Zoo trip

Don't you just love the zoo? I don't go often but I do enjoy them. Since it's not really zoo weather right now I thought I would take you to the zoo through a few pictures.

I'm not lion, we're really going

If you don't stop monkeying around you're going to miss this next exhibit

What do you get if you stand between two llamas?

Llamanated.
What do you call a very fast llama?
A lammagini.

A pleasant dining experience

Saturday morning after my dollar store excursion Wade and I headed out to do our weekend errands. He decided that we needed to stop for breakfast

I never said it was gourmet cuisine but it was a very pleasant experience. We were sitting there talking while we were waiting for the waitress to come over and I was showing Wade one of the gift cards we have. It's good at several different restaurants. The waitress walks up to the table and cheerfully exclaims "Aw, you got me a gift card that was so nice". I burst out laughing and Wade was dumbfounded. Normally he is the one with the quick wit. The next time the waitress came over I told her he so deserved that since he's usually the one making comments like that. Every time she came to the table she had some remark to make and she had us in stitches.
When we went to the register to pay the girl asked if everything was ok and Wade said fine except for the waitress who was a real pain in the butt. Without missing a beat the cashier said well we don't like her either.
Hopefully all the laughing burned off the calories from my muffin.

The first 50

The local Dollar General store used to sit right behind my house but they recently built a new store so that they could have adequate parking. Yesterday morning was their grand opening celebration. They were giving away a $10 gift card to the first 50 customers and I fully intended to be one of them. Hey ten bucks is ten bucks. I pulled in to their parking lot twenty five minutes before they were scheduled to open and there was already a line forming at the door. I may have been customer number 30 something. There was also a coupon for $5 off a purchase of $20 or more so I was going to take advantage of that too. I filled my basket, went to the register and wouldn't you know it, my total came to $19. GUM! Yep, I grabbed a few packs of gum and took that total over the mark. I paid a total of $5 and some odd cents for my purchases.
So who is a happy camper?

Why it's me of course. I even bought myself this cute little owl from the garden section.

Archive Dive

I decided to copy my friend Sandra a.k.a. Mad snapper and do some archive diving. I went back through some old files from when I was first learning to use my photoshop elements. I don't think I have any of my very first edits. Most likely because they were really that bad but these do go back quite a ways. I was always looking for a new trick to try and the "out of bounds" effect was rather fun. This is meant to look like part of the picture is coming out of the original frame. Here are three that I did.

By the time I had gotten to the third one I had found an action that helped do the effect and made it much easier. The novelty wore off though.

jumping back in

It's been such a long time since I've done anything crafty. I've collected plenty of ideas and I've wanted to do something but I just haven't been able to get myself to start anything.
The other day I finally decided I would pick something and go for it. I bought yarn years ago to make an afghan but had sort of burned myself out on them before I ever got to it. I've been wanting to do a rectangular granny square afghan so I started that.

I'm not very fast making these so with any luck this should be finished by maybe April. My only problem is that I don't think I bought enough yarn and who knows if I'll be able to find the same colors.

You have to sneak up on it

Duke knows how to make  me laugh. I've always found him amusing when he sneaks up on a toy you are holding.
He'll look at you, look at the toy and slowly creep towards his target

When he thinks he's close enough he pours on the steam and races in for the kill

Of course there is a little tugging involved before he actually wins his prize

He sure enjoys his toys

gotta have em

I should know better than to wear white. White sneakers to work that is. After a couple months of getting donut grease dripped on them they look disgusting. Wade already thinks I buy new shoes too often so imagine my delight when the white (in a previous life) sneakers sprung a leak in them and I had to get new ones.
This time they're black

No laces to tie and no more wet socks when I step in a puddle or slushy snow.

Who's that knocking at my door?

I was down in the basement and I thought I heard a knock on the door. I headed for the steps.
Hey Duke, is someone at the door?

