The Future is Looking Brighter

In light of recent devastating news, Grandpa J and I had to get our heads together real fast to come up with a plan for our future. We've assessed our situation and figure we will be desperately needing to supplement our income to meet our financial obligations. We looked first to what we can do quickly and make the most money fast. So here's our plan:


We'll rent out some of the bedrooms. . .maybe even parts of the basement. Grandpa J and I argued whether or not baths would cost extra.


We'll sell Grandpa J's collection of cottage cheese and various other plastic containers. I must add. . . the thought of selling his prized collection hit Grandpa J real hard, but I told him this is reality now. There WILL be sacrifices. The prices are very negotiable and open to the best offer.


I figure if the little girls in Mexico can sell Chiclets gum and seashells, so can I. However, I couldn't find any Chiclets gum, so I'll sell Smarties and seashells instead.


I KNEW there was a good reason why I should drink Diet Pepsi. I can collect the cans and recycle them. This, however, won't bring in much money at the rate I drink Pepsi, so maybe I should drink MORE!


The movie rentals have been free in recent weeks, months. . .well, for years actually! So, with the price of everything else going up. . . so are the movie rentals at my house!


Our garage is full of a lot of junk, some useless. But I figure since the kids are always borrowing a various assortment of items out of the garage, maybe we can earn some money renting out some of the tools.


And. . . last but not least, we can always panhandle. We just have to be careful on which corner we stand. The ticket price, if we get caught, is quite substantial. We'll just keeping moving around every hour or so.

A Big Black Cloud Over My House

Another big, black cloud has settled over my house. Grandpa J was given notice last Thursday that his job is being RIFFED. His last day of work is June 18. We are scrambling to assess our financial situation. My spirits are way low right now and I'm just trying to find the tiniest smidge of hope and faith in the future. Most of you know I am mostly a private person when it comes to things like this, so please let me have my space for a while and let me wallow in my sorrows. I really don't want to explain the story a dozen times.

Saturday Work

Grandpa J worked really hard Saturday connecting to the secondary water source. What a job! But, after about four trips (maybe it was five) to Home Depot and sticking his face and arms in a hole with his bum in the air all day til dark, he got it done.

Low and behold it WORKS. . .except there's a leak! But, one more trip to Home Depot tomorrow to get some of the weird tape stuff that he can wind around the filter thingey connector, it will (or should) work without leaking.



While he did all that, I mowed the lawn, pulled buckets and buckets and bags of weeds and I fertilized the lawn too. Today I can't move, but maybe it's worth it when I can look out my window at the beauty of the irises blooming right now.

A Fairy Tale Story

ONCE UPON A TIME, a very long time ago, but not quite before dinosaurs or dirt, a baby was born in a faraway land of poppies and gold.

As she grew up, she had a somewhat normal childhood with a bike and a dog.

One day, she met her Prince Charming and got married.

Then, she had three lovely daughters. They liked to play and laugh and do crafts. She made them a breakfast every day of gooey eggs and taught them how to make one-egg and two-egg cakes and oatmeal cookies with raisins.

When the daughters grew up, they left home and married fine gentlemen. She may think differently of that idea. Sometimes, I wonder if she thinks her daughters may have married frogs.

Currently, she lives in her castle (some call it a hotel) filled with glorious treasures which awe the visitors. Some say they can stand for hours and gaze upon wonderful eclectic goodies in every corner of every room. She hides candy bars. (Kind of like the secret menu at In and Out Burgers - you have to know what to ask for and where they are kept. It's just assumed you know on your own when you are old enough to just go help yourself and not have to ask.) She collects purple glass and funny little birdie statues. Her grandchildren and great grandchildren claim she also collects spiders.

If you are on her Christmas list, you can be GUARANTEED she'll buy you a cookbook for Christmas, although her cuisine of choice is breakfast at McDonald's. If you stay at her hotel, Egg McMuffins will be the main menu choice. And, speaking of food, she absolutely ADORES strawberries and angel food cake or, as a matter of fact, anything with strawberries.

She lives quite the life of luxury and can get up when she wants, leisurely read the newspaper, blog a bit on her blog and watch movies. She loves to travel to faraway exotic places like Fallon, Nevada, San Antonio and Edgewood, Texas and Pleasant Grove, Utah with her portable castle on wheels.

