Heavenly celebrations...

Do they celebrate birthdays in heaven?

 

Probably not since we're all promised eternal life...

 

So I'll continue to celebrate, in my own way, depending on the year...

 

Happy birthday, Mark!

 

Today you would have celebrated your 59th birthday.

 

 

 

 

We never got to say good bye to you...

 

Most of the time I think it's just as well...

 

What would we say?

 

Just what I hope you already knew...

 

You are loved...

 

We miss you!

 

 

 

Jan, Andy, Tony...and now there is Ashley, Mindy and Locklan!

 

 

How to find your camera charger...

😌😖😖😖I have this darling point-and-shoot camera that I like to throw in my purse...

It takes great enough pictures for blogging or just helping jog my memory...

One thing I really liked about it was that it had a rechargeable battery and a charger...

It was a win-win situation until last Sunday...

When I realized that the battery was dead and the charger was nowhere to be seen!

 

I looked EVERYWHERE!

 

Then I remembered my best friend...

 

Amazon Prime!

 

I ordered a new charger!

 

It came today!

 

I opened the package, took out the new charger, plugged it in and started to charge the battery.

 

I cleaned up the wrapping,

Threw it away...

 

Walked up the stairs,

Opened my desk drawer...

 

Guess I don't have to tell you what I found...

Driving Miss Norma...

Have you read this book?

 

If not...

You should!

 

I have.  Twice.

 

On July 11, I had the opportunity

to not only hear Tim Bauerschmidt and Ramie Liddle

Talk about their book,

their journey with Miss Norma

(who was Tim's mother).

 

 

But I got to talk to them...

to give them hugs,

 

and to pet Ringo...

 

 

and to take two photos and then my phone battery died...

 

It was such a moving experience...

 

The book made me laugh and cry...

 

Hearing them talk,

seeing them open their lives and hearts to us...

 

It was a book that SEEMED to be about their relationship with

Miss Norma, Tim's mother...

 

But when you get down to it...

It was about Miss Norma's relationship with herself!

 

About grabbing life by the ass...

and shaking it as hard as you can!

 

 

It's all about the relationship you have with yourself!

 

Read it!

And that's an order!

 

 

 

 

 

This is what it's all about!

It's not unusual for Andy and Locklan to call me during bath time...

Locklan talks up a storm now!

Last night, Locklan was so excited!

He caught a bug and two fishies!

Let me share Ashley's photos with you...

 

Precious?

 

Andy and Ashley work hard.

 

They also make it a priority to spend their free time with Locklan...

 

There are times when all the planets line up and they

can just plain hang out...

all three of them!

 

Yesterday was one of those days.

 

Ashley bought Locklan a net to catch fish (or bugs)

and they headed to

the park...

 

Precious memories!

 

Can't have too many of those!

PSA

Because I care, I'm passing this along:

 

 

Another year older...

Yes!  I had another birthday!

 

 

 

I am now officially 66!

 

It was a good one, to be sure!

 

I slept in!

 

In my life, anything past 6:15 AM is sleeping in,

 

So by 8:30, my bladder was screaming for someone to call 911...

 

Seriously, I slept until 8:30! 

 

Is that an indication of old age?

 

I came downstairs and Mr K had my coffee ready...

 

He gave me a happy birthday kiss and a card...

 

And THREE presents!!!!

 

Of course, he's a guy and everyone knows guys don't give gifts that look this nice when they wrap them...

 

To be honest, his wrapping paper usually looks like this...

 

 

So the fact that he wrapped at all was exciting!

 

He told me to open them in a particular order...

 

Now, before I tell you the rest, let me say this...

 

I am EXTREMELY hard to buy for!

 

When the kids asked me what I would like,

I responded with a request for a family day at camp!

 

When Ron asked me,

I said I wanted a REAL trash bag for my car.

 

REAL, as in not looking like this:

 

(yes, like his version of wrapping paper)

 

My first gift was a REAL trash bag for my car!

 

No photo available, it's in use!

 

My second gift was this...

 

 

Yes!  Mr.K and I will finally figure out where I come from!

 

And last but not least...

 

TWO of these babies...

 

 

BOB SEGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

EEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I was so excited...

 

I cried!

 

Oh yes!

 

Of course,

 

we all went to the river

where we ate and ate and ate...

 

And floated on inflatable things...

 

NOT this...

 

or this...

 

 

Which would have been uber cool...

 

But suitably inflated things...

 

Ahhhhhhh

 

It wasn't a good day, it was a GREAT DAY!

 

So what's new with YOU?

 

 

 

 

A day in the life of...

Yes, a day in the life of Locklan...

 

Or why Grandma goes to bed so early!

 

Yesterday Andy brought Locklan to spend the day with Grandma and Pappy...

 

Of course, Mr. K and I were excited!

 

It was a work day for Mr. K, so we sent him into his office and headed for the basement...

 

I have some pretty goofy stuff down there. 

 

Locklan found these dollar store flamingos that I had for a practical joke...

 

He wanted to put them in the front yard...

 

It took several tries until we found the perfect location...

 

Then of course, they needed fed!

 

What do you feed a pink plastic flamingo?

 

 

Mulch, of course!

 

Snack time already?

