still holds my hand.
20. He opens doors for me.
21. He likes to cuddle.  :)
22. He knows how to do like everything... and he does it well.
23. He is a great woodworker.
24. He knows how to speak my language.
25. He works so hard.
26. When we were young married and having financial troubles, he worked two jobs, never once complaining.  He just took care of us.
27. He is excellent at his work in CAD design/drafting.
28. He takes care of me when I am sick.
29. He is a pretty good fisherman.. as you've seen recently. 
30. He is the most patient person I've ever known.
31. When I went thru treatment for clinical depression his love, support and patience never wavered.  He was always always there for me.
32. Even when my weight was at its highest point, he never ONCE made me feel ugly or undesirable to him.  He always made me feel special and attractive and still does.
33. I don't think one day has passed in 27 years together that he hasn't said "I love you" to me.
34. He never leaves the house without kissing me and telling me bye.
35. He prays with me.
36. He brings me flowers.
37. He thinks I'm funny.... its a good thing.  I think.  :)
38. Have I mentioned how cute he is? It's worth mentioning at least twice.
39. He likes to buy me jewelery... that's always a good thing right? 
40. He is on board with the whole pink thing.... I guess it was either that or get swept away huh?
41. He thinks taking days off from housework to scrapbook or go to the beach is a good thing.. Whats not to love there?
42. He is not a big reader, but once he sat down and read a whole book just because I loved it so much and I asked him too. The couple in the story reminded me of us...
43. He is a great singer and likes to sing with me!
44. Have I mentioned he also calls me brown eyes, and beautiful?  Or sometimes its "how's my beautiful brown eyed princess?"  See how clever to put them all together.. It doesn't make me smile one bit either.
45. He is the one who started birthday week!
46. He makes me eclair cake on my birthday.
47. He took me to our first marriage conference even though he really didn't want to go.  He liked it so much he took me to like 13 more in the years following.
48. He is a great leader and I admire, love and respect him so much. 

Wow... that wasn't even hard.. can I use the same list next year and just add #49?  ha!  Are you still with me?  You aren't like gagging from the mushiness are you?  I didn't think so.  I meant every word.  And to my husband, I wish you the most amazing birthday my love!  You are the very best.  LY... P. 

Blessings everyone!  Have an awesome weekend.  We will be starting ours with birthday steaks, carrot cake and a movie together.  Perfect!

Birthday Week Lemon Blueberry Bread

So here it is... the Birthday Lemon Blueberry Bread.  I made this for Darrel's birthday for breakfast years ago... judging from the magazine which is dated Feb/March 1995... and yes... I still have it.  I have lots of them. I used to love, love Taste of Home and Country Woman Magazine.  Are they even still published now? 

Um yes.. they still publish it and now... I am mad... LOOK here... The recipe... the recipe I spent like a half hour searching for... looking thru all my back issues of Taste of Home....  It's posted online.  Of course it is.. that just totally goes along with my week.  It never once occurred to me that Taste of Home would have their recipes posted!  DUH...

I have an issue with the online recipe though.. It says 15 min. prep time.  Are they serious?  Folks I spent like 15 minutes wrestling with juicing and grating the peel of 2 lemons! Yes.. I know one can buy lemon juice in a bottle and lemon peel in a jar... I like real and fresh when I bake.. real vanilla, real butter... and real lemons.  I had forgotten I had this little gadget, which came in quite handy for the lemon juicing! I turned it over to see what brand it was and was surprised to discover it was Graham Kerr.  Remember him?  The Galloping Gourmet?  I had forgotten all about him.  Guess I've had the juicer thingy for awhile too.  It does work well as long as one remembers not to squeeze it while tipping it to pour out the juice.  That could cause the juice to squirt out well over the bowl you are trying to pour into... Not that I would know that from experience or anything..... I was also happy to see the Internet version of the recipe says its done when a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  I found that much clearer than my magazine version which stated "bake for 60-70 minutes or until bread tests done."  I'm like OK... tests done how?  I would assume inserting a toothpick or cake tester was what they meant.. but sometimes its different for breads.  Yes.. I'm picky like that. 

