since you've asked -

     Some of you have inquired how I am doing. Are my challenges with the vertigo still lessening? Etc. This then is to update you about 'me'.
     I had been progressing right along. I was down to usually only feeling mildly dizzy, only occasionally losing my balance upon standing and needing to do a two step or swagger, etc.. All in all, I had great hope that it really might soon pass. Hey, I was even doing good enough over all, that Brian allowed me to drive him home after his eye exam last Thursday afternoon. (for those of you that don't know, many years ago Brian had a major type of eye surgery, that didn't seem to want to heal right. And then a different type of eye injury, which worsened the original condition and resulted in a different type of eye surgery.... so yes, just a routine eye exam can really be something for him!).
     But then last Saturday things went back words.
     That day I had sorted through several piles of 'papers'. (Some of you know exactly what I'm talking about!) I ended with three stacks - one for the recycle bag, one to put through the shredder, and one that needed recorded and/or filed. (record the amount of the bill in the bill book before filing it, or just plain file future tax info., etc.). Lots of moving my head, focusing my eyes, stuff right up the alley of what my physical therapist would dream up for me 8-/ / ;-p.
     I had also caught up the checkbook (record all of the debit transactions from the receipts, out of the envelope hanging on the fridge to collect them) and balanced the checkbook. That process requires a lot of turning back and forth, looking from the screen to the checkbook, focusing in on small print ...
     And then I paid a bunch of bills, which also involves turning and focusing and ... yeah.
     Every time I do it, I do it knowing full well that it is going to affect me to some degree. But yow-sah, it REALLY affected me that day!!!

     But Sat. was also one of those days were lots of storms were rolling through. And with the storms, come barometric pressure. And barometric pressure puts pressure on your ears. And my ears are already having problems with pressure, and giving off wrong signals to my brain. And ...
     So most likely, it was the combination of the storms and the activities that took quite a toll on me. I went back to feeling considerably dizzy and even like I'm s-l-o-w-e-l-y spinning ... ( :-[ ) And my nausea level is again high (often feeling like I just might need that bucket again ...). And today the migraine is back (on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the horrors end - right now it's about a 4 1/2).

     But I do have great hope that it will again start getting better, it did already, so it will again!!! And hopefully this coming time, it will all finish passing!!!

     The Lord has been very merciful and showed me little blessings.
     The other evening, as I was walking through the living room headed upstairs to just lay down, Brian reached out and grabbed my hand. With great concern both in his eyes and his voice he asked, "Are you okay?" "Yeah, just dizzy as heck". He gave my hand a squeeze. Nice!!!!
     I found that right after dusk, the tree right out side our bedroom window and our neighbors back yard, are full of lightning bugs. :-> They are just so-o cool! I watched until watching them was making me dizzier .... then it took concentrated effort, but I stopped watching them. o;-p
    While sitting at the computer slowly working on postings, I have observed the humorous chipmunk that lives in the crack of our neighbors house. He runs all over the cement steps in front of their no longer used side door. And he likes to chat at me through the window. So cute!
    And the cotton tail bunny (which Boo nearly got when I let him out this morning :-[ - I know, that's nature ....) likes to have himself quite the salad from the plants growing through the cracks around those same cement steps. The way he was eating, he must have been mightily hungry the other afternoon!!! ;-p
     And Boo and I have gone out on the front porch (I attach Boo's leash to the porch railing) and observed that we need to get some Bee spray, a whole lot of activity in and out next to one porch column!!! Trying to teach Boo that everybody whom passes by, does not need to be frightened half to death by his most ferocious bark! Silly dog!
     And once the sun gets down to a certain level, we go in the back yard. I sit in a chair and enjoy the wonderful breezes, while he sniffs out any and everything, and disappears in the 'we need to trim all of that' over growth, along the one side of our back yard. Then I'll see the foliage move in certain ways and know where he's at again. ;-p