Now she has quite the posterity: quite a few grandchildren and several great grandchildren scattered in all sorts of faraway lands. She loves visitors and usually likes to be a part of the "party" if there's one going on. So. . . here's as much of a party as we could get together! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Happy Birthday Party!

THE END!



DELETED SCENES AND BLOOPERS!


Deleted Scenes - Happy Birthday Ballet Style!




Deleted Scenes - Happy Birthday Rap Style!




Deleted Scenes - Happy Birthday Swiss Style!




Blooper - Happy Birthday Swiss Style!

May you have a very happy birthday today. We love you. Hope you have as much fun watching this as we did making it!

Fun at Grandma J's

Friday night Mercedes got to come play with Grandma and Grandpa J while her mommy and daddy went somewhere. I wanted to make it fun for her, but before I could do anything, her mommy made me sign a contract which forbade me from piercing her ears, tattooing any part of her body, applying makeup or feeding her anything out of the ordinary. I was somewhat taken aback that I, Mercedes' caring grandma, would be placed under such constraints when it came to what I could and couldn't do with Mercedes!


So, when Mercedes' played at my house, she got to play in the toilet paper. I bet she'll never get to do that at her house!


Mercedes liked to play dress up.



She liked to play with hats and things she could put on her head.



She didn't like to leave them on her head very long, but she loves jewelry! I've discovered how important it is to have a very fast camera, or I am just getting old and my reflexes that push the button are way too slow!



She loved all the girlie stuff!



Mercedes liked to read books with Grandma J. However, she was quite interested in the taste rather than the story line.


Mercedes wanted to try some ice cream, but I think she was starting to feel a bit under the weather. I swear, according to the signed contract, Mercedes didn't have even the slightest taste of ice cream. I know she's been quite sick the entire weekend, but I swear, I didn't give her any to eat!


Finally, after having so much fun at Grandma J's, she pooped out and went to sleep. As soon as her mommy and daddy came to get her, Mercedes was just SICK at the idea she had to go home and started to throw up. Poor girl!

On Saturday night, Aryn, Alyza, Adam and Austen got to come play at Grandma and Grandpa J's house while their mommy and daddy went somewhere. Now, I was not placed under any signed contract with these guys, but I knew enough in advance to make sure to ask that they come in old clothes. We were going to get dirty!

We planted a garden. When the kids got here, the flip flops went flying and the kids were in the dirt faster than I could believe. It's amazing how we, as adults, are soooo uptight about a garden. Don't walk here! Don't walk there! Watch out for the peas! Watch out for the tomatoes! But, a twenty-one-month old has no cares at all! How would it be?


The kids planted.


Adam pounded the stakes.


They raked, hoed and one played.


Adam spilled the beans - I mean the corn - all over the ground and in the chair. But that's okay. At Grandma J's you don't get in trouble for doing silly things like that.



Austen liked playing with the little shovel.



Austen liked raking with the big rake.


And, Austen liked getting his face dirty.



Aryn and Alyza liked being barefoot in the cool dirt.


They liked it so much that they buried their feet in the dirt and wanted me to water them. I guess they thought they would grow tall.


Of course, water attracts kids.


Austen came close more than twice at falling in the mud. I was worried about his shoes. They didn't look like workin' shoes to me.


Alyza was worried about getting the mud off of her.


We ran some relay races. Even I ran. However, nothing like playing games to find out what your family is really like! Alyza is fast - she won. Aryn cheats. She turned around half way and went back to the finish line. I kept running. Adam came up in the rear and just stopped, dropped and laid on the ground.


Time to squirt off the dirt from the feet. After all the digging and working and running, we all smelled like wanna-be farmers!


We sure had fun!

And, then when everyone was beat and tired and it was dark, we went inside to watch a movie until mommy and daddy came to get them. I bet those kids slept like bugs in a rug, ‘cause I sure did!

Boredom

Haven't had anything to blog about this week. For me, the week has been a bit of a bore.

That is, except we bought some hot dogs at Costco for supper (haven't had a hot dog in months 'cause I don't really like 'em much actually) and had to buy a pack of 48! Holy cow! After all, it's just me and Grandpa J. We can't eat that many unless we put hot dogs in spaghetti, tacos and pancakes. Those are our usual 3 main meal choices. We're too pooped to think of anything much else for dinner. Then, we went to buy some buns. Sheesh! We had to buy four packs of those too! I told Grandpa J we will have to eat everything on hot dog buns until they're gone. Hot dog buns don't seem to last very long in the freezer. Can't waste 'em. He said he could eat tuna fish on a hot dog bun, but there's something just not quite right about eating peanut butter and jelly on a hot dog bun.