Have I mentioned I am not a fan of lemon or blueberry?  So guess who will be enjoying the bread all by his birthday self?  He had a piece warm from the oven and has declared it good so I guess we shall call this evenings baking a success.  Onward to the birthday cake making.  For tomorrows fun we will be grating lots of carrots.... thank goodness for my little food processor.  OK.. I am definitely dating myself because this is the only food processor I own. I am thinking it is not a good sign when that online listing uses the word "original."  I am thinking that makes my food processor "vintage" and now I shall be scared.   I believe it was a wedding or shower gift and we will be having our 24th anniversary on Monday.  I find that both a good thing... that its that old and still works and a sad thing.. that I haven't graduated to a nice Cuisinart or something by now.... I am beginning to think I need to take inventory and see how many other wedding gifts are still in use in our home. 

For that first day of birthday week you might remember I gave Darrel a bottle of Big Red soda.  He loves that stuff.  On that first bottle, there was an offer on the label for a free t-shirt if you send in 4 labels.  He bought a 2nd bottle on date night and when I saw him cutting off the label I asked about it and he told me he was going to send in for a shirt.  So, being the nice wife that I am, I decide to get him 2 more bottles for the rest of birthday week so he can get his shirt.  When I buy the bottles.. I notice they don't have the offer on them, but think well it probably doesn't have to have the offer on the label right?  Bzzzz wrong answer.  Of course now that I read the "specially marked" label this evening we discover they have to be the marked labels... Bummer on that one.  Guess he gets 2 more bottles of soda.. Are you thinking we likely could have just bought a shirt by this point? Do I get points for it being the thought that counts? 

Still no water coming out of the bathroom sink.  Darrel did a lot of banging on pipes and fittings this evening... I asked him if that is how the plumbers do it... The problem now is that the lines are old, the fittings are new, the old lines have expanded so the new fittings are not just nicely sliding down into place like we would like. Maybe tomorrow.  See.... just one more part of the project that is now on day 3 or 4 when we thought it would be done on day 1.  Right.... when will we learn?

Time to head for bed.  Hoping to fit in some beach time tomorrow between walking, cake baking and laundry.  I think I can.  :)  Lets hope I can.  It helps me keep my sanity and makes Deanna a much happier girl.  We all want that right?  Friday is the big birthday celebration.  We will be home for grilled steaks and carrot cake.  Saturday we are celebrating our Anniversary with some shopping and dinner out among other things.  Can't wait!  Sunday is Father's Day.  Monday is our actual anniversary.  Lots of celebrating going on these next few days I guess.  See you tomorrow for Thankful Thursday.  I am thinking I will be thankful that all the baking has been completed.  ha!  Kidding.  Blessings!

Ten On Tuesday

1) Last Friday was the beginning of birthday week for Darrel. This was his first gift. 2 of his favorite snacks and a note from me. I am sure he thought the note was the best part. Right.. On consecutive birthday week days he has also received reeses, cashews, a post it notes stack for his desk, eclipse gum, Dove chocolates and nivea lip balm for men. And yes... I still have a few other goodies up my sleeve.

2) For date night on Friday we headed to the big city to run a quick errand (to get a new waste can for the bathroom) or two and then pick up a pizza and head to the drive in. We saw Super 8 and Fast Five. Super 8 was good! Very Speilberg. I swear I could hear bits of ET music in the score. :) We enjoyed the drive in with the exception of the guy next to us who had to crookedly cram himself into the space beside us and then proceed to chain smoke for the entire 2 features... the smoke of course came directly in my window. Do they have a no smoking section at the drive in?














3) The drive in has the best popcorn! Fresh, crisp and yummy. Much better than whatever the movie theatre is warming over for us. We each got one of those green bags there and pretty much cleaned them out!

4) Saturday I got in a 3 mile walk and then spent some time at the beach with my Mom, niece and nephew. While Mom and I were enjoying our beach chairs, Lauryn occupied herself by burying her brother in the sand.... She decided however that he more looked like he was wearing sand pants rather than actually being buried... ha!















5) During most of our bathroom remodeling, this is where you will find the dog. He follows Darrel around wherever he goes and then lays down right behind him until Darrel gets up and goes again... Apparently Tanner's main goal in life is just to be with his master. Very cute... don't you think?

