Happy Birthday, Emily!

Today our baby is 34 years old.  Yikes!



Emily's gift was a large canvas tote with three owls on the front. It arrived stuffed with paper in a large box.  Instead of wrapping it, I got creative with duct tape and some maple leaf doilies. For the "bow," I stuck a stuffed owl in a nest made from a shredded paper bag.  I think it turned out pretty cute :)

Girls Come, Girls Go

While I was coloring with my 2-year-old grandson this afternoon, he took the opportunity to tell me about his friend, Natalie, at daycare.  Jonah goes to daycare Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  I asked if he was going to play with Natalie tomorrow and I got an enthusiastic "yea!"

Because Jonah is so physical and athletic, I thought he would hang more with the boys.  But it looks like he's following in his older brother's footsteps.  Until this year, Elliott always had a school girlfriend. . . in play school, preschool, and kindergarten.

So far this year, however, there's no first grade girlfriend.  And now Elliott's saying he's never getting married.  When dealing with children, things change quickly.  If it's not a physical race, it's a mental one.  Working to keep up with my grandsons will hopefully keep me young.  That is if it doesn't wear me out!

New Blog Launch

I'm down with the flu this morning.  The most frustrating part is I doubt I'll be able to do any paper crafting today, which is what I look forward to on days I don't watch Jonah.  I hate being sick!

Before the flu attack, I set up a new blog to showcase my paper creations.  If you're curious, the address is DGPaperDesigns.  All comments are welcome.

Annual Folk Festival

Emily and Elliott

Jonah churning butter with papa.

The whole gang spinning gourds.

Today we went to the annual Faust Folk Festival.  Today was as beautiful as yesterday and we had a great time. The only thing missing was the fall color.  Few trees in Missouri are changing colors, yet.  I hope the summer draught didn't ruin the fall show.  Time will tell.

Jonah making a cornhusk doll (or "action figure"
as the boys called it).

Happy First Day of Fall!

It's the first day of fall 2012 and the weather in Missouri is perfect.  The description on accuweather.com is "Mostly sunny and cooler."  I'm hoping this is what heaven is like every day of the year.  Although I won't mind a dark rainy day once or twice a month, too.

Thank goodness for today's beautiful weather because it's keeping me from getting depressed.  I weigh myself on Saturday mornings and the scale hasn't budged for several weeks.  I've been diligently counting calories for two months with the help of Loseit.com, but have only lost five pounds.  So what now?

To lose a recommended one pound a week, according to Loseit.com, I can eat 1429 calories.  Since that doesn't seem to be working, I just edited my plan to lose 1.5 pounds a week.  But because that drops my calories below 1200, I got a warning that the National Institute of Health recommends women eat a minimum of 1200 calories a day.

So I decided to check Loseit.com's numbers by searching "how much can I eat per day."  That lead me to the American Cancer Society's Calorie Counter Calculator.  According to the ACS I can eat 2705 calories a day to maintain my current weight.  What!?!

Seriously, when I'm not in losing mode, I doubt I ever get anywhere near 2000 calories a day. And before you say I probably just don't realize it, let me tell you I do.  I've been counting calories long enough that, even without recording them, I have a good idea of how much I'm eating.

I'll be getting my thyroid tested next week.  But if thyroid disease is not the reason I can't lose, I suppose my only option is to just keep counting calories.  At least I'm not feeling deprived or starved these days.  Right now I just see food as a necessary evil, keeping me from my best self.  Probably not a good view point, but that's where I am.

At least I can take my walks these days without dripping in sweat.  I love fall!

Sidewalk Drama

We do not live in a subdivision, but our street is 100 percent residential.  There's no sidewalk on our side of the street, but there is one on the other side.  Because all the utility boxes are on our side, this setup has made perfect sense.  Nevertheless, the city of Ballwin recently decided there needs to be sidewalks on both sides of our street and got a grant to pay for it.

I'm so anxious about how the sidewalk will look in front of our house.  It'll be a big change after living here for nearly 30 years without one.  And, to make matters worse, the install up and down the street, so far, leaves a lot to be desired.

I realize this is a small drama in a world filled with much bigger problems.  But this one is literally too close to home.  Oh, well.  I suppose if we hate it, we can always plant some tall bushes.

Our Tiger Cub Scout

Elliott's uniform before
I sewed on all the patches,
and with the lower half of the
pants zipped off.

