Time Marches On

Christmas 1988 Frank & Vicki

Christmas 1992 Frank, Vicki & Amber

Christmas 1995 Frank, Vicki, Amber & Andrew

Christmas 2011 Frank, Vicki & Andrew

A Woman's Guide to Common Scents

Daily Routine:

Shampoo (scent #1)
Conditioner (scent #2)
Face Soap (scent #3)
Body Wash (scent #4)
Shave Gel (scent #5)
Deodorant (scent #6)
Face Cream (scent #7)
Body Lotion (scent #8)
Powder (scent #9)
Perfume/body spray (dare she!) (scent #10)
Hair gel/mousse (scent #11)
Hair spray (scent #12)

Did I leave anything out??? There must be a scent cloud swirling around women as they leave their homes each morning. Think about those who are allergic to scents and use some common sense and try to tone it down a little bit.

Fork in the....Purse????

A couple of years ago I bought a very nice set of Oneida Flatware. It wasn't super expensive but it was much nicer than what I had. And all the pieces matched! I loved my new flatware!

Over time, I noticed there were a few pieces missing from my flatware tray. That was to be expected with my family, though. Not a big deal. But as Oneida goes, my set has been discontinued. Still not a big deal. We can live without a few forks.

Until, the last few weeks when I noticed the forks were disappearing exponentially. I kept mentioning it to my family....begging them to please bring the forks back. I felt like a mama pleading to a kidnapper to bring her child back. The family seemed to brush me off. I felt like they thought I was losing my mind. ("Mom's on her fork rant again") We only had four forks left. There should be sixteen! Eight dinner forks and eight salad forks. But there were only four altogether. Very sad!

Then on Saturday, Daughter and I were getting ready to go shopping. She was digging in her purse for some make-up when she sheepishly looked up at me and pulled a FORK out of her purse. HA! One fork back! She dug back into her bag for her make-up, paused, and with pink in her cheeks pulled out a second fork! HA! HA! The dig continued and so did the appearance of my missing flatware! When she was finished, she had retrieved SIX pieces of my missing flatware from her handbag. Four forks, a knife and a spoon. By this time, we're both laughing hysterically, with tears streaming down our faces. There are still eight forks missing but I'm sure they'll show up the next time she changes her handbag.

Good Morning!

I woke up this morning not having to jump out of bed and go anywhere. I didn't even have to jump out of bed and do anything. Sure, I have a to-do list a mile along...it's perpetual...never ending. But there was nothing pressing. And the power was out. We had a ferocious storm last night that knocked trees down on the power lines. So, as my eyes opened I luxuriated in the feel of my comfy bed. I love my fine cotton sheets and the quilt my grandma made for me. I love our thick comforter and my soft pillows. So nice!

Then I started thinking about the man who sleeps beside me every night. So thankful for him! So thankful for the sun streaming through the mini-blinds. Thankful for the sound of the birds chirping outside my window. Thankful for the hens clucking in the back yard. Thankful for the soft strumming of the guitar coming from the next room. So much to be thankful for. It is indeed a Good Morning!

The Notebook

Nope, not the movie. Although, it's a good one. The notebook I'm referring to is a bright pink notebook selected for the purpose of wedding planning!

I have notebooks for EVERYTHING!!! A recipe notebook! A knitting notebook! A planner notebook! A couple of homeschooling notebooks! A sewing notebook! A house notebook! Even a notebook titled "poisonous snakes of WV"! Yuck!

But this pink notebook is going to be the most special of them all! We've established categories in our notebook....colors/theme, wedding clothes, flowers, cake/food, decorations, photographer, etc. We've begun the ground work for one of the most memorable events in our lives. It all seems so surreal. It's hard to believe my baby is going to be getting married one day soon. Half of the time, it feels like we're playing make-believe. Just like when she was a little girl. And seeing her in wedding dresses...she's just playing dress-up, right??? I have been doing fine with all of it, until the day we found "the veil". It is the most beautiful veil in the whole wide world! And the moment she put it on, we knew it was the one! I cried!

We've watched tons of episodes of "Say yes to the dress". We've seen the mother cry. We've seen the bride swoon over the perfect dress. I thought a lot of that was hype. But I experienced it first-hand when she put that veil on. Something magical happened. For just a second, she wasn't my baby any more. But a beautiful young woman about to become a bride.

If the veil had that much effect on me, what on earth will the perfect dress do??? She's tried on about 15 dresses so far. Some were very pretty. But none of them were "it". We know the perfect dress is out there, we just have to find it. We'll search high and low. In chain stores and little boutiques. In pattern books and vintage catalogs. On ebay and Craigslist. Not to mention the enormous stack of bride magazines she owns. The hunt is half the fun, though, right???

Will keep you posted......

Don't Kiss the Dog

Once upon a time there was a very pretty girl who had an adorably cute dog. This little dog was trained to present her cheek to whoever came to visit for a kiss. How sweet!

Until one day, the very pretty girl contracted mono. Yet, she continued to kiss her little dog. And so did any visitors that came to the house.

Can you guess the rest of the story??? There are now several people who have mono and the sweet little dog is the link.

The moral of the story....don't kiss the dog!

It's the Little Things...

I found these retro-style glasses in an outlet store recently. I LOVE them! They go perfectly with my Fiesta Ware. They match the decor of my kitchen. And they just make me smile. It's the little things, like this, that make your house a home. It makes your home a reflection of who you are. I'm not exactly sure what these glasses say about me. I think they say I'm old-fashioned but with style. And I'm alright with that...cause It's a Good Thing!