Phone numbers

Does anyone remember when you could look at a phone number and know ABOUT where someone lived? I hate that there are so many new "exchanges" and cell phone numbers. I used to know what part of town someone lived in by the phone number and that made me happy. And what about phone books? I used to love my "little" phone book but it has been years since I have used one because you need a forklift to get it off the table. Why doesn't the phone company give up on them? The information there isn't any more current than what you can find on the Internet. And what about websites? I have gotten to the point I don't really want to even go to a business if they don't have a website where I can preview the stuff the have. I guess over all I am glad we have all of this (the Internet) at our fingertips but miss some of the things we had in the "old days." >ôô<

OMG My blog list disappeared

Now what am I going to do? My blog list disappeared! I was fooling around with the HTML but I am pretty sure I didin't delete anything. Maybe someone took it!?!?! If you see it please let me know. I don't know how on earth I will remeber all the blogs I had there but I will give it a try. Doo Doo! >ôô<

Oldest dock on Lake Travis, Volente, Texas

Today was the end of an era. We lost a dear friend today, the boat dock. I am really torn between being sad that she is gone and way happy that my parents don't have to go down to the water and adjust her daily. The poor dear was in bad shape even though daddy took great care of her. Daddy got a notice from the LCRA a few days ago that said he had to replace the old styrofoam with something that was encapsulated by 2014. I don't think she could have handled that, she would have broken apart (and daddy said we would all be dead by then, what the heck is he thinking?). She was used to having the styrofoam. It was, by our account, the oldest private dock on Lake Travis. It was built in 1968 by Mike Carter and that makes her 40 years old (and part of my life for as long as I can remember). My grandpa paid for it and the best that daddy can remember it cost about $850. I am sure daddy put in about ten times that amount keeping her afloat all these years. He had a real hodgepodge of junk keeping her together. Everything from cable, pipes and angle iron to a bunch of 2x4's, bolts and a license plate (not kidding). Oh, and an old tire to keep the cat walk from breaking apart on the rocks when boats made big wakes. About 5 years ago he had someone "re-float" it with new styrofoam and that cost a bunch. Well we loved that old dock. Lots of good times with family and friends. Six generations in all (from my great-grandmother to my step-grand kids). My parents had my ex-husband haul her off and cut her up for scrap (it cost more to take apart than it cost to build in 1968). He had my son Les and my cousin's husband Bill to help. They also had Steve Carter helping. Steve is the son of the man that built her so that was very appropriate (we are the same age so he was five when it was built). They had to move her over near Volente Beach Club to do the deed and I honestly thought she would sink before they got her over there. Well the old girl didn't sink on the way and she stayed afloat until they pulled the last of her out with a backhoe. There was a locker on the dock (you can see it in some of the pictures) that had been there since it was new and I asked my son to bring it to me when they were finished. It is ugly, rusty, full of holes (including a bullet hole that I am sure Tony Wright put there, bless his heart) and all kinds of dirty but I love it. It holds all sorts of memories for me and I just didn't want it hauled off for scrap. Lynn said we should paint it and put it in the "music" room (Walter's old room). I told him I don't want to paint it, I want to keep it just like it is because if we paint it then it is "just an old painted locker" and not the same. He said "well we can keep it in the garage then." We will see who wins that battle! Well here are the pictures and I hope (hope hope hope) to have a video soon to DOCKument our time with the old girl. >ôô<

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Counter

I love my counter, I can see how many times I have visited my blog! I know I am the only one here here Here HERE (is there and echo?). >ôô<