     So yeah, right now I am not 'feeling' all that great. I definitely know that I'm battling vertigo!!! But I am looking forward to again getting to the point where I can sew on my next project for a little bit, then rest my eyes, then sew some more .... (Christmas stockings for both Cyndi and Analyse are on the list, and new cushion covers for one of the settees on our front porch, a-n-d ... (hey, Brian bought me a new machine. I best be showing him how much I like it! o;-p)

Show-n-Tell :-)

      The teachers always said that you couldn't bring more than two items to show-n-tell. That is exactly how many things I have today. o;-p

     # 1 - All of you knew (some of you were even nice enough to go ahead and say that you were looking forward to (:->) ) I would be sharing pictures from our grand daughter's first B-day party. We shared a couple in the posting about her B-day cake, as well as a couple in the posting about the quilt I made for her. Here are a couple more ...
     This is a good one for showing you the dress that 'aunt' (;->) Kate and I had picked up. For the record, no, we did not find it at the mission type store. Nor was it even on sale, let alone on clearance. We broke all of our usual requirements and paid full marked price for it. Why?   Did you look at it?!!!!    Isn't it adorable?!?!!    And ever so cute on her (she just glows in soft pink). And with it's one candled cupcake .... It would just have been wrong to not buy it! o;-) That's our story and we're sticking to it!!!
     And the sandals came from my across the street neighbor. Their daughter is about eight months older than Analyse (pronounced Auna-lease). I had complimented her little pink crocs (complete with heart shaped holes). Later they had brought me over a smaller sized pair of them, as well as the pair of sandals Analyse is wearing in the picture. They wouldn't take cash for them, so I took them cupcakes. They declared that they got the better end of our deal. ;-p

{turns out grandpa's bottle of anti acids makes a great rattle!}

{yes, there is pink netting like material over the skirt part of the dress!}

     And here is one of her with her Grandpa B.. Trust me, this grandma is not the only one totally infatuated with our grand daughter!! chuckle, chuckle.

 

     And via this one, you can see how she has eyes just like her Grandpa B. :-) Sometimes they are blue, other times green. Often mischievous .... (snicker, snicker .. ) [good thing grandma B. isn't huh?!!! o:-p]

    Now, if you'd like to see even more pictures (which we know you do ;-p), visit Byron and Cyndi's blog and follow their link to the pictures.


# 2 - Brandon came in this past Saturday, saying that I needed to go look out back. o-k-a-y... . As I started into the kitchen, he said, "out the back door" ... ? ...
      "OH MY GOSH!!!" I was ever so excited!!!!
     A while back, I had heard that I was being given one. Turned out there was some mis-communication about it. I was disappointed, yet fully understood. Aw well .... but this one was sitting in my back yard. It really was mine to keep, right?
     I called my sister-in-law to verify. She answered "yes" :-) :-D Woohoo!!!
    They had come from my nephews work. No, he hadn't put the first one in their shed to add to their scrap metal pile. He planned on using it in his own garage. She hadn't wanted it to be scrapped - especially since she just knew I would use such a thing.
     But then he was able to get a different one that would work better for him. {and no, sorry, he won't be able to get any more :-(  }

    What am I talking about? Gee-sh.... (smirk)

     A rolling metal kitchen rack. :-} This one is smaller in size than the ones at the caterers and camp, but it will still work ever so good for me!!! Doing multiplied batch baking? Rack them up! Cooking pancakes for one hundred at some event? Tarp it up tightly, add a tray of sternos, and you have a 'make do' warming oven. And the uses go on...
    A big THANK-YOU to my brother "B" and sister-in-law "K" !!! THANK-YOU to my nephew / their son, "J" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are just so thrilled!!!

    about the picture ... I took several different shots trying to get a good one to post. EVERY single time, just as I was sure I had it focused in good, Boo would wander into the picture. chuckle, chuckle. I decided 'oh well'. chuckle, chuckle...

    That wraps up today's show and tell. Thanks for watching ;-)

Ricky's Open House - a huge case in point!

