This is May, isn't it?

The thermometer at my back door says it is 90 degrees. Wow, I know it is hot because I had to put the fans in the windows upstairs something I don't normally do until the middle of June. The heat has slowed my progress in my scrapbook room but I am getting it done. I have to shift gears for a few days as I am finishing a baby quilt for a shower that is this Saturday. I am trying to stay cool at the same time. I am so thankful that a few years back Steve put in a ceiling fan in my dining room where I can sit and read the paper or a book, scrapbook or sew and be comfortable.

Memorial Day

The day that we honor those in the military both past and present who courageously serve our country. From the beginning when we fought for our religious freedoms when our country was new to now when we help others gain their freedom from those who would repress them. While there are many who do not like our military presence overseas, they need to remember that in most cases these countries ask for our assistance. We must all remember the sacrifices these men, women and their families make to ensure freedom.

Scrapbook room

I have been organizing this room for what seems like an eternity. But I think I have finally turned a corner. I bought four of those put it together yourself cubes at Craft Warehouse. I wouldn't have bought them but at $24.99 a piece it was a good buy. The initial sale price when these were first offered was at $39.99 so I told Steve these were a great buy and I wanted to get them. He agreed and now they are installed along with a desktop that you can also purchase. All he had to do was drill some holes so I could put the brackets on to secure the desktop. I have started putting away a bunch of stuff that was in all kinds of places and therefore hard to find. I can see my floor and now I truly only have a small pile of paper plus a 6x8 box of loose embellishments to put away. That means no sacks with stuff in them anywhere in the room. I also bought a couple of the rails from the new Cropper Hopper rail system that I will put a couple of shelves on to put silk flowers on above my desk. That I will need Steve's help with and hopefully he can put those up for me this weekend. :)

Karen Russell

On Saturday I took a photography question and answer class given by Karen Russell. It was four hours long and packed with so much information that I started to get what Steve calls system overload. The class really was geared to those of us who have digital SLR cameras but those who didn't also benefited from the information. She informed those who didn't have an SLR that this class may give them the "I wants". So when she covered lenses she managed to get the rest of the class too. I now have a f1.4, 50mm, fixed lens on my "I want" list. I never realized what a difference a lens could make when it came to taking pictures. There is one thing I would recommend for the next class, a potty break, four hours is a long time without one. So if you ever get the opportunity to take a class from Karen, do it. She is real chatty, hysterically funny, full of ideas and information. This picture isn't the greatest but I was using my camera without the flash indoors for the first time and it didn't turn out too bad.

Bridgeport Village

Today I said yes to my best friend and neighbor Mary's invitation to go to the Container Store at Bridgeport Village in Tigard. Now I had heard that it was a high end shopping mall but didn't really believe it. But when we pulled into the mall (and I use this term loosely) we were both stunned. It looked like a small little town. There were no large parking areas to be seen just small spots like you would see in any downtown. Though hidden in the back against trees was a large parking structure. They had valet parking and a concierge. Very upscale; Carl Greve, Nau, BCBGMAXAZRIA, Chico's, Banana Republic, Patrick James, Cole Haan and Urban Outfitters to name a few. Definitely not stores we frequent let alone window shop at. We decided the country bumpkins would be just fine and we forged on. We bought a couple of things and then headed to Storables about five miles away and cheaper. We had fun chatting about her new grandson and our children, just the usual Mom stuff. Time sure goes by quickly when you are having fun so by the time we got back into town in was 1:30. The day pretty much shot so I wrote some email, put some laundry away and read my new scrapbooking magazine that came in. I can vacuum tomorrow as I know my housework won't disappear overnight, darn!

A fun dinner with my girls...

We ended Mother's Day by going to dinner with our girls and their significant others. Lisa and Buck showed up at the same time Sarah and Nate did at the Mexican restaurant we chose to have dinner at. We spent a couple of hours eating, drinking and laughing at ourselves and each other. We talked about possibly doing a long weekend camping trip to Crater Lake later this summer. Gee, the logistics of this is going to be fun as everyone involved needs to have ample notice to give to their respective bosses. It seems it was only yesterday that the only one who needed to give notice to a boss was Steve. It's the age old question of where has the time gone?

Happy Mothers Day everyone!!

We have plans to do dinner with the girls. As usual we haven't decided where to go and we know it is going to be crazy as it is Mothers Day. As always it seems everyone is taking their Mom to breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner today so you have to pick wisely the restaurant and the time. Boy, staying at home is sounding better all the time. :) The weather here has been sunny off and on for most of this weekend. The weatherman did say rain yesterday and it did finally get here in the early evening but it didn't last long. We are expecting temps in the 80's tomorrow and possibly Tuesday. So I am going to enjoy the slight breeze we have right now.

I have the best daughters...