No mom, it's just me playing

Perfect start

Yesterday when the sun was rising and I looked out the window I saw this

The moment when you first wake up in the morning is the most wonderful of the twenty-four hours.  No matter how weary or dreary you may feel, you possess the certainty that, during the day that lies before you, absolutely anything may happen.  And the fact that it practically always doesn't, matters not a jot.  The possibility is always there.  ~Monica Baldwin

The sun is but a morning star.  ~Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Not the beautiful unobstructed view of the sunrise that I've seen on some of your blogs but beautiful none the less. It put a smile on my face early in the day and that was good enough for me.

Morning is when the wick is lit.  A flame ignited, the day delighted with heat and light, we start the fight for something more than before.  ~Jeb Dickerson,

Light + Camera = Play Time

There was only one thing I obligated myself to do yesterday. It was the dreaded cleaning of the bathroom. I procrastinated as long as I could but eventually tackled the job. Other than that I filled my day with fun and all from the comfort and warmth of home.

One of my play time activities involved my camera. I have a table in the corner of my dining room with a lantern made of wood and a mason jar. It was getting dark out and I turned the light on and set different things next to it and snapped away.

I've added textures to the first two pictures because I can and because I like them. The first one is with a vase of silk roses.

Antique tea cup

cheap dollar store birds

and my trustee assistant. I was under his watchful eye the entire day.

Here we go again

Looks like we are in for another one of those weekends. We are under another winter weather advisory although this one is (as of the time I'm preparing this) only supposed to last until 9am today.
In preparation for the weekend, after I got home from work on Friday I dressed for the occasion. No, I didn't put on my snow suit and mittens and head to the back yard to build a snowman. It was warm cozy lounge pants, slippers and my robe.
After I was appropriately attired I set the scene.
Turn on fake fire place, check

TV, turned on
Kindle close by for my reading pleasure
Laptop also close at hand
Coffee, mug filled and fresh pot brewing
Camera just in case I feel like taking random shots out the window

I've also made a mental note of a couple dozen entertainment options I have to keep me occupied. Now all I need to do is figure out how to stop Monday from coming around so soon

donut beat all

Yes you have seen these yummy little morsels on my blog before. I'm not here to discuss my somewhat compulsive overindulgent behavior.
Yesterday morning at work I noticed a man (frequent customer) standing in front of the (self serve) donut case. No one else was around and I couldn't figure out what he was doing so I watched. I noticed he was eating a donut. When he finished he grabbed a bag and I saw him put two donuts in it. I ran up to the front of the store and told the cashier what he looked like and what I saw and asked her to let me know how many donuts he said he had. Sure enough, He told her two. Apparently he had forgotten the one he had already eaten. Can you believe the nerve of some people?
I frequently see customers walking through the store eating donuts and I often wonder how many of them actually pay for them. Do they really think that we serve coffee and donuts for their shopping pleasure?

Seasons in the sun

Too much wine too much song wonder how I got along

I was trying to come up with something to do with the weather. We went from 54 degrees on Tuesday back to snow on Wednesday. While scouting through the archives I found this picture. Thinking of seasons such as the never ending winter and seeing the wine made me think of the song Seasons In The Sun by Terry Jacks. I always loved that song.

Would you please....

Hey Duke.
Duke?

 Duke, are you ignoring me?

What? I'm not doing anything.

I know you aren't doing anything Duke. So would you please go pick your toys up off the living room floor.

Well at least they aren't on the steps this time. It's a wonder I haven't broken my neck tripping on all the toys he leaves laying around. And always in the most inconvenient places.

Hibernation part 2

I forgot to finish my weekend of hibernation so I'm going to give you part 2 today.
Sunday morning the snow finally stopped falling. When daylight hit it was a bright and beautiful day.

It was the bluest sky I have seen in a long time. The sun was shining and the snow in my back yard was sparkling like a diamond.

So why exactly is it that something so pretty has to be so cold?

All Around Wonderful Blog

Imagine my surprise when not one but two of my favorite bloggers chose me to give an All Around Wonderful Blog Award.
First the honor came from Marie at Women talk about life then from Ginny at Let your light shine

The rules of this award are as follows

1. Be a follower of this blog Yes, I am a follower of both of these wonderful blogs.

2. Pass it on to three other people Now here is where I may not be so wonderful because I gave up on passing these along some time ago.

