Alphabet Soup

"To the uneducated, A is just three sticks."  - A.A. Milne

This is the first 'alphabet soup' week of Day2Day themes, so of course it's A is for....  I rather enjoy looking for good representative photos for letters or colors and getting to take a lot of creative license as I do.  I'm happy to say that one 'A is for...' this week is ALMOST ALL DONE with my recent illness.  I still have a bit of a cough, but I finally felt human again and the flu is almost a memory.  Yay!

I had a great week - sure hope you did, too!  I did some house cleaning, working on the Christmas closet and getting three huge boxes of papers to be shredded ready for Rex to take to the Tiki free shred day on Saturday.  If only he had read the multiple messages I shared with him so that he would have gone to the right venue....I learned today that he thought it didn't happen (due to rain!) because he went to the wrong place.  Good thing I love him!!  And thankfully, I saw a billboard about another shred day coming up in Galveston in a couple of weeks, so I have time to gather even more boxes of 'tutts' to be shredded.  How do you handle your paper stuff?  I get most everything paperless these days, so it's crazy to me that I still have piles of paper to deal with.  Bonus was I got to look through old CM things, letters from my mom (and I found a book she had written for Kim and me about her life!), and the file box full of my precious childhood mementos.  Time to be doing some digitizing!

My friend Ann invited me to a 'Lip Sense' party at her house on Monday - cool product - and it was fun to meet some new peeps.  Ann is a fabulous cook - her homemade biscuits with ham and honey were heavenly!  I was invited to lunch with the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at UT (Tennessee) on Tuesday, and I had a lovely time talking about my time at UTK with her and her assistant.  I was impressed that they drove down to Galveston (from Houston) to meet with me.  And no, they did not do a pressure-filled push for donations!  I had a fun little walk down memory lane and look forward to getting back to Knoxville for a tour of the campus.  Sounds like a lot has changed since I was last there.

By far the highlight of my week was my annual trek to the mountains of Colorado where I shared a little knowledge and a lot of love for Artisan at a p2P LIVE event at Southpaw Retreat.  This was my third year to train at this event, and it was fun to see 10 familiar friends and meet five new ones.  These women are quick studies - they made fantastic pages - and I even got some work done on the baby's first year calendar I'm making for Morgan (yikes - I'm already two months behind!!)  Southpaw proprietors Sheri and Bob always make me feel welcome and I ate so much that I am loathe to step on the scales just yet....  I hated to miss sharing a hot toddy with Bob, but it is still Dry January.  Thanks for your fabulous hospitality, y'all!  I am looking forward to February, but am glad to report that it's not been a problem to lay off the sauce.

Being at Southpaw meant I didn't get to watch the Duke v UVa game, which I guess was a good thing.  I was following along - sure wish the Devils had pulled that one out!  I was glad State finished strong, and UT did well, too!  It's another great ACC basketball season - I'm watching Duke play as I write.  There sure is a lot of talent on that team - it will be fun to see how well they mesh as the season goes on.  I also missed the Grammy's - hoping I'll be able to see some of the best clips later this week.  It was great to have a very social week and spend time with women I enjoy and admire.

Looking forward to the super blue blood moon and lunar eclipse this week and hoping the weather will cooperate!  Be sure to look skyward on Wednesday night!  I realized that one of the things that intrigued me about being in Denver was seeing snow on the ground and having it be a non-event.  Really put our two day non-stop news about a little bit of ice in perspective!  It is worth noting that it is not nearly as cold feeling when the humidity is low, even if the temperature is lower.  I took my big coat and never had on more than a sweater...

Make it a fabulous week!

Jan

Curiouser and Curiouser

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious, and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.  -- Walt Disney

I love that quote by Walt Disney, and it is a good reminder to me to make sure I remain curious and that I keep trying new things.  I think one of the reasons I have been so enamored with digital scrapbooking is because there are always new things to try, new techniques to learn, new looks to be inspired by, new kits and artwork to use, and of course, new pictures and stories to be documented.  I participated in a virtual digital crop this weekend, hosted by my former teammates, the fabulous pixels2Pages Pixies, and I completed 20 pages!  That was my goal, and even though I didn't get to spend nearly as much time cropping as I thought I might, I am pleased to have gotten those pages done.  Having a 'reason' to get back to my scrapping was fun, too, as my flu recovery had robbed me of the joy of doing things I normally enjoyed.  I'm happy to say I am almost back to normal and I'm glad to have that behind me!

I know that one of the 'new' things I love doing is traveling, and I'm excited to be heading to Colorado this week to do some digital scrapbook training in the Rockies.  I get to get out my Forever and pixels2Pages shirts and be temporarily unretired! Can't wait to see my friends in the mountains - this is my third year with them.