 

 

"Possickles!"

 

Then we had to head for the patio...

Where Grandma, Locklan and various toys had to swing in the hammock...

 

 

Andy cut my grass which gave Locklan a chance to use Pappy's leaf blower

to clean Dad's trailer...

 

 

Andy then headed off to another job. 

He left us (Locklan) his zero-turn and his lawn mower

(He owns a lawn care business)

He asked Locklan to clean them for him...

 

 

 

Once he decided they were clean enough...

 

He looked for other things to clean...

 

 

How about a scooter, a digger, a wagon and his bike?

 

Afterwards, we set up the pop up tent...

 

Locklan decided since his bike was clean, he could ride inside it...

 

 

I was pretty much ready to call it a day when he found my boots...

 

 

 

Finally I decided we needed to go for a ride in Grandma's car.

 

Locklan loves it when I beep the horn as we pass the homes of friends and family...

 

On the list for the day was Mommy's house, Aunt Mindy's house and Deb (my friend).

 

All three houses are blocks apart...

 

We made it past the first house...

 

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz

 

If I didn't go down to 'porch sit' with my friend, Deb, I would have been in bed at 8:30!

 

Lots of work but I love every stinkin' minute of it!

We all scream for...

 

Ice Cream!

In an instant!

Years ago, when I was a terribly horrible cook, my mother started buying me kitchen stuff to get me inspired...

Like Mixing bowls,

and potato ricers,

Next it was a bread machine...

And then a pressure cooker!

Now that pressure cooker scared the bejeebers out of me.

Remember those days?

That knobby thing on top rocked back and forth, spewing steamy messages that one day it would blow and your kitchen ceiling would never be the same again...

 

 

Actually, that DID NOT happen. 

Instead, back when Mark and I were just getting on our feet as home owners,

we had some pretty thrifty moments. 

The pressure cooker, that scary pot, could make work boots tender and easy to chew. 

We depended on it.

Until that fateful day...

As usual, I put the pot (full of some cheap cut of meat, some veggies and herbs) on the stove and we high tailed it to the other side of the house where we could not hear the rattle of that dangerous pot.

Finally, the timer went off, I ran in to turn the stove off and we waited the proper number of minutes for the pressure to go down.

I went back into the kitchen, took the knobby thing off the pot and twisted the handles to open it...

But it did not open.

I ran it under cold water...

I tried to wedge something between the handles as a lever...

I tapped it with something hard...

I banged it with something harder...

I sat on the porch with the darn thing, waiting for Mark to get home and open it...

He came...

He saw...

He tapped, twisted, swore and banged...

He put the kids in the car and went to McDonalds.

They ate.

We pitched the darn pot full of our dinner.

For all I know, it's in some landfill, still full of our dinner.

Now...fast forward to 2017...

I bought an INSTANT POT!!!!

 

Yes, it is a pressure cooker...

Yes, it is probably as dangerous as the old one...

 

but it's soooo cool, so modern, and it turns itself off!

 

Yes, it wasn't cheap and the corresponding cookbooks added to the cost...

but it was full of promises of healthy and delicious meals...

 

~not to mention the one that it would take the place of many kitchen things~

 

I no longer have a need for a crock pot, rice cooker, egg cooker, yogurt maker...

(not that I had all of those things in my kitchen)

 

Get the picture?

 

Of course, it needed a purpose...

 

And I found it!

 

It makes the most extraordinary hard boiled eggs!

 

Seriously, the best!

 

I can't believe how easy it is...how beautifully they peel

and how many I can cook at once!

 

Ashley will send up a dozen eggs for me to cook,

I will throw a dozen from our fridge as well...

 

And wham-a-lam!

 

We have eggs.

 

No fuss, no muss!

 

How many eggs will I have to make to break even?

 

Let's just say...

 

Get busy, chickens!

 

 

 

Happy Cow Appreciation Day

❤Today is Cow Appreciation Day...

 

Click on the photo for details...

 

 

 

Do you have a cow costume?

 

You might qualify for a free entre at Chick-fil-a!

 

Click here for details!

 

I'm telling you this because I Love you!

Haircuts, wreathes, driving forces and ahhhh, the river!

I know that it's been way too long since I've visited here...

and I have much to talk about,

but I'm waiting for a little guy to show up to entertain me,

advise me,

direct me

and love me

 (and I love him to the moon and back),

so let me show you a tiny highlight of what's going on in my life...

 

First and foremost...a new haircut!

 

Is he not the most adorable? 

 

My daughter-in-law, Ashley, got a new jeep a few weeks ago.

Locklan loves to 'drive' it!

 

 

Yes...it's blue!

 

Of course, he loves to drive Grandma's car too...

 

 

 

And last of all...

 

I finally did a project that I found on Pinterest.

 

I am usually overwhelmed by the vastness of Pinterest,

but I really wanted a wreath for my front door.

 

Ashley, Mindy and I got together and made these...

 

 

Of course, mine is the big, fat, unfinished one...

 

But we had fun and that's what counts!

 

So...I'm going to finish my coffee and head downstairs...

Locklan will be here soon!

 

Tomorrow is my free day,

 

I hope to spend it here...

 

 

Ahhhhhh, the river!

 

See you there!