      Last Saturday evening we attended a college graduation open house for a guy named Ricky. Ricky is Kayla's brother. Kayla is our son Brent's girlfriend. This whole scenario is a huge, multi-facted case in point, for something I have written about numerous times over the last couple of years.
    A couple of times as young teens, our "boys" had made the comment, 'it doesn't really matter, it's not like I'm ever going to see them again or anything'. I had warned them that while it might currently seem that way, you just never know whom your going to run into, or where. Over the last couple of years, I have shared numerous examples of case in point encounters. Ricky's open house was such a multi-facted case in point, that's it's almost surreal.
    Let's see, where to start ...
    I know, o/~ "Let's start at the very beginning, it's a very good place to start ... "o/~ chuckle, chuckle. (Hey, I know some of you are now singing that song, at least in your minds. your welcome o;-p)
    - Our Byron and Benson had attended high school with Ricky and his and Kayla's sister Hanna.
    - (Hanna had also attended college with our niece Bethany)
    - Brian and our son Brandon, had worked for awhile with both Ricky and their mom at one of the caterers.
    - Byron had worked with Kayla and their mom at the movie theater.
    That is the connection of how Brent met Kayla. One time when he was home visiting, Byron had invited Kayla over to hang.
    But last Saturday evening, I got to meet everybody, and Brian got to meet the dad. All of those previous connections definitely helped take the edge off of such a situation!

     So be careful - you just never know whom your going to run into, or where!

Party Foods # 1

     While Kate and I were making up the foods that we took to Analys'e B-day party (yes, she came back the day we were leaving for the party and helped me make up the food too. Isn't she GREAT?!!! She said it was so-o worth it since she got to take some of everything home with her .. ;-0), I got to thinking that I should post each of them too... then I thought I should start another series, this one featuring that type of foods. But what should I call it? Started toying with a whole bunch of different names, and ended up with the ever so unoriginal one of "Party Foods".
     Why? Well I had thought about calling it 'foods for parties on the deck', but they work just as well for serving mid-January for Super Bowl Parties. I thought about dubbing them 'Informal Party Foods', but we had served some of them at a very classy finger foods wedding reception. So we are just going with the all inclusive title of "party foods".
    This particular series of 'party foods' will mainly be featuring the finger food type of foods.

    For the record, NO, starting this new series does NOT mean that we are done with the entries in the 'Warm Weather Desserts' series!!! In-fact, I am really looking forward to using blogging as an excuse to make some of the yet to come features. o;-p

    In my recipe box, this recipe states that the recipe came from Rachel Nicks. Rachel was a fellow Rugby mom, and had brought this dip to the end of the year party one season. For awhile, we referred to this recipe as 'the rugby dip'. ;-p
            Today's feature: Party Foods # 1
            Bean 'Salsa'

     (about the picture, I hadn't taken a picture of the dip right after we made it... well... to be honest, because I didn't want the extremely bad mess we had made, showing in the pictures. Since then I have been re-shown how to use the zoom in feature of our camera (yes, I had been shown before ... hadn't remembered ... 8-/), so this picture was taken part way through the party, after lots of it had already been eaten, when it again dawned on me that I had wanted pictures of the food ... yeah. Then again, we had made a double recipe ...)
     1 can black beans - drained and rinsed!
     1 can great northern beans, drained, not rinsed
     1 can sweet CRISP corn, drained only
     2 bunch's green onions
     1 cup chopped red onion
     1/2 cup chopped regular yellow onion
     1/2 cup canola oil
     1/2 cup rice vinegar
     1/3 cup sugar

     In a sauce pan, bring to boil the oil, vinegar and sugar, while whisking. Boil and whisk for two (2) minutes.
    While it cools, open and drain beans and corn (remembering to also rinse the black beans!) and combine in a bowl
    Then cut/chop up the onions, using all of the green onions. Add onions to the bean/corn mixture and mix well.
    When cool, add the oil, vinegar, sugar mixture and mix very well.
     It works great to serve this with the dipping style of nacho chips!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I 'plan' on linking this particular posting up to:

~ "Foodie Friday('s)", are hosted by "Gollum" (aka: Michael), at 'Designs by Gollum' (http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/)