My sweeties took me to my favorite scrapbook place and bought me "Mommy's day" gifts. Then we went over to a coffee place I have recently started going to since my other "coffee" place is now closed. Sarah and I chose coffee while Lisa and Natalie had chai tea along with sandwiches. It is called "The Marketplace Coffeehouse" and it is staffed by juveniles from Marion County's juvenile detention center. Here they are learning skills that will help them potentially get jobs. They do everything from tending growing flower and vegetable plants to making sandwiches and coffee in their little deli. There are also some arts and craft things for sale as well. Service is their number one priority and let me tell you that is very nice. If you are ever in town, it is a yellow building on Center Street two driveways west of the health department. I helped Steve with some plane stuff last night. I used my label maker to make a placard for his plane. Which is right now apart for its annual inspection. Steve hopes to have it back together by Memorial Day weekend. We just got a call from a neighbor seems there is an accident down here in the draw by our place, possibly a car off into the creek. Jerry said it was a roll over. We didn't hear any noise and I don't see any flashing lights so it must be taken care of by now. Gee, what kind of neighbors are we? I think it was those margaritas Steve and I had when we went out to dinner. :)

In a fantasy world...

We would never grow too old, just wiser. While things have been settled for Grandma Lucille, the family agreed to a court appointed guardian, the conservatorship went to an undeserving person. But I am only the daughter-in-law and I so wanted this to be over for my dear mother-in-law Norma. I fear the family dynamics have changed and it will be quite awhile if ever that Norma's sister will ever be trusted again. Why these things happen only God knows but it has made us "youngsters" really think about putting down our wishes for our declining years so that our children can avoid this kind of mess. I told Steve the last time we wrote anything down Sarah was probably three years old, so it was time to update our will. The girls used to think this was morbid but I think they understand now why it is important to write things down. The picture is of great Aunt Nancy (Lucille's sister-in-law) and Grandma Lucille at Katy and Adam's wedding reception last fall.

Grandma Lucille

The family is going through a rough transition time right now. My dear sweet mother-in-law has been made the target of some nasty behavior by one of her sisters. She has alleged that Norma does not want what is best for their mother. She has gone so far as to petition the court for guardianship of Grandma based on events she has either distorted or just lied about. We all have strong emotions about this and why she chose to take this step rather than talk it out with all of her siblings we do not know. My sister-in-law Chris and I attended the status hearing yesterday in support of Norma. This is not a good situation as it is causing undue stress on Grandma and is fostering ill will too. I pray that the judge rules in favor of what is in Grandma Lucille's best interest.

Bridal shower at Lisa's, not hers...

There are just some days that I can't seem to get my blog posts published, mostly because I can't seem to get my mind into gear. I keep expecting certain things to happen, like in "word" and it doesn't happen here, geez. Sarah and I went to a bridal shower at Lisa's yesterday afternoon. Lisa was throwing the shower for her very good friend Sierra. Lisa is her maid of honor and the wedding is in July. Four of the five girls in the wedding became very close friends while attending Oregon State University. The bride, Julie, Natalie and Lisa also worked together at the OSU bookstore. They have asked me to do the alterations, mostly hems, on some of the dresses. They are a real pretty light green color (celedon is David's bridal name) to me it is celery. They are very similar in design to the one I made Sarah last fall for my niece Katy's wedding. I am supposed to be in my sewing room looking for thread to match but I got side tracked and sat down to read my email. Read Sarah's blog and tried to find rub-ons from Jeneva and Company for Sarah and I. It is just one of those days where I drift from one thing to another. The picture is of the "college" girls at the Kenny Chesney concert at Safeco Field in Seattle last June. From the left; Sierra, Natalie (Lisa's best friend), Julie and Lisa. The third bridesmaid, Jen is not pictured.

Lightning, thunder, rain oh my!!

The weatherman said we would have a chance for thunderstorms yesterday and today, well until five minutes ago I thought "sure". Now I want my hubby home so I can have someone to snuggle with in case the lights go out. We are having furnace issues and so the technician is coming out in the morning. I think the furnace is overdue for a tuneup. I discovered that if you do this now instead of in the early fall it is way cheaper! Demand definitely drives up the price of a "house call".

Makes a Mom proud!

This is a shout out to my girl Sarah. She has been scrapbooking since she was in middle school and has become quite the creative wonder. She has no fear when it comes to trying out new things. She constantly finds new ways to use products that would never have occurred to me. She posted a layout on the website fortheloveofeffers.blogspot.com and was listed as one of their favorites for dare #64. She is super excited and so I am. This is a site that encourages us scrappers to go outside their creative box and attempt the challenges that are posted. Though Sarah said she re-did the layout several times and was still unhappy she submitted it anyway. Now she is glad she did. I just finished setting up my own accounts on Two Peas and Scrapbook.com so I will now take the next step and submit layouts of my own, wish me luck!

National Scrapweekend at Scrapbook Fever

Wow it has been a busy week. I spent most of last week getting ready for this past weekend where I spent it with many of my lady friends doing what we love, scrapbooking! Our favorite store sponsered the event that was held at Shilo Inn. We got a room for the weekend so we didn't have to drive home and back again. It allowed us to stow stuff we didn't have room for in our scrap area, a place to nap in the middle of the day if need be and to store our wine coolers. :) I realized when I downloaded my pictures I once again forgot to have someone take a picture of me with my camera. My dear friend Mary, her daughter Jenifer who drove down from Olympia, Camille, Janet, Sarah and I had a great time. We laughed at times till we had tears coming down. Lots of pages were completed, good food was eaten and new friends were made. It is amazing the people you meet or run into at these events. Colleen, the gal with the short hair, was a co-worker when I worked at Fabricland back in the late eighties and early nineties. The other pics are of Sarah, Jenifer and then a group shot admiring a layout in progress.