Grandpa J's been going to a special fire marshall's conference this week, so I've been able to sleep in until 6:30 a.m. I haven't had to get him to that darn early bus that leaves at 5:30 a.m.! And, he's home by 5 p.m.! Sure does feel good!

Work's been crazy as usual. But, I'm afraid, it's going to get crazier. One of my co-workers starts chemo treatments tomorrow. She has a positive attitude and thinks she will be able to work. Her doctor tells her to expect the worst. But, my group of ladies, is stepping up and willing to help out wherever. That means a lot to me.

Grandpa J broke his glasses this morning. Thank goodness for super glue. Just wish it would hold longer than 15 minutes. So now we're going to be in the poor house buying a new pair for him. There's always something.

On a good note: I found only 3 thistles that popped up in my lawn this year. Wahoo!

To My Mom

Because it's Mother's Day, I wanted to get something for you to let you know how much I appreciate that you are MY mom.

First, I made a Mother's Day card for you. I wrote that I am grateful you are my mom. But, I didn't get it mailed in time.


Then, I made a bouquet of flowers for you. They remind me of how you taught me to sew and be craftsy. But, I think the flowers would be a little wilted by the time they arrived at your house. Besides, "these ones" don't have much fragrance.



Then, I got a box of candy for you. Candy reminds me how you taught me to make some of the best desserts including pies, cakes and yummy cookies. But, I figured the candy wouldn't be as good by the time you got it, so I ate it ALL. Which, by the way, is another thing I think I learned from you.




I gave some more thought to what I could do for you for this Mother's Day. Lots of people nowadays like to have their mom near to their heart. So, I had a tatoo put on my ankle. This helps me to remember just how much I really do love you. But, I decided it might fade before you could see it.



I still needed to find just the right gift for you. So, I carved your name in my lawn so I could remember how you taught me to work hard and that "anything worth doing, is worth doing right." But, the grass grows pretty fast at my house and you might miss all the hard work I put into it.



And so, even though these gifts may be a little ordinary, I want you to know you are no ordinary mom. The next best thing I could think of giving you for Mother's Day is to tell you, "I am so glad you are my mother! You are the BEST!



Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Birthday Hams!

Dear Hamilton,

Grandpa J and I want to wish you the most happiest birthday ever! Since we can't be there, we made this little music video for you. What this Grandma and Grandpa won't do for their grandkids! And to think, the whole world can see this too!

We were approached by some talent scouts to pursue this type of career, but we decided it was in the best interest of everyone to pass up the opportunity. Just let it be known that we made this clip because we LOVE YOU TONS!

Here's sending you LOTS of hugs and kisses, and may you enjoy!

Love,
Grandpa J and Grandma J



P.S. Make sure Tootsie is out of the room when you play this. I'm sure she'll howl to the moon as soon as she hears us sing!

Just Me Time

I took the afternoon off from work today and played a little "hookey." Sometimes work just gets to me and I need a little "just me time."

Last month my visiting teacher said she wanted to do some service for me. I'm not sure why I ended up being part of her service project, but she convinced me to let her give me a facial and a peppermint head massage for FREE! She's a master esthetician (whatever that is) and knows her stuff. So, I stepped into her parlor and let her work her magic on my face. Now, work with me. You're going to have to use your imagination on this. There's no picture. But, oh my. . . it sure felt good, and for an hour and a half, I left this world.

Feeling very "lovely," I went to one of my most favorite places. The DI! I spent another hour moseying around the place and found some great treasures! I found a fun desk/vanity with a mirror and bench. Of course, I will have to paint it and recover the bench.



I also found a pretty rose plate, an Occupied Japan dish and a Lefton Japan Exclusive vase. The candle stick, two dessert cups and two punch cups will turn purple in the sun.



The last picture shows some more pretty punch cups, plates and bowls which I bought just because I liked them. All in all, my treasures totaled a mere $40.


Then, I came home and took a most wonderful nap!

P.S. I keep reminding Grandpa J he got a bargain when he married me. He just needs to give me a measly allowance of a few dollars a week for me to buy my junk and I'm HAPPY!