~ "Making Your Home Sing Monday('s)", are hosted by Nan, at 'Mom's the Word (I love to hear)' (http://momstheword--livingforhim.blogspot.com/).
~ "Homemaker Mondays ... Yours, Mine & Ours", are hosted by Jen, at '11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven' (http://rtheyallyours.blogspot.com/).
~ "Market Yourself Monday", are hosted by Sumo, at 'Sumo's Sweet Stuff' (http://sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com/)

~ "Tempt My Tummy Tuesday('s)", are hosted by Lisa, at 'Blessed with Grace' (http://blessedwithgrace.blogspot.com).
~ "Tuesdays at the Table", are hosted by Cole, at 'All The Small Stuff' (http://allthesmallstuff-cole.blogspot.com/).
~ "Kitchen Tip Tuesday('s)", are hosted by Tammy, at 'Tammy's Recipes' (http://www.tammysrecipes.com/).
~ "Tasty Tuesday('s)", are hosted by Jennifer, at "Balancing Beauty and Bedlam" (http://www.beautyandbedlam.com/)

~ "Whatever Goes Wednesday('s), hosted by Michelle, at 'Someday Crafts'
(http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/)

~ "Make it from Scratch", are held at 'Make it from Scratch ... Where creativity and frugality intersect'. (http://makeitfromscratch.blogspot.com/)

how come?

     I'm curious. How come some nights mere moments after laying your head onto your pillow, you are totally comfortable, and it feels so amazingly good that your quite sure your going to have problems removing your head from it come morning.
     And yet there are other times that you can not seem to get comfortable on the pillow, no matter what you do. You try fluffing it. Nope. You try gently shaking it. Nope. You try starting at one end of it and 'working' it clear through to the other end. Nope. Then you think maybe a new pillow case will be what it needs. Nope. Or maybe it just needs a good shaking (or is that last step due to your rising aggravation? o:-) ). But no matter how hard you try, you just can't seem to get comfortable on it, no matter what you do.
     And the thing is, that this differential between it sometimes being almost instantly totally wonderful, and yet other times being anything but, seems to be based completely on the mood of the pillow itself.
     You would think a factor such as how "long" of a day you'd had, might figure in to it. But sometimes the pillow is one way after a day such as that, and other times it's the other way.
     Another condition which you would think might factor in, would be just how sleepy you are or aren't. I mean sometimes you can be really, really tired and yet not be that sleepy. But other times you are so darn sleepy, you couldn't stop yawning long enough to brush your teeth (although you probably wouldn't really admit to that ;-p ). And keeping your eyes open long enough to walk from the door way to your bed, took excruciating effort. And yet even in those widely varying conditions, your pillow can sometimes be oh so comfortable, yet other times make you ready to discard it. And when your oh-so-sleepy and your pillow is what's keeping you awake... yeah. It's not a pleasant situation!
     So I'm curious, what is this differential between it sometimes being almost instantly totally wonderful, and yet other times being anything but? Is it really based completely on the mood of the pillow itself? Do pillows have 'moods'? Hey, come on now, we all know that inadament objects (which is the category your pillow would fall under) are capable of moving of their own accord (other wise how in the world do they get over there, when you know darn well that you left it here! ? And your the only one home...). And we know that they have personalities (how else could they have the ability to give you the 'warm fuzzies' when you needed it the most?). But do they also have moods? That is my question.
     If so, is there something we can do to help put them in to the mood we desire them to be in? I mean, are pillows which for awhile hold chocolate mints or candies while waiting for your arrival, always in good moods? Cause if so, I think that most of us wouldn't mind sneaking into our bedrooms shortly before dinner and placing a chocolate something or other on our pillow. I mean, if it's going to help our pillow be in a good mood, it would be worth it, right? o:-p
     We'd also have to remember to shut the door behind us, making sure the cat and/or dog aren't in there. And that the children don't wander in. And ... But hey, eating chocolate before slipping off to sleep - I mean, placing chocolate on your pillow to guarantee that your pillow is going to be in a good mood, thus making it eager to be ever so comfortable for you, would be worth those elements of 'details', right? ;-p