But back to last week, where we had winter and summer here in the space of a few days.  It got so cold here (19 degrees, which is really cold for the southeast Texas coast!) that we had to protect trees and pipes for three days!  So many people on Tiki had frozen (and burst) pipes that we had to go on water restriction one afternoon - yikes!  In Houston, home to MANY high overpasses and interstate bridges, the 1/10" of ice that we got wreaked havoc.  I know my northern friends laugh at we Southerners and our aversion to all manner of winter precipitation, but I'd like to point out that not many people are able to traverse iced over roads and bridges safely.  Imagine being 100 feet up in the air on a 6 lane interstate covered with a thin layer of ice.  No thank you.  I stayed home, and Crockett and I used the elevator to get downstairs instead of risking our necks on the iced over metal outdoor stairs.

The cold days were followed by two days of intense fog in the morning, which is what happens when warm air meets cold water.  Here on the bay, the fog can be surreal - I literally couldn't see the island across the channel from our house.  Once the sun came out, the fog burned off and we had lovely days - it was in the low 70s yesterday - the kind of 'winter' we expect down here.  We even got swarmed by mosquitos on our walk yesterday - seriously?  Shouldn't they have frozen to death?  Today is so beautiful - sunny and 68 - that I can't wait to get out for a walk!

I've even made progress on the Christmas removal project, but it's still not done....  The tree has been denuded (we usually put it away with the ornaments on it, but the addition of a crib to our Christmas closet made that impossible this year!) but I still have ornaments to put away and store.  Tiki is having a shredder here this weekend, so I'm madly going through boxes in the closet so that we can get rid of some of the paper that threatens to drown us.  Now to pray Rex remembers to take it all to the shredder while I'm away...

Before the holidays, I was in major declutter/renovation mode, and it's been hard to get back to it.  We have a tremendously huge closet upstairs that holds all of our Christmas stuff and then some.  It's the 'then some' that needs some dedicated work.  You know, the boxes that got stuffed in there when we moved here (7 years ago!!) and haven't seen the light of day since.  But then when you look at the stuff, you find reasons to not get rid of it, so you stuff it back in the box and put it back on the shelf.  NO!!  That is insanity!  So I am working myself into a 'throw it out/give it away/find a use for it' mode so that I can clear some space.

While I was decluttering, I was also getting some things done.  We had the concrete area down below our house covered with a non-slip epoxy like we have on our back deck.  The deck was supposed to be redone to (changing from brown to Tiki Turquoise!) but the weather didn't cooperate, so we are still waiting for that.  We replaced the black chain link fence with a higher white PVC 'picket' fence and I am so happy with the way that looks.  I've ordered a new mailbox - you'll have to wait for it - but it is not here yet.  Let's just say it will fit in great here on Tiki, home of many cool custom mailboxes.  As is often the case with home improvements, when you fix one or two things, other things choose that time to break.  Did I mention our heat went out again last week?   Twice.  While it was 19 degrees.  Our garage door, and outdoor outlet, and the light in our clothes closet went out while all of the fence/epoxy work was being done.  We are still waiting for the garage door to be fixed, which has made me very grateful for garage door openers that work.

So, enough about my fairly uneventful week - I have a walk to take, papers to sort, and ornaments to put away!  Here's hoping you have a curious week and that you take time to learn/do/go/try something/someplace new!

Jan

Content used in page above: Day2Day 2018 Predesigned Pages and themes.

All Things Bright and Beautiful

Your attitude is like a box of crayons that color your world.  Constantly color your picture gray, and your picture will always be bleak.  Try adding some bright colors to the picture by including humor, and your picture begins to lighten up.  -Allen Klein

I loved working with this week's theme, BRIGHT, which I'm sure is no surprise to my friends.  I've always been attracted to colors, the brighter the better - no neutrals or pastels for this girl!  And since I was still feeling 'not fine' this week, it was good to be on the lookout for things that brightened my days.  The quote I chose really hit home with me - good advice, and I needed to hear it, and follow it - this week.

I didn't get out much again this week - poor Crockett only got a few good walks, although we did play a lot of fetch on the deck - so all of my photos are from inside the house or inside the neighborhood.  I'm ready to get back to normal, and thankfully, I'm headed that direction now.  I ventured out to the doctor on Tuesday and then got to go back on Wednesday to have labs done.  I learned that I had had the flu, and that I should get used to my friend Mr. Cough as he will be with me for a few more weeks.  Ugh.