6) On the way home from church Sunday I asked my husband what he would like to do for the afternoon. I told him in honor of birthday week, maybe we should go fishing? He decided he was on board with this idea! A friend agreed to let us fish in one of their ponds on their property and look at the result! At one point he was throwing in his line and then pulling out a fish! And yes... he thought that was quite fun. Another friend joined us for a bit and I think they brought home around 10 fish maybe? Darrel caught the majority. We released maybe another 5 or so? It got to be so many I lost count!















7) It was a nice day for fishing and not too hot... or so we thought. Out in the sun there though... I thought I might cook. I did a little. Was rather pink when we came in, but it has pretty much turned brown now. I hadn't thought to bring sunscreen because I had a decent base from walking and the beach. Apparently you can still get a little burned even when starting out brown... Lesson learned.

8) I have been a wee bit crabby the last 2 days... Why? Well... although I hosed myself down with vanilla spray and bug spray.. SEVERAL times, I still came home from fishing with several bites in 3 different places. The itching has been terrible.... I have been dousing myself with anti itch creams and taking Benadryl and ibuprofen for the inflammation and yet I am still quite uncomfortable. I have decided Benadryl is wonderful stuff... as long as one doesn't need to function while taking it. I think I have a Benadryl hangover.. is such a thing possible? And still... I sit here itching. Why when I just even think about getting near weeds do I have these problems? It will be all better tomorrow right?

9) More reasons for crabbiness? The bathroom sink. Still not working. Why? Because no part of home improvement ever goes the way you think it will and especially not on the first try. I mean that would just be asking too much right? We try to hook up the sink, we don't have a long enough pipe. Get the right pipe... now the water line connections don't match up and we need some other fitting. Decide OK, we will go ahead and hang the medicine cabinet. Nope... need some washers to hang properly to prevent the screw from pulling out. OK, lets put up the towel hooks on the backs of the door. NOPE... the door panel where we thought the hooks would go is too thin to screw into... we now have to hang them up high where like tall people can reach them... Nothing there to be feeling the least bit crabby about right? Especially if you have already been itching and dopey from Benadryl for 2 days...

10) The birthday baking is about to begin. My husband has of course requested a carrot cake for his birthday cake. Since I like him just a little bit I am also going to make him a loaf of lemon blueberry bread. I made it on his birthday just once years ago. He has mentioned it several times lately so I thought for birthday week we'd give it a try again. I only had to dig thru like 50 back issues of Taste of Home to find the recipe again... no trouble there... I must like him or something.

Hope your week is going well! I need to go set out birthday week gift 6 for the birthday boy and then head myself to bed. I'm going to feel better tomorrow. No allergies. No itching... Right?! Blessings!

Thankful Thursday

Can  you believe it?  Yet another picture showing more steps forward in the bathroom?  Are you in awe?  Cause I know I am!  Look at our new vanity light?  I love love love it.  Just hoping it will look in proportion with the medicine cabinet which is rather wide... Although if it doesn't, it is probably the medicine cabinet that will need exchanging, not the light.  I think a bigger light would be out of proportion with the room because yes.. she is small! 

You will also notice the wainscot is now painted white!  LOVE it.  I was worried I had too much white going on but it is coming out just how I hoped it would and yes I am happy about that!  There are 2 smaller walls that still need their second coat of paint, but this main wall is where the vanity goes and it is all set for installation on Saturday!  I am way too excited about that!  I am a complete dork, but the thing I am most wanting to see is the new faucet and handles on the new sink.... they are vintage looking and perfect! 

So how was your Thursday?  Mine was good.   Feels like I've accomplished a lot... I walked just under 3 miles.  The heat was a bit much for me and I had to stop a little sooner than I would have liked.  I did 3 loads of laundry.  I spent about three hours sitting at the beach.  :)   Loved that.  Perfect day for it and the water felt amazing.  While sitting on the beach I started this book because last night I finished this book.  I started reading The Hour I First Believed as a sample on my Kindle.  When I reached the end of that, I of course wanted to continue so while sitting in my beach chair, in the water, I purchased the book and continued reading.   Have I mentioned I love my Kindle?  It is SO cool.  I have read Wally Lamb's other books I Know This Much Is True, and She's Come Undone.  Really enjoyed those and so far this one is not disappointing me.  It does have some language and content I don't care for, as did his other 2 books, but I am really enjoying the story and his writing style as usual! But back to today... came home and cleaned up, had some yummy burritos and nachos for dinner, finished the laundry and painted my nails... um pink.  :)

