Tuesday, June 20, 2017

KIND OF A LOT OF CATCH UP....

I intended to get this up yesterday morning but forgot that ALL the electricity in the park was to be off from 8 - 5 yesterday as they "checked" things...whatever that might mean.  We had a "mini check" on Friday as well, but that one only lasted about 3 hours.  It is surprising to me just how much I am dependent on electricity for the things I do during my day.  And I am surprised as well as I stopped and thought about it yesterday, just how much of a routine I keep to as well.  You know...Mondays I do some wash, try to put up a blog post, sew, and water thoroughly all outside plants... Well....without electricity my list was cut down to watering.  And on top of that it was to be 95 degrees yesterday and with NO WAY to run the air conditioner or even a fan to blow the hot air around, I was NOT a very happy camper, lol.  I got my watering done, chatted on the phone a bit to Mel, and decided I was going to have to get out of the house for the day IF I was going to be able to bear the heat.  Sooo I headed over to my younger sisters house, where I found believe it or not, a household waiting for their air conditioner repair man to show up, so therefore an equally warm environment, lol.  At that point I moved to plan B.  My niece Katie and I decided we would go out for a bit and let her "practice" her driving before her test next week, (soo cool in the car with the air conditioner blowing in our faces) and then we would get lunch somewhere and go to an afternoon matinee.  We did have one slight mishap as we found ourselves on a freeway on-ramp AGAINST our plans, with no way off of course, and so she was forced to make her first attempt on a BUSY California freeway with me!  It was just as nerve wracking as you might imagine even though we were only on there briefly, lol.  But after that we were good for the next several hours.  I enjoyed my time with her as always and I dropped her back off and headed home to arrive just as they were finishing up.  It did take a while for things to cool down in the house, but it was fine.  How I thank God for air conditioning!  I am such a baby anymore.  I REALLY REALLY don't like being hot.  We keep our air set at about 76 and it runs a great deal of the time and I try not to worry about the dollars bills bouncing off the ceiling as a result.  Again, just grateful.  But NONE of this was what I wanted to blog about, lol, just WHY I didn't blog yesterday.  I feel like if I don't make more of an effort besides doing the hodgepodge, none of the things I want to record will be on here anymore, so I am going to go ahead and post today even though it's Tues., lol.

We had a very busy week-end after a very busy week of me trying to finish up my summer sewing. We got NEW carpeting on Saturday to go along with our FINISHED tile flooring, and I was positively thrilled with the way it came out!  However, my goodness, what an ordeal.  I am sure as most of you know putting in new carpet is a HUGE HUGE undertaking as of course it requires MOVING everything completely out of the room.  Which for us meant my gigantic and stuffed to the brim china closet, a buffet, two fairly large cabinets FULL of lots of collectibles and nick-nacs, a curio cabinet in our bedroom full of more collectibles, a bookcase....full to the brim of course, and then of course just all the rest of the decorative sitting around items on tables etc.  Oh, and then there was a piano, chairs, couches, a bed, dresser and mirror, and more!!  I am sure you get the idea!  lol Lots and lots of "stuff" in addition to furniture to be moved.  And then of course as long as I was being forced to empty out all of these things, then naturally I wanted to go ahead and thoroughly clean it all as well.  Washing all my china and crystal (I do this once a year these days anyway) and all of the nick-nacs too, in addition to all the glass in the cabinets.  And might as well dust down all the walls, wipe all baseboards, wash windows and curtains, clean ceiling fans and on and on the list went....sigh. Soo I asked my oldest son's wife Leah if she might be willing to give me a hand.  Hubby was going to be busy finishing up the last of the floors.  Soooo she graciously and yes even cheerfully agreed and my gratitude for her help could never be expressed enough.  Without her we would still be at it.  Oh to be soo young and strong and full of energy again.  But at the same time, soo grateful that those who are, helped out.  I decided to re-arrange our bedroom some as long as it was taken apart and I am soo grateful now that we did as I REALLY like it.  But of course that meant some of the pictures on the wall had to be moved around as well, lol.  One thing always leads to another and another and another. Now hubby and I dismantled almost everything and took it apart on Friday night and that part wasn't too bad, and the carpet installers moved the heavy furniture.  But Leah and I (ok mostly Leah) put it all back together along with the cleaning etc.  I did snap a couple of pictures of my re-arranged room so Melody could see it, so I can show you that here.


