Happy Birthday, Mom!

Happy birthday, Mom! 89 years old today and what an amazing woman you are!

I am going to celebrate all day long...celebrating the day you were born!

Since we have an added day in February tomorrow, I do believe I'll continue to celebrate tomorrow too. (I'd hate to waste that "extra" day! )

Thanks for all that you do, Mom, I love you to pieces!

(Mom doesn't know any strangers because she befriends everyone she meets.)

(And what a sport! She'll try just about anything once.)

Happy Birthday, Mom!!!!

While Horton Hatches His Hooooo

... I'm busy hatching hats!

119 hats completed.

I didn't make all of them, but one heck of a lot were mine.

Thanks Sharon, Eileen, Billie, Doris, Sharstin and Laura!

Our hats have hatched in time for us all to

Hop on Pop!

(More about this later!)

Good News

I was going to post something entirely different, but this is such good news I just have to share it with all of you:

Danette just posted on her blog that Joseph's PET scan showed that the cancer is almost totally gone. Her quote was "...probable complete remission or very close.."

What a great way to start the day.

I know many of you are praying for Joseph or sending him positive thoughts and healing energy and I thank you for whatever form of love you use. Afterall, it is about wrapping him up in a blanket of pure love and letting him know he has a strong support system.

Of course, Joseph himself is to be credited. He eats whole, organic foods, he exercises above and beyond what the average person does, he meditates daily without fail and does yoga. He does everything possible to create an atmosphere for his body to do its remarkable thing and kick cancer's butt!

So with all of us doing our part, we are faced with good news today.

These Hats Need Cats

Dr. Seuss's birthday is coming up and our little elementary school celebrates big time. We take part in Read Across America. Adults dress up in Dr. Seuss costumes and wear crazy colored "Cat in the Hat" hats then we read and have a party.

This year, it is highly possible that this precious school, built in 1936, will be closing its doors. It will be the last Dr. Seuss celebration. With that in mind, one aid decided it would be fun to make 120 hats for the kids to wear to the party and take home with them. (Mind you, this wild-and-crazy-woman does NOT sew!)

Of course, that is where I come into the picture. I bought 4 bolts of felt which is 72" wide!! I drew up the cutting pattern for all the fabric and started cutting. I'm not going to cut it all because volunteers are coming out of the woodworks to help with this fun project.

Getting Serious About Europe

All my notes and list of web "favorites" are starting to come together. We are planning a trip to Europe in September and October of this year. What a mind-boggling experience to plan.

Where to go, what to see, where to stay, how to get from Point A to Point B, rent a car or take the trains, how long to spend in each city or village. Whew! A lot to absorb.

My last adventure to France was six years ago and the planning took me two serious years and reams of paper. I think this won't take as much paper but some major hours of research and of course, not two years!

The big thing is that the money has been put aside for this trip and that Jack is willing to go with me this time around. Evidently he hated my being away from him for so long more than he hates the idea of flying in an airplane!

What do you think; can we cover all of this in 6 weeks?

Places I just have to visit:

* = re-visit and share with Jack

Paris, France*

St. Girons, France

Rocamadour, France

Ventimiglia, Italy*

Nimes, France*

Loire Valley, France*

Verdun, France

Mons, Belgium

Liege, Belgium (American WWII Cemetary)

Soggibottom, UK

Stonehenge, UK

Places Jack must visit:

Toledo, Spain

San Sabastian, Spain

Venice, Italy

Cote d'Azur, France

Verdun, France

London, UK

Prague, Czechoslovakia

Munich, Germany

Venice, Italy

Barcelona, Spain

Seriously, I wouldn't mind spending our entire time in France but Jack wants to see other countries as well. So we'll be on the road a lot which is so much fun in a foreign country. This trip will be very different because we will be renting or leasing a car. Poor Mom got dragged out in the boonies with me where cars were needed but we were forced to walk. When we knocked on the B&B in the Basque Country, our hosts were totally shocked that we did not have a car. I do believe we were the first visitors to arrive on foot! Hey, we were in great shape when we left France, that's for sure.

I am sure we will have to cut some places off of this list, but we shall see.

Wordless Wednesday



Lying Low

I thought if I did't post anything for awhile, I'd quit doing stupid things. Ummmmm, nope, 'didn't work for me!

Here is my used-to-be-nice KitchenAid toaster.

What happened to melt the top, you ask?

Well, you see, Jack has a habit of putting day-old bread on the top of the toaster and then setting the toaster on to toast. He had some garlic bread he was re-heating in this manner and it had been loaded with butter so I told him not to let the butter melt into the toaster. I suggested he put tin foil over the top first. Dumb. I never dreamed he would wrap the entire top with tinfoil so the heat didn't get out and the toaster melted.

Gross plastic smell in the whole house for hours afterwards.

Just plain stupidity.

Guess we need a toaster oven.