     Oh, and if it's not having chocolate on it that makes the difference, do you have any idea WHAT it is that does?!!! 'Inquiring minds want to know'!!!

more patterns

      Inspired by just how thrilled I was with how the quilt that I had made for Analyse had turned out, one night last week I sat down with the quilting books I had accumulated and page by page went back through them. Each one (pattern) I re-evaluated. If I didn't really like the overall quilt, was there one segment of it I did like and could tweak into a quilt of blocks out of? While there are lots of patterns with cutsie, totally kid type patterns out there, I have decided that I'd rather not do that type. They get out grown oh so quickly. Just personal preference. But hey, I am the one planning on making them. o;-p
     As I went along, if I found something that I got inspired with, I not only book marked the page, but I wrote myself notes as well. Using one of the cute note pads that I had won as the door prize gift, at my families baby shower for Analyse, I wrote down 'details' about how I wanted to tweak that particular pattern, etc.. Then, using the blue tape like you use when painting a room or car trim, I attached my notes to the appropriate page in the book (hoping that the tape would be easy to remove later).
     After going through all of the books, I had a grand total of seven (7) more patterns/quilts I want to try making. Five (5) of those would easily adapt to being either a boy or a girls quilt. So technically, that meant that I had twelve (12) more I'd like to make. And then there is this one other pattern I'm still mulling over ...
     Seeings how I had said that I only planned on making quilts for my own grandchildren, our "boys" questioned just how many grand children I thought they were going to produce for me. Smirk, smirk.
     I told them that I really didn't have a clue. I just wanted to make them while my brain was still capable (;-p). I want to make them and tuck them away. If I end up making more than the number of grand children we are blessed with, then they can be saved for great grand children. It really didn't matter to me.
     I haven't made my mind up yet as to whether I will post about them after I make them, or wait till they are given to post about them. Yes, that easily could be six (6) to eight (8) years from now just for grand children. But hey, I have already been blogging for five years, so .... On the other hand ... it was fun to show it to every one ... I don't know.
     In the mean time, I need to go to mission type stores and gather up more clothing to use for quilts. So-o, Kate, or Robin P., or Elizabeth B., or any other of my local friends whom feel brave and willing to take me on such a venture ..... give me a call to set it up!!!
    True, some days I'm doing better than I am on other days. But part of my 'at home' continued physical therapy, is slowly venturing forth and attempting different things. True, sometimes I wobble walk like I'm "drunk in pub-lick" [like your sure the comedian Ron White (from the 'Blue Collar Comedy Team') must do]. But honest, mine is caused by the vertigo, not due to drinking alcohol or liquor. o;-p Oh, and believe me, I WILL tell you when I've had enough and need to brave the ride home to my bed (rides and me - ewww).
    And now for a tempting reminder ... o;-p ... on the last Tuesday of every month, you get fifty (50) percent (%) off of everything you buy at Valueland .... o:-D

the Princess has a throne :-)

     Our grand daughter Analyse (pronounced Auna-lease) has very much been the inter-active, very aware of her surroundings type, from the get-go. Honest! She was less than two hours old and wailing for all she was worth while hooked up to all of the monitors in the infant nursery at the hospital, when her thrilled to have her daddy walked in and started talking to her and caressing her. Three of us thrilled to now be grand parents standing outside the nursery window, witnessed her turn her head towards and try to focus her eyes in on her daddy. Wow!
     Over the course of the next two days in the hospital, she would try to focus in on whom ever was holding her. And if she was awake and either of her parents spoke, she would turn her head their direction, no matter whom was holding her, or how far from that parent they were! We were all amazed. And impressed.
     When she was three months old and we were there helping them move, we witnessed that she had up-graded her inter-action. Cyndi's dad (thus Analyse's other grand-pa) and I were sitting taking turns resting and holding her. We'd be talking along (often about her o;->) and she'd suddenly interject babbling talking like sounds. If we verbally responded, she'd smile. We knew that this one was going to keep us on our toes!
     And on it has continued.