SUCH BAD PHOTOGRAPHY I KNOW BUT YOU GET THE IDEA...MUCH MORE ROOM FOR MOM'S CHAIR OVER THERE AND THIS WAY THE BREEZE FROM THE WINDOW (WHEN THERE IS ONE) SHOULD BLOW RIGHT ON OUR HEADS, LOL.  

IF THESE WERE BETTER YOU COULD SEE THE CARPETING BETTER....I KNOW THESE ARE KIND OF DARK.  THE CARPET IS VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT WE HAD, ONLY MUCH MUCH NICER, LOL.  A LITTLE THICKER AND SOFTER.  

I am very well aware that carpeting and tile are not really "in" these days and so therefore are really kind of old fashioned and dated, and that wood flooring is all the rage.  But!  I honestly don't care, lol.  To have replaced all the tile and carpeting in our house with wooden flooring would have cost a small fortune, and seriously, I am VERY VERY happy with this.  It is clean, fresh, PRETTY and works just perfectly for us.  The only places in our home that are carpeted is the two bedrooms, and the living room and formal dining room.  Pretty much everything else is tiled, and then we've added big decorative area rugs.  Hubby is beyond grateful that the tile repair is done, and I am soo thrilled with the way it looks that I am sure he will be hearing my thanks and praise for quite a while.  Way, way, way too much work for a 65 year old man, but he did such a good good job it's truly unbelievable.  I am hoping that adding the painted sealant to the grout will eliminate the getting soo dirty problem we've dealt with in the past.... and soo far sooo good!  And both chocolate and soda have been spilled on it already without a single issue!  lol.  We've decided to move onto the kitchen cabinets painted next....but I think I am going to give him a couple of weeks off anyway, lol.

Father's Day found all of our sons over here for dinner and a good visit, and it was all really nice. Missed Melody for sure, but her little family will be here on the first of July and I am beyond excited as usual.  I will show you all my recent sewing items of the last few weeks, just so it's all documented on here, plus all the other pictures I want in my books...sorry, I am soo behind.  Hope you all have a good week.  Now if I want to get back on schedule I will do my hodgepodge post this afternoon, lol. But that means I am going to have to sew quickly too. Blessings to you all!  Debbie

OUR YOUNGEST SON JAMES AND HIS FAMILY ARE LEAVING TOMORROW FOR 2 WEEKS AT OCEAN CITY.  THEY BOUGHT THEIR KIDS LITTLE ELECTRONIC DRAWING DEVICES TO KEEP THEM ENTERTAINED ON THEIR SIX HOUR FLIGHT.  SOO LARISSA ASKED ME IF I MIGHT MAKE THEM SOME COVERS TO KEEP THEM PROTECTED IN, AND SENT ME THE MEASUREMENTS.  I LOVE DOING THINGS LIKE THIS FOR SOME REASON, AND SO THEREFORE HAPPILY COMPLIED.  I HAD A GOOD TIME WITH THIS LITTLE PROJECT.  I ADDED BATTING TO ALL OF THEM AND THEN QUILTED THEM AS WELL.  THIS ONE IS FOR 3 YEAR OLD VINCE

THIS IS 8 YEAR OLD TELL'S  THEY ARE ALL LINED IN COORDINATING FABRIC, BUT I DID NOT TAKE ANY PICTURES OF IT.

12 YEAR OLD CAPRI'S....CAN'T SEE IT WELL HERE BUT THIS ONE HAS A SILVER METALLIC THREAD THAT SPARKLES THAT I USED FOR THE QUILTING STITCHES

THIS IS 10 YEAR OLD JD'S....I KNEW HE'D GET A KICK OUT OF THAT BUTTON, LOL.  VINNY'S CLOSES WITH VELCRO BECAUSE SHE WASN'T SURE THE BUTTON WOULD BE EASY ENOUGH FOR HIM TO WORK ON HIS OWN

I JUST COULD NOT RESIST THIS FABRIC!  SAM, LUKE, AND VINNY ALL WILL BE GETTING A PAIR OF THESE SUMMER PJ'S

AND HERE ARE CLAIRES...LOVE THIS FABRIC TOO!