3. Link back to me. This one I am happy to do.

So why don't I pass them along? Well my dear friends it's quite simple. First of all there are many of you who don't do awards. Second of all I can't pick just a handful because I think each and every one of you are deserving. If I didn't I wouldn't be reading your blogs. 

I actually don't even post most of these when I get them. I couldn't keep track of them, I would forget about them and then when I did remember the award, I forgot who gave it to me. 

 

I do thank both Marie and Ginny from the bottom of my bloggy heart and I do hope you forgive me for breaking rule #2

Hibernation Day 1

Friday we may not have gotten as much snow as the were calling for but it sure made up for it on Saturday. It's a regular winter wonderland out there.

My plan for a weekend of hibernation was definitely a good one. I woke early, thanks to Duke's insistence. Why he felt it necessary to get me up so early I really don't know. He started nudging me at 3:30 but I managed to hold him off until 5:30.
Just as soon as he was let out it was time to grab some coffee and take care of some emails and read a few blogs. From there I moved to a nice comfy chair with my kindle and spent a few hours reading.
Letting Duke out the back door was becoming a little difficult due to the snow accumulation so I bundled up and headed outside to shovel out a spot for him.
Back inside and it was time to get cooking. What better to make for dinner today than a big pot of beef stew.

I haven't made this in years and I don't follow any recipe other than the meat, carrots and potatoes. I let this cook for about 3 hours adding different ingredients at different stages. I don't know what Wade thought but it sure hit the spot for me.
While the stew was cooking I even got some work done in my computer/craft room. It's been needing a good cleaning out and I put a sizable dent in that little project.

Join me by the fire

The weather outside is frightful but the fire is so delightful

Ok so it's not a real fireplace but I don't have one so this will have to do. 

Remember the crafts show I did? My friend Debbie took these lamps with her. Her husband Bernie makes them. When we did the show I had decided that I wanted to buy one of these for Wade for Christmas. I thought it would look perfect in his yet to be finished man cave.
He loved  the lamp and I loved the fact that even though Bernie works with Wade every day he didn't say a word to him.

Vulgarity

What is the most vulgar 4 letter word, beginning with the letter s that you can think of?
Are you afraid to say it out loud? Yeah, me too.
Here let me show you a picture and you can tell me if this is the same thing you were thinking of.

That's right, that's the s word and we're about to have it all over the place. This was last year in the parking lot at work and I think this might have been mild compared to what we are supposed to be getting. I've heard a foot. I suppose I shouldn't complain. At least it's not the 18 feet that Alaska got but still, I don't want this stuff.
I think it's going to be a hibernation kind of weekend.

Tall Tale

Mom and I were talking last night and she was telling me a story.

She said that back in the old days she used to be a neat freak and super organized. She continued on to tell me about all the energy and ambition she used to have too.

My mom is one funny gal. I hope she didn't think I was going to buy that tall tale of hers. Organized? Does she think I was born yesterday or something. She cracks me up.
Heck, she couldn't even get a blog post ready for you. I had to do it myself. She keeps trying to tell me that blogger keeps changing her scheduled posts to drafts and that's why they have been posting late.  Don't tell her I said this, because I wouldn't want to hurt her feelings, but I think she's losing it.

Back to the grind

Oh how hard it is to get up this morning and get dressed for work. Especially since I had the day off yesterday.
I had an early morning appointment and then the rest of the day was mine.
I made myself breakfast.
I read all of your blogs and caught up on email.
I laid on the couch watching TV.
I read and played some games on my kindle.

Of course I had the excellent company of a certain little white Westie. However he was not in the mood for pictures. He said he had just washed his hair and couldn't do a thing with it.

A time for renewal

I bet you were expecting some sappy inspirational post here weren't you? Well if you weren't then please just humor me.
The renewal that it's time for is my drivers license

Yikes, that means another horrid picture that I have to carry around in my wallet for 4 years. In all the years I have been driving I don't think I have ever once had a good picture on my license.

and now for a little humor

You know you're from Pennsylvania when:

• You think the roads in any other state are smooth.
• Hearing horses clopping down a paved street doesn't bring you to the window to see what's going on outside.
• You can stop along the road to buy fruits, vegetables, or crafts on the "honor system."
• You consider Pittsburgh to be "out west," and you know the fastest way to Philly is the Turnpike.
• When it snows they put cinders on the roads instead of sand.
• You can give directions to Intercourse with a straight face.
• Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with  snow.
• You know the four seasons: Winter, Still Winter, Almost Winter, and Construction. 
• Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway.
• You measure distance in minutes.