     I'd like to pause here and comment about 'my always telling people things' about Analyse. No, I do not think that Analyse is the first grand child ever. Nor am I completely positive that Analyse is the brightest, smartest child ever to be born. However, I do think that she is a very bright adorable little thing!!!! And thus, me being me, I tell others about it. Yes, I know that there are other people out there whom also have adorable grand children. There are also those whom have very bright and/or smart grand children. But I like to talk about mine. That's all. o:-)

      I had told Byron that she was the type of child whom just wanted to see and be a part of everything going on around her. Laying on the living room floor by herself was not acceptable in her book! No, no, no. So they learned to negotiate around her high chair and BoUnCiE seat in the kitchen, or her BoUnCiE seat and other things in the living room.
     Before we had gotten her the BoUnCiE seat, she had already been given a seat which has a rounded, molded plastic base. The seat itself is surrounded by a three to four inch tray which has it's own toys attached here and there, and the seat can be swiveled to face any direction. As soon as Analyse's feet were able to touch the base, she learned to spin that seat so she could better see what ever she was hearing!
     One day as Byron was desperately trying to stay focused on something in particular, but that something wasn't Analyse, he got inspired. One time last summer while a couple of his brothers were there visiting, they had all wandered off garage sailing in the area. It was one of those neighbor hood wide garage sale days. One of the 'treasures' they had found that day, was a large square coffee like table. While it wasn't something I would have nabbed, they liked it. And has it ever proven to be a great find!!
     That day that I was referring to, Byron got inspired to sit Analyse's swivable seat up on top of that table. Up there, she could not only still see him fine, but she could also see out their huge front windows. BINGO!!!
     To this day, that particular seat has remained up there. The table was pushed over so that in the seat, she can see clearly, yet isn't quite close enough to pound on the window.
    While I refer to her as my sweetheart, Byron and Cyndi had dubbed her their princess. They then dubbed her elevated seat 'her throne'. ;-p

     From 'her throne' she watches the trains pass behind the houses across the street. If she is in 'her throne', a car does not pass down the seat with out her quickly swirling to take note of it. The live-in nurse for the elderly person across the street, likes to take her smoke brakes out under a front tree and watch Analyse, and gladly waves back - r-e-p-e-a-t-e-d-l-y... ;-p People out walking their dogs often wave up at her. Young school girls en-route home, usually glance up to see if she is there to be waved at. The antics of the squirrel trotting down the sidewalk with a full ear of corn in his mouth, was not missed. She even giggled at him. From 'her throne', Analyse can view the world, and it is a mutual love affair ;-)

  [as you can see from this shot, she has a good view of the world outside her window.]

      Byron and Cyndi like putting the cling on type of seasonal decorations on the window. Analyse loves them!!! While she doesn't clearly say the word 'pretty', you have no doubt that's what she's saying as she's pointing at them.
      If you go to visit them and park near the end of the driveway, and she sees you, you had BEST wave up at her!!! One time Katie H. had, and didn't, and it took me a minute to figure out whom Analyse was scolding in no un-certain terms. She continued her scolding once Katie entered their apartment. Chuckle, chuckle!!!!

     So, my 'hopefully helpful tip' this particular Monday, is to create a 'throne' for your young ones where they too can see all, both inside and outside of your home, and they too will be content in there for an amazingly long amount of time!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I 'plan' on linking this particular posting up to:
~ "Homemaker Mondays ... Yours, Mine & Ours", are hosted by Jen, at '11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven' (http://rtheyallyours.blogspot.com/).
~ "Making Your Home Sing Monday('s)", are hosted by Nan, at 'Mom's the Word (I love to hear)' (http://momstheword--livingforhim.blogspot.com/).
~ "Window Views", are hosted by MaryT/TheTeach, at 'Window Views' (http://windowviews2.blogspot.com/).
~ "Wordful Wednesday('s)" (the picture variety), are hosted by Angie, at 'SevEn cLoWn CirCuS' (http://angiescircus.blogspot.com/),