March is gone, embroidery is addictive.

I finally took time to take a few pictures of what I have been doing with my new sewing machine. I can say I have learned a lot in the last 2 weeks while I have been using this machine. I have a lot to learn and I am impatient with not knowing it all right now. I guess the last 30 years I have been so involved with working and raising kids that I did not realise how much progress had been made with sewing machines. I am glad that I went ahead and got this machine, but I do have to figure out a way to stay away from the stores, lol. The kids here have decided that it is time for intervention, that I am addicted to this machine and my computer is neglected and that I have not been on the Wii since I got it either. Brooke asked me tonight "When do you sleep?" I guess to her it seems that I never do, since I am still up when she goes to bed and then I am up when she gets up every morning and lately she finds me at this machine most of the time that I am home. This morning I was late for work even because I was trying to decide what I was going to do on the little shirts for the little kids. I have found that deciding what to do and what colors to use and where to place it takes up more of my time than the actual sewing does. I hate making decisions some times lol.







This is the EASTER apron I just had to do when I saw one on Saturday at the sewing machine shop. It is so cute and I wanted to make all the little kids a shirt with something Easter on it and dang time is getting close, so I had to realize that there is just not enough hours in the day to get all done I want to and go with something less time consuming in order to get the shirts mailed before I leave here on Thursday headed to Bama. This is the 1st t-shirts I have done so I am sure I will get better and get plenty of experience on shirts.

So this is what I came up with, and I know its not nearly as cute as some of the other things, but its done and its ready to mail tomorrow soon as I get off work. I have not got Nylah's done yet because dang it I do not have a N with the Easter egg or I can not find it in this computer anywhere. I just might have to do her one next week and just make it a spring t-shirt, but I will come up with something.

This is a bag I am fixing for guess who, lol.

This is bath towels that I had bought for the new bathrooms at the lake house and I brought some home with me to embroidery on and will bring more back next week. This monogramming on towels is working out good here. We all have our own towel and use the same towel for a few days rather than washing towels every day I was towels twice a week its never been a problem anyway cause we all have different color towel but now its even better with initials on them.

A Nice Weekend

This past weekend I traveled to the Lakehouse to see how things were going there. They are making progress again and hopefully they will get finished by Easter, lol. It has been1 year and I still can't believe they were not finished by Labor Day. Pictures can show so much more than I can tell so check them out below.

This side deck is now 2 levels and even though I know that I still walked off it like it and gave Pat a good laugh, that was not enough, I still tripped going back the other way just 5 minutes later. I am sure there will be many laughs to come on this deck, I just hope no one gets hurt.

The deck is a lil bit wider so that will make it nice with the table and chairs in place.

FINALLY!!!!! I can see what the front entrance roof is gonna look like. Well sorta anyway, the beam is no longer there and this week they have finished it all except for the rock man doing his part.



This is a great looking couple and we gave them a bridal shower last weekend. They have so much going for them, I sure hope my grandkids take some lessons from them. 3.5 weeks til the wedding and I can hardly wait, even if it is in Texas, lol.

It is raining here most of the week, Oh! and I have only 33 working days left and 95 total.

Mid March- It's all about ME!

I guess life has been kinda low key the last 10 days. Maybe I have just been preoccupied thou. Last week Pat went to Bama to see the house remodel get finished. I told him he can not come home until its finished, lol. Last Friday I was off and it was gonna rain all day so I did not go to Bama, but I was off and hated to waste an off Friday in Vicksburg, so I decided I would go to Jackson soon as the kids left for school and shop for a few things, specifically Dustin and Jacy's shower gift and me something to wear to the wedding. I am really not "BIG" on shopping, but sometimes you just have to. I have lost about 30 lbs and I did not realise I had very few clothes that fit. These work uniforms I have to wear just don't matter to me what I look like in them and I refuse to buy more pants this close to retirement. The company does furnish my clothes I just prefer to buy the pants myself, because I don't like the ones they give me. By the way I have only 36 working days left until I retire, however I have 102 days until the retirement date. :) It was raining Friday morning as I had expected , and as I started out the door about 8:00 a.m I got the call from work to come in if I could, well I decided they were not jerking me around and I was gonna go on with my plans rain and all. I must also tell you that for several weeks now I have been researching a sewing machine that I want, and when I checked the price I almost fainted. I decided that I have never seen this sewing machine operate and have no clue why it cost so much, what it does or how it does it, so I found they do have a store that carries them in Jackson close to where I will be going so I would possibly have time to check them out before the mall opened. I just happened to leave early enough that I was in Jackson 1 hr before the mall opened and gosh what would I do? Oh! I can go check out the sewing machine, lol. The people were very nice and I was there before they were, lol. I was really impressed with the machine and was glad I had talked with them because I learned quiet a bit about what I really wanted now. I got all the information I could and 2 hrs later I was headed toward the mall. It was raining real hard when I got to my next shopping spot, so I sat in the car and waited for the rain to slack up, I called Pat and told him about my adventure of the day at the sewing center. I told him " You know I am going to get me this machine, I just don't know when, where or how." There is no way I can justify this kind of money for me, other that I have always told myself that when I retire I will buy me a new sewing machine. My machine I have had since I was about 9 years old and my parents got it when they joined some buyer club thingy. I did upgrade about 4 years ago with one for Sears outlet on EBAY for about $60.00. I will say Pat has never told me NO on anything I wanted to buy and it is a good thing that I have a level head on spending or it would be a big problem. I spent a lot of time looking for the gift and just generally browsing in Bed Bath and Beyond, I do like that store and it was so hard to decide what to buy. I finally made it to the mall around 1 p.m. I looked and looked for the perfect dress, but I never found what I wanted so I finally just had to start trying on, cause I did not even know for sure what size to get. I bet I tried on 12 dresses, I finally decided on 2 I liked best cause I was burned out on shopping, I am still not sure of them, in fact 1 is probably too big and I should have gotten the next size. I saved receipts so I can return if I get a chance to shop and find another I like better. I had continued to ponder this sewing machine while I had been completing the real task of my shopping trip. I called and talked to Pat before I left the mall, maybe to give him one more chance to say NO!, lol. I told him that I was gonna call and see if they had the one I wanted in stock and possibly get it on the 6 months no interest plan and maybe I could figure out how to pay for it by then, lol. I called and they did not have one in stock but could get one in 2 days, BUT, then she said I can sale you the display at a reduced price if you want it. I thought heck for $400.00 off and it was on SALE too, YES!!!!I will take the display. So away I went to get my machine. So far I love it and it has absorbed most of my time since just learning about it. No pictures, not even pictures of stuff I have done, lol. No floors swept or vacuumed either, just kidding. I keep asking myself "What have you done?... you are tired of learning new stuff.... that's why you are retiring,........ you are tired of reading stuff..... that is why you are retiring.....But you deserve it and you want it even if there is no way you can ever justify it and the only way to get it is to ....JUST DO IT!" My Retirement to me, lol.