SAM AND LUKE BOTH GOT A PAIR OF THESE

VINNY'S....THESE SUMMER PJ'S ARE A SNAP TO MAKE AND ARE SOO COMFY AND COOL TO WEAR AS WELL

VINNY'S....I USED UP A LOT OF FABRIC I HAD LEFT FROM OTHER THINGS AS  I CAN GET A PAIR OUT OF A SINGLE YARD FOR ALL OF THE LITTLE ONES

AND THIS LITTLE ZIPPERED PURSE/BAG IS FOR CLAIRE.  MELODY ASKED ME TO MAKE HER SOMETHING SHE CAN KEEP HER LITTLE DOGS IN SHE PLAYS WITH, PLUS COULD DOUBLE AS SOMETHING SHE COULD CARRY ALONG WITH HER AS WELL.  I COULD MAKE A BAJILLION OF THESE FOR SOME REASON, LOL.  

JUST HAD TO SHOW THIS CUTE LITTLE PIC OF MIKE WITH HIS LITTLE GOLFERS SAM AND LUKE

THIS IS SOOO ADORABLE.  I GUESS HE HAD PRACTICED AND PRACTICED AND FINALLY HAD IT DONE REALLY WELL AND WANTED TO SEND A PICTURE TO GRANDMA SO SHE COULD SEE IT TOO!  HOW I LOVE HIM! AND PRETTY GOOD FOR HAVING JUST TURNED 4 I THINK!

AND 8 YEAR OLD CODY CONTINUES TO DO WELL AT KARATE, FOLLOWING IN HIS DADDY'S FOOTSTEPS. HE RECEIVED A FIRST PLACE IN CONTINUOUS SPARRING, 2ND PLACE IN REGULAR SPARRING, AND 4TH PLACE IN KATA AT A RECENT TOURNAMENT.  THE COMPETITION IS QUITE TOUGH AT THESE TOURNAMENTS, AND THE MAJORITY OF THE COMPETITORS NEVER WIN ANY TROPHIES AT ALL, JUST SO YOU CAN UNDERSTAND HOW WELL HE REALLY DID!  CODY IS MILDLY ON THE AUTISM SPECTRUM AND CONTINUES TO IMPROVE EVERY DAY.  HE WILL REMAIN IN SPECIAL ED CLASSES NEXT YEAR, BUT SPENDS A COUPLE OF HOURS A DAY IN MAIN STREAM AS WELL.  HE IS HARD WORKING AND JUST AS SWEET AS HE CAN BE AND CONTINUES TO MAKE US ALL SOO PROUD!

CODY AND DADDY

MELODY AND CLAIRE AT A RECENT WEDDING THEY ATTENDED

MY GIRL....CAN'T WAIT TO SEE HER SOON

HUBBY AND HIS SONS...WAY TOO DARK I KNOW....I DID TRY!  LOL

HUBBY AND OUR OLDEST SON

3 comments:

  1. Happy Summer almost. Debbie you are always so busy-you amaze me and inspire me. Love the bags, they are all so cute and distinct. Melody is so very beautiful-takes after you. Hope you have a great week and stay cool.
    Hugs,
    Noreen

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  2. Oooo . . . I'm glad you had a Plan B! I am a baby too; I cannot take the heat these days. Sad, but true.

    Your bedroom turned out well. It's amazing how a little change of furniture placement can give a room new life. And I know you and your hubby are glad the have the tile all cleaned and sealed!

    As always, darling and fun projects for your grands! Happy (belated) Father's Day to your husband and sons!

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  3. That is way too hot for whoever to shut down the electricity. They need to do better planning than that! Carpeting is passé? Tile, too? Who makes these rules? I plan to have new carpeting some day...she said wistfully. Ha! Happy times coming your way soon with all the kids home. That will be great!

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I am so glad that you would take the time to comment on my thoughts and feelings, it is such a blessing to me!