I spent nearly five hours today sewing six patches on Elliott's Tiger Cub Scout shirt and hemming his pants.  My fingers feel like pin cushions, but I was happy to do it.  Truth is I love being the grandma who can do anything domestic, at least in my grandsons's eyes.

But it's tough for me to believe Elliott's old enough to be a scout. He's maturing so quickly these days.  I've always enjoyed our conversations, but now it's astounding how articulate he is and how much he knows.

Emily and I are taking Elliott to New York City for a three-day weekend the end of October.  It'll be his first visit to the Big Apple and I know he'll be amazed.  I'm looking forward to it.

More Found Cash

Yesterday, between cleaning, purging, and paper crafting, I made a double batch of banana bread and a large pot of turkey stock.  Of course, that meant I needed to also clean out a portion of my freezer.  And, again, "fall" cleaning paid off.  I found $200 stuffed in envelopes that had slid under a lip of one of my freezer drawers!

I've been stashing ones and fives in envelopes since we began going to Mexico every summer.  That way we always have plenty of tip money.  But, this year, we didn't take our annual Fourth of July trip, so I hadn't looked for my tip money in over a year.

I honestly had no idea I had saved so much money.  Except for the fact that most people don't carry cash any more, if possible, I recommend stashing your ones and fives at the end of each day or week.  I believe you too will be surprised at how quickly they add up!

Surprise Treasure Hunt

Today's housecleaning and purging turned into a successful treasure hunt.  It all started with the decision to switch to a fall handbag.

As I dug through my inventory, I decided it was time to part with some handbags I rarely use anymore.  That lead to completely emptying out two drawers and two shelves to thoroughly dust before putting back bags I wanted to keep.  But, before stashing the handbags that made the cut, I decided to check all the hidden pockets.  And, boy, am I glad I did!  I found five twenty-dollar bills in the zipped pocket of one of my clutches!

Sadly, I have no idea how long the $100 was in that bag.  Clearly I need to keep better track of my cash.  For sure, in the future, before sending any handbags to charity, I'll be quadruple checking all the pockets!

Back in 2022

There have been a lot of improvements since my last colonoscopy ten years ago.  Firstly, the prep no longer includes that disgusting liquid.  I just had to take four laxative tablets, and drink a full bottle of Miralax mixed with 64 ounces of Gatorade.  And the actual procedure is also less disturbing.  The sedative is much milder.  I drifted off within seconds and 20 minutes later was talking coherently.

Nevertheless, I'm thrilled I don't have to go through another colonoscopy until 2022.  Hopefully ten years from now I'll still be as healthy as I am today.  But, honestly, it's hard to imagine myself at 70-years-old.  I just can't go there.  I prefer instead to simply enjoy my 60s as best I can.

Hello Fall!

After a week of stifling humidity, Missouri is enjoying fall-like temperatures today.  And the grass is green, again, after all the rain we've gotten recently.  And the Pumpkin Spice Latte is back at Starbucks.  So, even if the calendar doesn't say fall, in my world, the seasons have changed.  I'll use any warped logic to stretch fall.  It's always been my favorite season and I'm so glad it's back.

It's a Hit!

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood premiered over Labor Day weekend.  Produced by the Fred Rogers Company, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood is an animated sequel to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.  In Missouri, we get new episodes, weekdays, at 10:00 A.M.

I'm thrilled to report Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood is a hit with my two-year-old grandson, Jonah.  He's completely mesmerized during the entire show, laughing and playing along.  Thank you PBS!

Standing the Test of Time

Jonah (2) and Elliott (6) enjoying the original iPad :)

There's something heartwarming about a toy that can still hold a child's interest after 52 years.  On a recent road trip to Kansas City, one of the restaurants my daughter's family visited gave the boys Etch a Sketches while they waited for their meals.  What a fantastic idea!  

New Business?

I can't believe it's Tuesday already, which means I haven't posted for five days.  I've had the usual stuff keeping me busy. . .the grandsons, the business, mom, housekeeping, and on and on.  But the real reason I haven't been posting regularly is because I've been spending hours paper crafting.

For the last few weeks, if I'm not making a card in my free time, I'm watching another YouTube tutorial.  I really appreciate all the talented people who take the time to make and share videos.  I've learned so much my mind is spinning with ideas.  And I must be improving, because I recently had someone ask if I could make 50 Christmas cards.

I'm not ready for mass production, but it certainly got me thinking.  Once things settle after the sale of our business and the holidays, I should find myself with extra time.  It might be nice to make a little money doing something I enjoy.  Now wouldn't that be sweet!