News from other family members, Whitney had her tonsils out on Monday and is doing fine. Tyler's new medicine is doing real good , so we are all excited about that. Elaine has been in Arkansas and had time for a phone call or too, that has been nice, look forward to seeing her soon, maybe when the fish start biting which should be real soon.

Now back to the floors, I am just so thrilled with Kyle, he has become very good at cooking and cleaning the kitchen. He has run me out of my kitchen and taken over. He is now fussing at me about my messes in the den from my new sewing machine, asking when are you gonna clean up your Hot Spots. He spent a few days at his Moms, while Blake and Chris were here, they did not meet Kyle's expectations on the kitchen detail. He came home fussing about he had his counter tops all shiny and they had messed them up etc. I think Kyle can now feel frustration that many of us feel. The kids have been out of school this week which has been nice for all of us. Brooke's mom came to stay the week and has had her out visiting family and shopping. Kyle spent a few days at his Mom's and blake has been content watching TV, lol since his dad has allowed that, he has had pick of TV and chair. I am going to post this today, boring as it may be. I sometimes wonder if anyone reads this boring stuff, but I guess I like hearing myself think about what I did or did not do. I am headed to Bama today and will probably have another update with pictures by the end of March. So out of here for now.

Yummy recipe

Check out this Yummy recipe I found while blog surfing.

Last week was a nice week. The weather had a touch of spring in it, the pera trees are blooming and the azaleas are too. They are not in full bloom but they sure are making the spring fever take over. I have a hard time remembering what I did all week, but I know I was busy.

The play started on Wednesday and Brooke and Tanner got to miss school on Wednesday and Thursday so they could do the play stuff at the high school. Pat or Chris picked them up at noon and they kinda had a vacation. It sure seems kids get more school vacations than I did when I went to school. Thursday, I got off at noon because I had a dental appt and a Dr appointment. They both went fine , but I was later getting home than I had hoped. I cooked supper ang had Tracy, Rusty and crew over to eat. Pat started it for me cause I was running late in the Dr office. Isure appreciate Pat's help, but let that be our secret. After supper we got a peek at the SEUSSICAL, because Tracy had someone film the performance that day. On Friday and Saturday nights we went to the play and it was GREAT!!!!! I really enjoyed it and Pat did too. I tooke a few pictures but mostly trying to get some of Brooke and Tanner to send to Brooke's mom.

The weekend went by so fast and I was so busy doing stuff I needed to do I am not sure I ever got to do anything I wanted. I did get groceries bought on Saturday morning and my laundry done after that , then carried Brooke shopping for a bit before I dropped her off at the school to get her makeup done for the play.After the play on Saturday night they had a party for the cast, crew and parents. I sure was glad Tracy wanted Brooke to spend the night with her, soIcould go on home after the play, lol. Actually I think all the kids were ready for Grandma to get gone... I guess its really not cool having Grandma hang out at a high school party, lol. Sunday was just as busy, but I did sleep in. HMMMM maybe I just thought I did and it was really just the change in time. I got more stuff ready to take to Bama on the next trip and even rearranged the den area. Oh and the Biggy for the day I filed our taxes! I am quiet proud of myself for that, because for several years it has been like April 10th before I have been able to get that chore done. The out come was much better than the last few years, I think we have finally got out deducts adjusted for Pat's retirement income. We never had to pay until he started drawing retirement, lol.