Picnik

Well I tried the Picnik photo editing website. So far I really like it. It seems pretty easy to navigate and you can do unlimited editing for free. Of course you can upgrade and do so other "special" things but right now I don't think I will spend the money to do that. Picnik has some pretty fun frames, text and photo editing tools. I am looking for ways to make my pictures more fun without having to spend hours doing it. I really am a NOOB when it comes to blogging and I don't really have a lot of time to spend doing this so anything that is quick and easy is top on my list. The only way I have ever learned to do something "cool" with anything I attempt is to search the Internet and find an answer. I don't have friends that have elaborate blogs so I can't ask anyone. If I see something I like on a blog I head to Google and see if I can find anything that will lead me to a website that will help me replicate what I have seen. Still trying to figure out how I can make my blog background more attractive. I don't really like the basic options that are available on blogspot. I took a class on C++ programing once and dropped it after I decided there were too many ways to program something and my teacher wanted us to program just like her because she had the "best way" to do it. I know everyone has their own style when it comes to programing and maybe one way is better than another but I just didn't understand why I had to do it her way when my way worked just as well and I understood it. Oh well! I am going to keep trying new things until I find the most awesome and easy way to make my blog outstanding! I have added a link to Picnik at the bottom of my page if anyone is interested. Need some sleep now... I hate that I have to work a "real job" to make money to live (haha). Well that isn't totally true, I do love my job! I just wish I had more free time to spend doing other things. Of course if I didn't have a job I couldn't afford to do the things I love to do! I guess that is the opportunity cost of life.
Gosh I really got off track!
Picnik can "grab" pictures from many of the most popular photo sharing websites and allows you to edit and then save them back to the original site. It really was easy to use and the results were good. Of course if you have other photo editing programs that you have paid for and have time to play with maybe Picnik isn't something you will want to use. Photoshop is great for someone that wants to really spice their pictures up and make them look like a pro took them but I don't have time to figure it out and most of the things I want to do are not really elaborate. I just want to have something easy to use that makes the pictures "cute." I am also stuck between making the picture perfect to begin with and wanting to alter it and make it OH SO MUCH BETTER. I love taking pictures and can remeber when I had a 35mm camera. You really had to make sure every picture counted because you didn't have an opportunity to "retouch it" or "delete it" and film was expensive. I love my digital camera. I have seen so many GREAT photos on blogs that I just don't think anything I ever do will match them so I am going for simple.
To sum it up give Picnik a try if you want something easy to use. >ôô<

Work in progress

Well this is really a work in progress. I am playing with things to see what I can add and how it works. Still not sure if this is fun or WORK! I played with posting a slide show with Flickr and now I am going to try Webshots to see which I like best. I added a counter for fun and so far it looks like I am the only one looking at my blog! I added other blogs I like to my blog list and I am working on favorite links. WHEW this is work!

Celling fan woes

Well my oh so darling step-son James put in a new celling fan for me today for my birthday. Lynn bought it and James put it in so it was a gift from them both. I LOVE IT! I am really hoping it will reduce our electric bill. The switch and the way he wired it are sort of WT but what the heck. He didn't charge us and I can live with the 2 switches so close together. Did I say I LOVE IT? It is so funny when he helps us with electrical stuff he gets all "yes I am an electrician" and struts around moaning about how stupid the people were when they wired our house. Get to hear lots MFs. It was 3 hours of hell while he did it but again what the heck it is done. It isn't perfectly balanced but I think it is ok. He said I should not call him if it falls.

To date he has replaced most of the switches and outlets in our house. We are still waiting for him to do the bathrooms and kitchen (which he wont do unless we get the kind of plugs that trip).

so tired

So after 6 days spent keeping Les company (and "working") at the hospital I really wanted to send time posting stuff on my blog. I am WAY tired but I want to try and get some of this stuff out. I am off for the next week (thank GOD I asked for time off 2 months ago so although it happened at the same time as Les being sick it was not planed that way). I think I will post several little things just for fun. We shall see how far I get tonight. So tired I can't be sure I have not repeated myself.

ACK

OK, so for the last 3 weeks I have been doing things that have really worn me OUT. First I had the craft sale stuff to make and then my oldest son got sick. One week ago Les (oldest son) started to feel bad. Last Saturday he started have an upset stomach (vomiting) at work. Girlfriend Emma picked him up early from work and took him home. Not a big deal, that happens to people all the time. So we (Emma, mom and I) went to the Blue Hanger to see if we could find anything cool, of course we found lots of things! Les stayed home cause he felt bad. Later that night Emma called to say she thought Les had fever and wanted to know if I had a thermometer she could use (hell yeah I did, I am a mom right?). A little later she called to say that he had 104 degree fever and wanted to know what to do. Well, I told her to take him to the hospital. If he had been with me at home I am sure I would have told him to buck up and ride it out but I didn't know what he really felt like so the hospital was the best I could come up with. They kept him there for about 5 hours, did MRI and spinal tap, and sent him home. Next day (Sunday) his fever was back and he was vomiting again. Emma hauled him back to the hospital. Way long story short they did every test in the world to him, decided to keep him "overnight" for observation and that was that. I figured they would keep him overnight and send him home... NOT... he was admitted until he could keep solid food down. Fast forward to today (Friday, 6 days after he started to feel bad and went to the ER) and he finally comes home from the hospital. Needless to say I have had a long week! Half days at work and the rest of the time spent at the hospital emptying his emesis pan, changing sheets and keeping him company (of course Emma was there doing the same and more). Yes we both changed the sheets as it was obvious that the nursing staff was far too busy with other patients to take time to change sheets (and that is not to say he didn't get good care I think the staff didn't have time to do all the things that needed to be done). Emma and I were not the only people that kept him company. His dad was there each day as well as my mother (grandma). Other family members and friends stopped by to visit too. It would take me forever to describe the whole week at the hospital and I am just too worn out to do that. In the end there was never an official diagnosis. We don't know why his fever was so high for so long or why he couldn't keep even ice chips down. He is better now and that is all we care about. OMG there are so many other things to say about the hospital but I don't have the energy.