Tomorrow... well OK, in 3 minutes it is tomorrow.... but anyway... It's the beginning of birthday week for my husband.  I have big plans.  Well OK, I have plans.. maybe they aren't "big."  :) There will be presents involved.  Yes, plural.  There will be good stuff to eat.  Yes, more than 1 good thing to eat.  His main gift (combined bday/anniv) however is a new air compressor.  I think I mentioned that.  We are likely picking it up tomorrow night while in the big city.  Maybe... we are currently having a dilemma discussing if it will in fact fit in the car.  Not fitting in the car, well I'm thinking that would be a problem.  Soon as I finish blogging I will go and set out birthday week gift #1 for my husband to find in the morning.  See... we are already having fun.   We also have some other fun plans for date night tomorrow, but I will share those on the weekend. 

So lets close with a thankful list for this past week which would include:

• substantial progress in the bathroom remodel
• A couple of days at the beach
• better days Weight Watchers/Accountability wise
• Summer! Well OK, it feels like Summer.  I don't think its official yet.
• pink finger nails
• pizza and movies at home
• a husband that wants me to go to the beach when I want even when there are things needing done here at home
• my pretty pink camera
• sandals
• dresses
• La Carreta ... I always wonder if I am spelling that right.
• a quiet Sunday at home
• reading and books!
• my parents
• my husband's attention to detail and expertise in bathroom remodeling
• Jack
• new scrapping goodies - love those little alpha stamps! Love that cutetape.com! One of my stamps sets was the wrong font.  She told me to keep the wrong one and very promptly sent out the correct one from my order.  Very impressed!
• my parents camping nearby
• friends
• God's patience with me
• my job
• a few clean spots in my house! Happy about that!
• new music on my ipod.  Loving that Adele
• celebrating birthdays and anniversaries 
• starting to make plans for the Doodlebug Crop Retreat in Sept.  Who else is going? 
• girl stuff 
• singing
• having our own well water back
• subway grilled chicken salad with their fat free honey mustard.  YUM 

Hope your week has been good!  Be sure to tune back in for Darrel's birthday week adventures this week!  Blessings!

Ten on Tuesday

1) So I realized yesterday that I don't think I ever posted this layout to my blog?  Did I?  I think I just showed you a sneak.  :)  This was a layout I did for a tag challenge over at The Scrapping Spot.  I was challenged to use banners and I had to "scraplift" from the person before me.  This was what I came up with.  These pics were from our first drive in date night this season.  I printed the popcorn bucket and movie reel from clip art right onto the cardstock with my large format printer.  I love the film strip across the bottom.  That is Tim Holtz film strip ribbon.  I stapled it so that it would lay kind of rippled across the page.  Cool huh?  

2) Have you heard of Smash Books by K & Co?  My friend Lisa asked me about them today and apparently I am behind the times because how did I miss such a cool product!  They have a cool blog here.  Love the little video in the sidebar.  How fun!  Sadly however it appears to be sold out like everywhere!  I did find it on the K & Co store site here.  It's back ordered, but is supposed to ship on the 20th.  Lisa said she looked at Michael's and so far, they don't seem to be carrying it.  I think they are missing out!

3) Did a little birthday week shopping for my husband today.  That was fun.  Birthday week for him begins this Friday!  He said he hadn't thought of it... now how does one NOT think of Birthday week?  I am already counting down the days till July 12th.... Yes that would be birthday week for me.  :) 

4) I also bought birthday candles for his cake.  I told him he should be very happy that we still needed a mere two boxes of candles.  He said yes, but he figured that was the last year for that.  He would be correct on that count unless they start making boxes that hold 25 instead of 24.  :) 

5) I also tried to buy him a birthday card, but apparently I was not in a card buying kind of mood because they were all stupid and therefore annoying me. I concluded that card buying was best left for another day.

6) We have already started to look forward to the Indiana State Fair!  We like to go on a Friday and were checking out the events today on either Aug 5th (opening day) or Aug. 12th.  Aug 5th is High School Band day which is fun.  We've been to that before.  It is also the biggest hog contest... yes, we witnessed that last year.  However on Aug 12th they are going to have a Hot Air Balloon glow in the fair infield!  Cool.  We think we are leaning towards seeing the balloons. 