I had to laugh when I went to the doctor.  Since I didn't have an appointment, I got worked in, so I was cognizant of the need to be on time.  So of course there were issues, even with my advance planning and best intentions.  First, Crockett didn't get the 'mom's in a hurry' memo, and I didn't allow for the extra time to open and shut the garage door manually (our opener has been broken for a few weeks) and I forgot that the bridge to Tiki is being repaired, so it's one lane with a stop light.  Red, of course.  Thankfully it's a short bridge!  As I went over the causeway to Galveston Island, I neglected to notice that the train bridge was down, which would have indicated that my planned route was going to be blocked by a train.  Oblivious to the impending delay, I turned left only to be stopped by what was one of the longest and slowest trains I've ever seen!  So I u-turned and tried another path, which sadly was also blocked by the same train.  Oh, the agony!  Finally I found a clear path and was only late by five minutes, but I still felt bad.  As in most places across the country, clinics and ERs are full of flu-sufferers.  If you haven't had a flu shot (I got one in the fall), get one now!

We had more crazy weather across the country this week.  And oh, those mudslides in California!  Those were horrific and I feel so bad for those affected.  More ice and snow for the northeast and the middle of the country, and even down here in Texas we had more days below freezing.  On the day the cold front came in, we had a beautiful bright sunset and I could watch the front move in.  The north wind has blown so much water out of the bay that almost all of the oyster beds have been visible.  The water level is probably 3 or 4 feet below normal!  It's due to snow again next week - if it does, that will be only the third time that it has snowed three times in one season here, and the last time it happened, I was in high school!  Here's hoping that wherever you are, you're safe and protected from the elements.

I had rallied enough by Friday to make it to my massage appointment, which got cancelled last week when both Trish (my massage therapist, who is FANTASTIC) and I were sick.  Trish knew exactly what to do to make me feel better.  I am so grateful to have a good massage therapist right here on Tiki!  I should have taken a photo of Trish, as appointments with her are definitely bright spots in my life!  Since I was feeling almost human again, Rex and I went to see Darkest Hour - such a great movie!  Gary Oldman was a convincing Churchill, and the whole cast was excellent.  Worth a watch!

My weekend has been full of basketball and football, with my teams winning sometimes....I'm sad to report that I haven't worked up the energy to finish taking down Christmas (so I still have that brightness around me!) but that has got to happen!!  I may need to pretend it's not a three day weekend...  Oh - the other fun thing this weekend - we started watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon.  Fun and funny!  But I can't let the remaining Santas get addicted to it or I will never get them back in the closet!

Best to you this week - keep looking for the bright spots and add them yourself if needed!

Jan

Content used on this week's page: 2018 Day2Day Book and Themes by FOREVER; Font: KG Call Me Maybe

Recovering and Preparing

Winter is a season of recovery and preparation.  - Paul Theroux

It's only my second week of blogging, and already I'm breaking the rules.  So what else is new?  You may remember that I told you my first Day2Day week of photos would be on the theme of NEW, but since we had winter last week, I opted to use WINTER for my theme instead.  I'll hit NEW later this month...

As I was looking for a good quote about winter, I kept coming back to this one about recovery and preparation, as I've been trying to recover from my post-Christmas cold all week.  I think it's time for a doctor visit, as recovery is eluding me.  Rex and I are both hacking like ex-smokers and it is beyond annoying.  So I'm preparing to be well now - enough with the tissues and hot water/lemon/honey drinks.  It figures I would decide to go 'Dry January' just when a few hot toddies would have come in really handy.

In the good news category - we are with heat now!!  Only a month later, both the upstairs and downstairs heaters are fully functional.  The gas man came this week and our propane tank is full, so I figure that means we've had our cold snap for the year.  Now to find a place for the three new space heaters we bought...

I absolutely cannot complain about our 'winter' down here though, especially given the week that much of the country has experienced.  If you are digging out of loads of snow or staying colder than you'd like to, you have my sympathy!  Stay warm and dry and hunker down and enjoy some good winter soups and stews.  As I'm writing this late on Sunday night, we are experiencing a fierce thunderstorm!  It's crazy - pouring rain, howling wind, and it's 66 degrees out.  Crockett was asleep on the floor upstairs with me when he jumped up and started barking like crazy (in the middle of the storm).  I finally went downstairs with him, only to find that the back door had blown open.  Guess we hadn't closed the storm lock properly!  Thanks, Crockett!

Since I've been feeling under the weather, I haven't even tried to revive any exercise programs for the new year, and I've barely even walked.  I hate to start out behind!  So far, I have managed my Dry January (even though we ate at a cool brew pub on Saturday night!) and I've stuck to my 10-12 hour eating window.  Have you heard about that one?  Limit your eating hours to 8 or 10 or 12 hours - so if you wake up at 8, eat breakfast, and your other meals/snacks as usual, but then don't eat anything after 8 PM.  If you know me well, you know that I'm not an early riser and eating dinner after 8 PM is a regular occurrence around here, so this one is a bit of a stretch.  So far, so good.  And it's keeping me away from the midnight candy snack!  What are you working on this year?