The rise and fall

We had a bit of a reprieve from the chilling temperatures. The other day it got all the way up to 53 degrees. Just seeing the sunshine was a little slice of heaven in itself.
Alas, what goes up, must come down. We have a couple days this week that are supposed to be in the 40's and then the rest is 30's and below.
Oh and the thermometer in the picture, it's totally useless. A cheap dollar store magnet that I just liked the looks of so it hangs out on my fridge.
I'm sending you all warm wishes and sunshiney days.

Busy busy

We started the day off yesterday with a hearty breakfast

Dad left early to go to Pittsburgh with a friend of his. That left me and mom home alone to do whatever we wanted.
Mom of course wanted to catch up on emails and blogs after having so much trouble on Friday night. Next thing we knew a few hours had gone by and we hadn't done anything.
OH NO!!!! We've got to get busy.

Lets move it mom, we told dad we were going to get this Christmas stuff put away today.
We lucked out big time. We had 99.9% of the decorations packed up and put away and we had just finished putting the tree back in the box when dad got home.
As nice as it is to look at, it's a relief to have it finally put away. It always looks so uncluttered once it all comes down. Now to unclutter the rest of the house.

connection

I'm currently experiencing connection problems. It took me forever just to get this posted. I haven't been able to access my email and trying to get blogs to load was impossible. Hopefully by tomorrow things will be back to normal

I'm being lazy

So I'm posting an email that I got today. This has been around before but I think it's pretty cool how easy this can be to read.

Good example of a Brain Study: If you can read this you have a strong mind:

7H15 M3554G3

53RV35 7O PR0V3

H0W 0UR M1ND5 C4N

D0 4M4Z1NG 7H1NG5!

1MPR3551V3 7H1NG5!

1N 7H3 B3G1NN1NG

17 WA5 H4RD BU7

N0W, 0N 7H15 LIN3

Y0UR M1ND 1S

R34D1NG 17

4U70M471C4LLY

W17H 0U7 3V3N

7H1NK1NG 4B0U7 17,

B3 PROUD! 0NLY

C3R741N P30PL3 C4N

R3AD 7H15.
PL3453 F0RW4RD 1F

U C4N R34D 7H15.

So were you able to read it?

Itchin'

It's been such a long time since I've made anything I've been itchin' to do something crafty. The other day I saw a tutorial for a ripple stitch afghan. I've tried these before and just could not get the patterns right. This one was perfect. It explained everything in detail and had pictures to show just exactly what she was talking about.
Great!
I've got my hooks

I've got yarn

But OH NO!!!!!!!! I didn't bookmark the website. I can't find it anywhere. I've been through my reader trying to figure out who's blog I found the link on and I'm having no luck. I went through my recently closed tabs, nothing. I went through my bookmarks, nothing. Why or why do I do that?

Fire

This was supposed to post at midnight. Darn Blogger changed it to a draft twice on me.

Wade is not one for doing a lot of shopping for Christmas. He tends to buy me the one thing that he's heard me talk about the most over the year.
After Christmas I went out and purchased this for the gift he bought me

My gift was the kindle fire. I've been talking about one of these for quite some time now. I've already downloaded one free book that I'm reading now.

And of course I had to check out all the apps and download a few of those.

Yes, you did see a fart button right in the middle of that picture of the apps. I couldn't resist, it made me laugh. The other night I was sitting on the couch pretending to read while my daughter was sitting at the dining room table. I kept pushing the fart button and she finally looked up at me and asked if that was me.

I also bought myself a pink stylus pen to use when I go online. I discovered that my fingers are just a bit too big and I kept touching the wrong spot. The stylus works great.
So the verdict is that Wade did good this year.