Random thoughts

I am not sure what I like best about my blog. I can't decide if it is actually posting things that other people can read or just the free feeling I get when I write. I guess this is very much like keeping a journal which I have always wanted to do but never got aroud to it. I do like that I can write for hours and just save the draft. That way I can express myself, go back and look at what I said, and keep it to myself. HAHA.

Follow up to the trip to Sam's

I suppose I get along with everyone and Lynn's ex-wife (Karen) was no exception. I really did like her (she passed away from breast cancer in 2006). Karen stayed with James (Lynn's son)and his family during the last few weeks of her life. She took her final breath in his house (that is story for another day). James was over to see Lynn for Father's Day. When I got back from Sam's Lynn said "James tell her the story" and of course I was in the middle of putting groceries away. So I gave my stock answer "give me just a minute to finish this." Lynn is always saying "come see this" or "can you do this" while I am clearly busy with something else. After putting all the stuff away I sat down to hear the story. James started by saying that he had gone to lunch with Sandy (Lynn's sister). They talked about Karen and Jeanne (Lynn and Sandy's mom, James's grandmother). Jeanne passed away in December 2007. James said lunch was nice. Later that day, when he got home from work, he sat down to relax. While he was watching the news he saw something (some sort of reflection in a picture on the wall) out of the corner of his eye. He said he didn't see anything but the reflection in the glass and didn't really think anything of it. That night when he was putting his daughter to bed she looked over his shoulder and said "I see you grandma" and smiled. Well, she has never called anyone grandma (she calls her grandmothers by other names). Karen was the only person that was dubbed "grandma" and Laura was not very old when she passed away so she has never actually called anyone "grandma." James told Tess that story and she said "I have always felt that Karen is here." So after my odd encounter with the man at Sam's this was the icing on the cake. I told James that children seem to "see" things that adults don't because they don't know they are not supposed to see them. Maybe Karen is floating around in their house.

Trip to Sam's Club

So we (seven of us) took a trip to Sam's today. OK I bet you are dying to know who went right? It was mom, my aunt Ann (mom's sister), my cousin Leslie (Ann's daughter), Leslie's friend Mai Lan, my son Les, son's girlfriend Emma and I. We took 2 cars even though we all could have fit into my cousin's van but where would we put the junk we bought? (We know better from the last trip we took together). So I am not really a big Sam's fan. I don't really think the savings are that great and you have to buy in bulk. Where in the world am I going to put 24 jumbo rolls of TP, a box of laundry soap that will wash 180 loads, 50 packages of chips and a 1000 napkins? My house is only 1100 sq feet. And I don't have a freezer big enough to hold enough frozen food to feed an army. Nevertheless I can't get out of the place without spending at least $100 and that is because I find some kind of neat thing that I "can't live without" but have to buy IN BULK!
It seams that the only time we visit Sam's is when I have not had anything to eat all day. Sam's always has food samples all over the place (almost as many as Central Market). If you are homeless and can scrape up enough money for a membership then you will never go hungry. So we start on the side that has all the non food items. Of course our party splits up and soon Mai Lan shows up with something in a sample cup. I asked her what it is and she says it is a "hot tamale" Popsicle. Mmmmmmmm that sounds good. I am really getting hungry now so I suggest that we move to the area where the food is. Long story somewhat shorter Emma says there are samples of sausage near the tampons (why????) so off I go. I pass a girl giving out samples of chicken in a biscuit (once again alone everyone is looking at other stuff). Have to stop! So as she gives me the sample she asks "so how is Utah?" I am thinking "what the f are you talking about" until I remember I have on a t-shirt that has a big UT on the front. So I go along with it and say it is great (I have never been to Utah in my life). She says "I always think of weird people living there and never think of anything else." So I figure she is thinking of the LDS or FLDS and agree there are weird people there but it is a really nice place (what the heck I will never see her again and like DUH). I guess she assumed that UT meant Utah. Well if she had looked more closely she would have seen it is a shirt that says Explore UT The University of Texas at Austin. Sample taken have to find the sausage. Follow my nose to something that smells like sausage but turns out to be bacon (I really want the sausage). A very nice, and somewhat mentally challenged, man is standing there with the samples. Now I am thinking that all the sample people have some sort of mental challenge. I look at him, he looks at me and does not say a word. So I ask if he has samples of the bacon. He says "sure, hickory and pepper, I like the pepper better." What the heck, I will try the pepper. It was pretty good but I still want the sausage! Emma shows up about now and says "the sausage is over here by the tampons (again why?) so off I go. By the time I get to the sausage samples the group has reunited. We all get a sample and thank the man, telling him how good it is. I linger while the group wanders away again (I do love sausage and want to pick out a package to take home). Just as the last of my party (and other shoppers) drift away the man says to me "has anyone ever told you that you have the gift of healing?" Like what ????? I say no and he tells me "I can see it, you need to put your gift to use. You shouldn't let a gift like that go to waste." He says "you need to put your hands on people and heal them." What do you say to that kind of thing? I thanked him for telling me and walked away (of course I did get some of the sausage). Let me just say that he was the only sample person that didn't seem have some kind of mental challenge and he had the kindest eyes. He really was serious. When we finally left the store I told everyone what he said. Later my aunt said "put your hands on my leg and make it feel better" so I did in a "whatever" kind of way and she said "no you have to be serious." OK in my most serious healing way I put my hand on her leg, then on her head and said "you are healed." Later my back started to really hurt and she said her leg felt better. Cousin Leslie said "you transferred her pain to your back" (in a very tongue in cheek way). So am I John Coffey "like the drink, only not spelled the same" now? Creepy.