7) A strange occurrence happened in the dining room this evening... Suddenly we can see the floor.  Darrel was able to move a lot of tools and construction paraphernalia back out of the house.  Yes... we are getting that close to the finish line on our bathroom project.  I then actually dusted two pieces of dining room furniture to clear them of construction dust... and yes, just two clean pieces of furniture in my house and I already feel much better. 

8) Darrel spent the evening priming the wainscot and doing some touch ups on the bathroom ceiling.  I am thinking after that we will get the white paint applied.  Then do you know what happens next?  Brace yourself... the sink and vanity will be installed.  An actual working sink and shower all in the same bathroom at the same time.  I don't think I will know what to do with myself!

9) I have a question.... does something happen to you as you get older where every bug bite or scrape or cut you get then has to turn into a scar?  Is this an old age thing or just me.  I am not sure if either answer will make me happy.... so now we are all wondering.. then why is she asking?  I had a mosquito bite on my leg a few weeks ago and its still there... red spot.. looking like a scar.  I had a cut on my arm from my razor... took forever to heal and now yes... red spot looking like a scar.  Perhaps I am just slowly falling apart.  Maybe as I approach... 45... oh. my. goodness! ... I need my 100 thousand mile tune up or something...

10) OK... until I just typed it... it had not occurred to me that I turn 45 next month.  45... There is no getting around that being um... "middle aged" is there.  Does this mean I can no longer pretend I'm still in like my 20's or at least my 30's since my brain doesn't feel all that different?  I mean actually physically and emotionally I am probably in better shape now than I was in my 30's.  Perhaps I should just land there and decide 45 is a good thing... Right?  45 is good... scars and all.  :) We will just focus on the approaching birthday week and forget how old it means I am.  I can live with that. 

How has your week been?  Hope its been good!  I am hoping to get in a couple of beach days this week if the weather cooperates.  See you on Thursday for Thankful Thurs!  Blessings.

Grouting, Girl Stuff & Great Finds

Yes, we have moved another step, or three ahead in the bathroom remodel project!  Cheer with me for a moment won't you?  More than 7 months into this project I am so more than ready to celebrate!  Today Darrel got the wainscot put up.  I like it, but its still hard to picture what it will look like because it still needs to be painted white.  That however is a step for another day because currently Darrel is working hard at grouting the bathroom floor.  And yes... this means once again I am exiled to using the bathroom out across the yard.... Last time though right?  So I guess I will survive. 

The grout on the floor has turned out to be much harder work than the grout on the shower tiles.  Apparently the floor grout is "sanded" grout and the wall grout was not.  This makes it much drier and thicker and harder to spread.  Here is a closer look.  You can see what a good job my husband is doing.  Of course... he always does a good job.  Once he is done with this, we have to stay off of the floor for 24 hours.  That was the reason we decided to do the grouting tonight.  By the time he is finished, it will be bed time, than go to work time, and by the time its back home time... we will be about able to re-enter the bathroom.  I am thinking this is a good plan. 

So in other news... lets try to recap the day and the weekend shall we? 

• Friday night for date night we were at home for pizza and movies.  It was the last day of VBS which meant getting home much later than normal, which meant no trip to the big city.  I think we were too tired to head for the big city anyway.  We watched, Armored and Unthinkable. Both movies were OK, but um somewhat stressful and the 2nd movie.. .rather gruesome.  It was about a man who specialized in torturing people to get information.  I didn't care for the things he did or a good bit of the language. 
• Saturday I had tons of things I should do and one thing I wanted to do.  Can you guess what that was?  Yes, I went to the beach.  I just went for a few hours though and then came home to go back out and walk.  I did about 3 miles, 40 some minutes in 96+ heat.  Be very impressed.  After that I came home to clean up and work on a powerpoint for church today with the photos I took all last week from VBS.
• Can I ask why, no matter what spot I pick at the beach, I am immediately surrounded by either people with kids who insist on splashing me constantly, or people who want to stand practically on top of me while smoking and swearing and acting like I am invisible?  I just want my quiet little spot on the beach without being drowned or choked by smoke.  That isn't so much to ask is it? 
• Today we had church and I was worship leader this week.  Darrel and I also did a song for special music.  Enjoyed that.  I enjoy the worship leading as well, but it can be stressful. 
• After church we headed to LaCarreta.  YUM.  We hadn't been in 2 whole weeks... Amazing huh?  Have I mentioned I love LaCarreta? 
• On the way out of the restaurant the lady that was paying just before us had on the cutest shoes!  I told her about it and she thanked me and was telling me she bought them at the lake in Kentucky.  When I look up after this conversation, I see my husband laughing and shaking his head.  He finds it amusing that I have started up a conversation with a complete stranger about her cute shoes.  Apparently guys don't walk up to each other and say "Hey Joe.. .those are some great work boots you got there..."  Bwa ha ha ha... Personally I think the guys are missing out.  ;)  I told him it was a girl thing. 
• So OK.. these shoes were very cute.  They were black flip flops and they had a flower on them that was outlined in rhinestones.  Since I didn't figure I'd be at a lake in KY anytime soon I took a shot and googled "black rhinestone flower flip flops" and look here what I found! That's them and they are only $14.95.  I couldn't believe I found them that easily!  I might have ordered a pair.  They might also come in a cute silver too that might have accidentally fell in my shopping cart. 
• I opened a package that came the other day.  I had placed an order with cutetape.com.  They have cool washi tapes and fabulous stamps.  Here is what was in my order. 

