April 30th

On April 30th, my little girl is no longer a teenager.
MBB will say she never was - she is 9 years old with 11 years experience.
I could say that she is six, since that is how many birthdays I have been around for. :)

She is now a beautiful young lady with two wonderful boys of her own.

I am truly blessed that she was born in my heart...

Namaste.

Wow!

I have mentioned a few times that we have been going through some rough stuff lately.
I try not to dwell on it too much, just mention it as a reason why I don't always blog...
Cause...
Well...
No one really wants to read negative stuff all of the time.

But, our trend seems to be continuing.

Not!
A!
Good!
Thing!

Friday, MBB heard a big bang and found a mess outside our front door.
Apparently, a car had just run through my flower bed (the big one that was just built last summer), through one of the posts (you know, the ones holding up the ROOF over our patio) and stopped just shy of our house.

Monday, my world (and then MBB's) got ranked upside down, sideways, all around.

So, I am going to blog.
I am going to try to not focus on it everyday (at least on the blog).
I am going to try to process as quick as I can (at least on the blog).

I thought getting hit by a tornado was bad (Thank God for insurance).
I thought some challenges we went through with MaBell were bad (Thank God for love).
I thought having to open two different police reports for things being stolen from my home was bad.
I thought having to put my kid in a Boarding School was really bad (Thank God for love and patience).
I thought a busted pipe in my rental property was bad (Thank God for insurance).
I thought having my patio being ran into was bad (see above - Thank God for insurance).

BUT -
Having my work shut down the entire campus and relocate everyone either to Texas or Michigan.
Yeah...I have no words.
Still.

Over the last two years, I have realized:
 - Insurance is awesome
 - Patience is underrated
 - Love is strong
 - Relocation is better than unemployment, especially when retirement is right around the corner
 - My husband is amazing and is definitely the right man for me

Namaste.

Struggling...

Ever struggled with something?
Something that everyone else things is minor and no big deal?
That just continues to drive you crazy?

For me: it's the dilemma of whether I should put a copywrite on my photos...

I am not a professional, but I am very proud of my photos.
I take all of the photos of my kids (ok, so half of MaBell's Senior photos were taken by a pro and half by me) and my grandkids.  If I could have figured out how to take my own wedding pictures, I would have.

But I tend to get a little irritated when I see one of my photos on someone else's page as it was their picture. I hear this voice in my head screaming...   :(

I guess what is minor to one, may be major to another.
And this is VERY major to me.

I guess I'll get over it...
But it does make me want to be more stingy with my photos or not take them at all.

Namaste.

Some More Fun...

Looks like we get to work with another insurance company on some fun repairs.

Luckily, it isn't with our insurance company.

Thankfully, the car stopped before it hit the house.

Namaste.

Upcoming Project?

We are going to make this...

Look like this...

By using these...

Because of these...

Namaste.

Yumminess!

Played around with a new drink...
But it needs a name...

Cup of skim milk
Tad of chocolate syrup
More than a tad of Bourbon Cream

Yumminess!

Namaste.

Purging another "area"

It's been awhile, but I decided to finally work on another "area": the bottom of the pantry.

I didn't get any pics though because I was too disgusted with all of the mouse crap (literally) and just pitched the stuff! 

Things that I remember pitching:
A white bag with mouse holes (multiple bags actually)
A Bengal cooler covered in syrup

Broken syrup bottle
Tray
Empty wrappers
Who knows what else...

I don't know that I pitched 15 items, but I do know that everything that was pitched - goodbye and good riddance!

Namaste.

Papaw and his Boy

Love this picture...

It is so obvious that they love spending time together...

Namaste.

Finding some things in the yard...

Amazing how well a 19-month old can find those colored plastic things in the yard.

Even more amazed that when he realized that there was candy inside, he quickly dumped it out and took off with a pale of empty eggs.

Namaste.

Pseudo Easter Baskets

It's that time of the year again when the Easter Bunny fills the Easter Baskets (or pseudo Easter Baskets).

The pseudo baskets were items that could be used in a new home with a new family (notice: nothing breakable).  

It was a great Easter!  It was the first time in six years that everyone got an Easter Basket - even me:

Namaste.

Traveling Memories

I have been traveling a lot lately.
Some for pleasure, but mostly for work.

The one thing that is great for the memories, but not so great for the waistline is the food...
I have had some pretty great dishes lately.

In New Orleans, I found my new favorite fish - Black Drum Fish:

In West Virginia, a pretty great Gouda Chicken Pizza (and I don't like Gouda cheese):

In Toronto, the most amazing Salmon that I have ever tasted before:

I have been doing better about getting my 10K steps daily when I am traveling.

I know that I did offset the food in West Virginia and Toronto... Can't remember New Orleans though.  :)

Namaste.

Love Being Nana

I truly love being Nana.
It has been one of the best experiences in the last 19 months.

I love to announce that I have become Nana again.
Today, MaBell gave me my second amazing grandson.

I think I can forget that it happened while I was visiting the clouds above.
Nope - didn't make it to the hospital in time for either of my grandsons.


Namaste.

Searching

I very rarely get on my home laptop anymore.
I can do so much from my smartphone, that I only really have a need when I am working on our bills.

I have so many things that I think - I want to write about that...
But blogger no longer likes my browser at work and I really don't like the blogger app.

So, that leaves long periods of time when I don't post anything.
And I really don't like that.

Not really sure how to fix...
But I am searching to figure it out!

Namaste.

Around Toronto

I had a few hours to walk around Toronto between ending one event and heading into another town for another event...
And I needed some steps to get to 10K (okay, so I needed a lot of steps!)...

There were two sushi restaurants that caught my attention...

Avocado Sushi?

Kaizen Sushi?

And got added to the "Things That Make Me Go Hmmmmmm..." list in my head.

Namaste.

Yummy Liquid...

I've been traveling a lot recently for work.
The one thing that I love is the "citrus water" that Marriotts have in the lobby.

On one particular trip, I found three different waters:
 - Berry Water
 - Citrus Water
 - Cucumber Water

I had my fair share of the Berry and Citrus.
Okay, maybe more than my fair share!

If only I could figure out how to make it like this at home...

Namaste.

Who ticked off Mother Nature?

I was already having a pissy day as my alarm clock started with a "3" when it started buzzing...
I pulled into work when the clock started with a "4"...
Yeah, still not a great day.

And I was still not enjoying the snow on the ground...
In April...

Never thought I'd be on a plane going through a deicer in April.

Namaste.

Roaming through another airport

Was roaming through another airport - Detroit this time...
Always enjoy the color show in the tunnel - expecially the bright ones.

And then I spotted something from a distance.

Yes - Caribou Coffee!

Got to visit an old friend and enjoy some Caribou...

Namaste.