We did rally enough this weekend to start the monumental task of putting away Christmas decorations.  Time for true confessions - this year was the first year I've even decorated for Christmas since 2013 or so.  Just call me Scrooge, but since we've either been away every year or (worst of all) home alone, just the two of us, like last year, it just hasn't seemed worth the effort.  But since everyone came here for the holidays, I was under orders to pull out all of the stops!  Don't get me wrong - I loved having my Santas and my Snow Village out, and trees lighted and decorated, but I truly hate taking it all down.  Like my friend Dana says - it takes all of the sparkle out of your house.  And it's work!

So far we've put the most of the Santas (except the ones I just noticed in my upstairs windows...) and Snow Village away, and replaced all of the top of the kitchen cabinet holiday decor with the usual beach decor.  Now to attack the snowmen and trees and miscellaneous holiday detritus, and to find where I hid all of the things that normally adorn the horizontal spaces in our house.  My challenge this year will be to work around the full size baby crib that now lives in our Christmas/guest room closet.  I'm not sure there will be room for the fully decorated fake tree that usually resides there!  First world problems, I know!

Thinking about Christmas decorations (or lack thereof) reminds me of my mom and my grandmother.  Neither of them ever let a house go undecorated for Christmas, I can assure you!  Not only did they drag out and decorate trees (and since they were both widows for 20+ years, that was no easy feat!) but they also made original flower arrangements for every room every year.  I am lucky enough to have a few of their special Christmas ornaments but I surely did not inherit their floral design talents.  I'll stick with Santas and Snow Village and trees and call it festive!

Do you have a Snow Village or any other village that you set up each year?  I'd love to hear about yours!  I had three separate Village areas this year - the Main Street, from fire station to police station, with a bank, movie theater, TV station, bowling alley, pizza parlour, corner drugstore, chocolate shop, and gas station in between; the suburbs, with five houses, the library, church, hospital, McDonald's, and brew pub (new addition this year), along with the village tree and a snowy creek and sledding hill; and the beach, with a surf shop and the Lost Shaker of Salt bar (also new this year).  I do love setting up the villages and watching the lights come on every evening.

Time to wrap it up so that I can get things packed away safe and sound for next year.  Make it a fabulous week!

Jan

Content used on this week's page: 2018 Day2Day Book and Themes by FOREVER; Font: KG Call Me Maybe

A New Blog for a New Year!

"Your success and happiness lies in you.  Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties."     Helen Keller

Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/helen_keller_392962?src=t_newyears

Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/helen_keller_392962?src=t_newyears

Happy New Year, y'all!

One of the things I've found I miss most in my new position as 'retiree' is blogging, so I thought I'd start a new blog that will allow me to accomplish a few things on my list for 2018 while I get to write a bit.  Nothing like public blogging for accountability!

My goal is to blog once a week, and my current plan is to combine my everyday musings and ramblings with my Day2Day (Photo a Day) project.  I figure this way I might actually get a whole year completed!  If you're familiar with a Day2Day project, you know that there is a theme each week, so I'll do my best to work with that theme as I write and document my life through photos. 

I had already thought about combining my Day2Day photos with a plan to document special 'things' in my house and in my life, wondering if I could make that work within the given themes.  We'll see how that works, and you'll get a little insight into people, places, and things that are meaningful to me.

I've started many a Day2Day book, always with the best intentions.  Last year I made it to April - my best year ever! You can see this is going to be a challenge for me, but I need a little discipline in my life!  This is a new year, and I have a new opportunity to complete the project this year.

As well as documenting my Day2Day photos, I'll use this forum to share whatever is on my mind, and my goal will be to keep it positive (it is called Happy Talk for a reason!) but real.  It's good practice for me to count my blessings before I focus on whatever grumblings try to force their way to the forefront.  I always think of Pollyanna and her 'glad game'.  It's not that Pollyanna had an easy life or thought everything was always rosy, it's that she always looked for the good in every situation.  She knew that by being thankful for something, she could withstand hard times.

As this new year starts, Rex and I are both hacking and snorting with bad colds - ugh!  But if that is the price we pay for having all of our children and grandchildren here for a week over Christmas, then pass the tissues!  It's just a cold, and it will pass!  To add to our temporary discomfort, our downstairs heat is not working and it's colder than usual here on the Texas coast.  The good news - our upstairs is toasty and warm and modern space heaters are fantastic!  And the broken parts have been ordered and we didn't die of carbon monoxide poisoning.  And best of all - if ever I needed to be hunkered down inside for a few days, give me this week of non-stop sports!  I'm loving bowl games, basketball, and the Rose Parade.

The theme for this week's Day2Day project is NEW, so tune in next week to see what's new around our house.  For now, Happy New Year and have a fabulous week!

Page created using FOREVER Artisan.  Content used: 2018 Shapes and Edges by pixels2Pages, All That Glitters New Year by Lucky Girl Creative, Canvas Color Pack #1 by DesignerDigitals.  Font: KG Covered by Your Grace  #p2PPricklyPearBP