• Are those not fabulous little alpha stamps or what?  I *heart* alpha stamps.  I bet I use some on like every layout.  Sure saves on buying millions of alpha stickers.  Well OK... I probably do that too. 
• I finished reading this book and started reading this book. Really enjoyed that 2nd installment in the Richard Paul Evans Walk series.  However since patience is not my best thing, not so much looking forward to waiting till next April for the 3rd book! Really liking Girl in Translation too! 
• Talked with Darrel about his birthday, and our anniversary which are coming up in about 2 weeks!  Darrel's birthday is on the 17th.  Our 24th wedding anniversary is on the 20th.  His birthday falls on date night!  That could be fun.  Usually for our birthdays we get to pick what we want for dinner, whether that means he wants me to cook something or go out, we get to pick what cake we want and the other person makes it for us, and we talk about gift ideas because yes, we always do gifts.  I mean you know I am a big on celebrating birthdays kind of girl.   Darrel of course wants Carrot Cake.  That is a given.  He often wants to stay home for dinner and either have grilled steaks, lasagna, spaghetti or meatloaf.  He has not yet decided the food plans for this year but we may go out for steak.  His birthday/anniversary gift request is possibly an air compressor.  His died yesterday and he uses it a lot with some of his woodworking tools and with some of his car repair tools. 
• On Friday night we came home to no water.  At first we thought it was us, because we have temporarily been using city water, while our well/pump was not working right.  Our temporary fix sometimes blows a hose so we thought that was the problem.  Turned out the city had a water main break.  There was no water until Saturday afternoon!  This caused us to turn our own water back on and give that a try again.  At first it still wasn't working correctly, but it gradually got better!  So now we are back to our own water!  SO happy about that.  Was not liking the difference in my hair, or the dishes in the dishwasher with the city water.  Also feeling quite blessed that ours started working without expense or huge amounts of time digging stuff up!  It had stopped working during the torrential rains and flooding we had.  Then it worked a little but was muddy coming out of the tap.  Then we shut it down for awhile and now its working!  We are wondering if our pump got clogged with mud somehow with everything being so saturated and it has gradually worked itself out?  Just glad its working. 

And now we prepare for a new work week.  I would be thrilled if it would just basically be routine!  Sounds perfect to me.  How is your week shaping up?  I hope its a great one.  See you on Tuesday!  Blessings!

Thankful Thursday

Check it out!  New bathroom floor tile actually ON the floor and not sitting in a box in the garage or my dining room or some such place... It's on the floor!  yay!!!! So OK, it's not quite done.  But it is close.  One little corner by the doors to lay and then its time for grouting.  The current plan is to finish installing tile on Saturday, and then grout on Sun. night.  After grouting you have to stay off of it for 24 hours.  Not real convenient when its your only bathroom in the house.... I mean.. that is the room where the toilet is... Right?  We figure if we grout Sun. night, then for a good portion of the 24 hours we will either be sleeping or at work.  Should make it somewhat more bearable. 