Sunday evening I noticed the bathroom rug was soaked and that was the 2nd time I had found that this week. I thought that one of the kids had nit been getting the shower curtain closed good, but the boys were at their Mom's and Brooke had not had her shower yet and Chris had just showered and gone to work. I cleaned up the mess and started to text Chris and tell him he was too big and old to be leaving such a mess, but instead I mentioned it to Pat. Pat noticed a drip from the water supply to the commode and decided to fix it. Well somehow the water hammer from whne he isolated the comode in one bathroimm blew off the water supply to the commode in the master bathroom, but we did not know this until later. I heard water running and sputtering etc, but the washer was filling up etc. The water had run for a while because it had soaked the carpet in part of our bedroom and run under the wall thru the dining and kitchen area.... WHAT A MESS!... We soaked up the water with towels and finally got it all back to normal. Every towel in the house got washed this weekend lol.

Well I know it sound like a cheesy weeekend but it was a good weekend and I really got a lot accomplished.

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SNOW AT THE LAKEHOUSE

Finally we made a trip to the lakehouse, we just about had to, lol. My van has been packed for a month and there has been many boxes of my sewing and craft stuff stacked in the den just waiting on time to go. I had to work my off Friday even and it was gonna rain but I knew if we did not go it would be 2 more weeks before we could so we "JUST DID IT". There was a lil extra encouragement to make the trip, I knew that Brandon was gonna be there with the kids and that Dustin and Jacy would be there too.

As I worked on Friday and the weather was getting worse north of us my boss, who is from Bama too, tells me I better not go that I may get snowed in, and he needs me to work on Monday badly. I really thought he was kidding. I had gone into work an hour early to get off an hour early, because it really helps to get thru Jackson before the traffic gets so bad on Friday afternoon, plus maybe get ahead of the rain. It had not started raining when we left Vicksburg, in fact we did not see rain until we were in Bama. between the state line and Tuscaloosa it got really really bad storming and raining. The best part of the drive was actually the crooked road from Tuscaloosa to Jasper. That road is so well marked now that its a lot easier to drive and you can see better than on the interstate. It was raining at the lake and had been all day, we had to unload in the rain and go up and turn the water back on, so we got wet but it could have been so much worse.

Saturday morning I got up and went to Walmart to get some storage drawers I had ordered to organize my computer stuff, my quilting/ sewing stuff and whatever else I need to organize. I am really becoming more organized in my own way and I like it. I just don't have the time yet to do it the way I want, but little by little I will get there. At Walmart they had a guy load my storage containers in the van, but I could not see how to drive and barely could get in the van, so I redid it, before I left. I want you to know that while I was rearranging these 8 big boxes (very light) lol, I had 3 different men/young boys stop, some walking buy some driving buy and try to help me. This would have never happened in Mississippi, probably, unless it was one of my Grandsons. I am sure it looked like I had major problems but it was really just something one person had to do to get them laying down different where I could see to drive. When I got back to the lake I managed to get the boxes unloaded and the craft closet emptied and refilled with stuff I had brought this trip. I have not got all the stuff done or all of it here.

I managed to get all the fleece and other fabric I had brought stacked in my sewing closet and 2 of the storage drawers filled with supplies.These storage drawers are waiting for me to bring the next load that will consist of more computer stuff and more sewing stuff.

This is the Christmas decorations that is still waiting for the storage in the garage to be completed so I can get this stuff in its place. Some of this stuff is pictures and home movies that will be going somnewhere next trip.

Saturday afternoon Mom and Dad came to visit and Randy and his whole family except Christy (btw we missed you Christy). We sure enjoyed the visit with all of them. I tell you I just can not get my fill of them kids. Walker slept most of the time he was here but Mom enjoyed that cause she got to hold him. I will post some pictures I took during the visit. Dustin and Jacy seem to have everything going their way for the April wedding. We did miss seeing Susan and her family this trip but she and Chloe were in Nashville at a swimming competetion. It was not the weekend for Josh and Hannah to be at Mom's so we did not see them either, we just were glad to spend time with as many as we could.

Walker did wake up after a bit, but he wanted Pop's, he did go with me to the kitchen to get water.

Walker slept thru some of the fun, but next time I bet he will catch up.

Sunday morning we woke to snow on the shrubs and it was still snowing. I took some pictures just in case that was all of it. It snowed more and more, by the time we met with the contractor at 9 a.m the ground was covered and snowing really hard. I took more pictures and then before we left it had melted and was totally gone, so I took a few more pictures.

I am not ready to go, dang it and Pat is loading as I type, I wanted to get this posted before I leave. Here I am back and I am now in Vicksburg. Would you believe that I had more pictures ready to load and the power went off at the lakehouse, so after a bit I gave up and we headed back to Mississippi.

This photo is at about 8 a.m and the bushes and trees had snow but not much was on the ground. See my buttercups.

This was at about 9 a.m.

This was at about 11 a.m.

This one and the rest of these are taken between 9 and 10 while Pat and the contractor were talking.

While we waited on the snow to clear up we did get some things on the wall.

Then the snow went away as quick as it came.