Pics of Les and Walter

Well, I think I am having too much fun. Pretty much I am doing this for me because I can :) So I have posted pics of everyone except me, Lynn and my kids (well there are a few of us in the other posts but not identified as such). So if you stumbled here by accident I am sorry you have to look at pictures of people you don't know. And if you did get here by some random accident why are you still looking at the pictures? BECAUSE IT IS FUN! I love looking at other peoples pictures. It is fun to see how the pictures are composed, the lighting, what is interesting to them, adventures they have etc. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Les and Walter. Enjoy!

Blogs require WORK

In my quest to remain "anonymous/unsearchable" I have discovered that I can't keep up with the cute names I have made for myself. It was easy at first because lord knows that I am the ONLY clever person in the word (ha ha) that thinks of silly nicknames... NOT. I have discovered that all my cute names are taken and I have to be more creative. Well now I have lost track of who I am where. I am sure I have my space, face book, yahoo, Google, MSN and AOL accounts but the only one I can remember is AOL. I can only find myself on this blog if I do a Google search for blogs. UGH. POOP POOP POOP... I have now had 3 phone calls in an hour and WHY DO I ANSWER? Just an interruption to my creative juice (or something like that).

DANG DANG DANG

I checked my post about 100 times and didn't see the bad grammar until it was "posted" ok said in the firstest postest that I am BAD. I guess I am not working hard enough to make my thoughts complete. OK can't be perfect when this is a bunch random junk. Will try to do better.

My first post

Well, this is my first blog post. I have no idea where this will go or if it will go at all. I day dream about having a blog that will be seen by TONS of people looking for information (from a person that has way bad grammar and can't spell) about things that I have done and places I have been but have no real education in. I hope to tickle a funny bone or inspire a craft creation (why not dream big). Currently I am working on a quilt (or 5). I really have only finished 3 quilts but have made at least 15 tops (you understand if you like to sew). I have made stuffed animals and dolls (mostly donated to the Anderson Mill Garden Club) because I just love to make things. I am not creative but I do follow instructions well. I am currently trying to decorate aprons for a craft sale, the problem is I am NOT creative so I am stuck with 6 white aprons that need "flair" and have no idea what to do. My husband and I love to go to Port Aransas for fun. We wish we could buy a vacation home there but we would have to work 5 jobs each to afford that and then we would not have time for a vacation so we just settle for visiting twice a year. I have 2 children (boys) that alternately give me the most pleasure in life and drive me crazy. Another family member is the dog (my only "girl") Cookie. She is 9 years old and thinks she is a queen. People don't understand how much a dog can be like a person until they live with one. Cookie has created her own schedule. She won't get out of her bed until I get out of bed. She waits for me to come home each day on the top of the sofa and will bark until I pet her. Then she wants a treat and will not leave me alone until I give her one. At 6pm every evening she wants my husband to sit outside with her so she will sit at his feet and look at him until he takes her into the back yard. Well I will try to post pictures of things I have made and pictures I have taken soon but don't hold your breath. I hope I will enjoy the process of keeping up with a blog and not think of it as a chore. We shall see.