The real fun was this past Monday night... That would be when the toilet spent 24 hours out in the yard.  Darrel had to take it out to lay the tile under/around the toilet.  Good to get the tile down.. .bad to suddenly have to return to like House on the Prairie days and go to the outhouse... Well OK.  It's MUCH nicer than an outhouse but I wasn't feeling all that excited about how nice it was at the time.  Can we be blunt for a minute?  You're thinking what.. as if she hasn't already been blunt enough going on for 2 paragraphs about the toilet?  Yep.. it gets worse and I am going to go there.  See I am a girl.  A girl needs to be able to tinkle when she needs to tinkle.  For me that is pretty much all the time and on command if necessary... like at the DR's office.  My husband on the other hand?  I swear once a week and he's good.  Those 24 hours with no toilet in the house... Well that was a problem for me to even sleep good.  What if I have to go during the night?  What about when I first wake up.... can a girl make it out of bed, out of the house, across the yard and into the spare room?  What if I was hit with another gall bladder attack?  This was not a challenge I was looking forward to.  So... for Thankful Thursday, #1 on my list is a working toilet IN the house... Who knew that was such a luxury huh? 

As the tile has gone in, the area around the toilet was done first, so it was able to be walked on first.  The other side of the room came 2nd.  So.. to get to the shower, cause who wants to go back out to the spare room for that either... I was like doing acrobats to step on only the tiles I was allowed to which basically involved walking like a balance beam in front of the toilet... Hey, I was willing to do it just to get to continue to use the new shower.  My husband probably just needed one step from the doorway to the shower.. its a little room and he has long legs.  I am a little person people and have short legs! 

I love love love the look of the tile.  However I have never had ceramic tile on the floor before.  Did you know ceramic tile on the floor gets COLD... under my already cold feet in the morning?  Learned that lesson quickly this morning!  Will be very happy to get my new throw rug on the floor to take care of that problem.  I explain this to Darrel and he tells me that is why people get heated floors with their tile... well gee... now he tells me..

This week has pretty much been a blur... Went from the bliss of peaceful time off with my husband to chaos and stress and too much to do in one fell swoop!  We've had Bible School at church/work all week.  VBS is wonderful and very worthwhile and I am glad we are doing it.  It is just also all consuming and makes it difficult to get all my other tasks completed on time.  I did however manage today to carve out an extra hour and a half to go get myself not only a pedi... but a mani too!  I never do that but I figured if I let the nail place do it, it was one less thing for me to do later! ha!   Very glad I went too, it was a nice little oasis in the midst of a hugely busy week.  So now I can look at my flashbulb fuchsia toes and fingers and smile and remember the nice arm and foot massage that came with them! 

Regardless of the busyness there have been many things to be thankful for.. such as:

• um a working toilet in the house.  Told you that was #1.
• new floor tiles going in!
• Vacation Bible School.  Love seeing the building full of kids laughing, worshipping, singing, playing.. awesome!
• Walking.  I missed several days and I love that it felt so good to get back out there.
• Manicures and pedicures
• downhills that follow uphills....
• honeysuckle!  It's blooming all around us right now and I can smell it in our yard and on my walks and I love love love it.
• Singing!  Getting ready to sing for this Sunday.  Doing this song.  Darrel is my harmony... in more ways than one ;)
• Reading.  I have been adding Kindle books like crazy.  Mostly free ones.  Reading this right now and have lots of others ready to go!  Every time I see what someone else is reading mentioned on their blog or facebook or something then I of course think that looks good and need to add it to my list too!
• summer clothes and shoes
• being back to the beach!!!
• Did I mention the beach?  I love the beach...
• date night
• Our fabulous day at Holiday World.  I sooooo want to go again.  Soon. 
• a great 5 days off
• the little guy who does my pedicure.  He does a good job.  He is very kind to me and takes good care of me. 
• a break in the rain and storms
• our shopping date night/day last Friday. FUN
• our church
• perseverance in my weight loss journey
• Mexican food
• being asked if we were newlyweds
• new fiestaware dishes
• my crock pot... made dinner and life much easier today
• my Kindle... I know.. I kind of mentioned that.. but I love that thing.
• My husband who is always, always, always there for me and for some reason always seems to think I'm great... even when I'm not.. which I am afraid is usually..
• my job

Well one more day of Bible School coming up.  It will mean getting home late so sounds like date night will be a pizza and movie night at home.  Sounds like just the ticket for this tired and overwhelmed girl...

Hope you have an awesome weekend!  Blessings.