Little Cinderellas!

The girls came over for 2 days and then today they helped me clean Lauren's room. It is slow but

 we are getting lots done!

Some great finds for my room.

 Look at the great find that I got at Goodwill this week! Perfect for all my sewing things!

And of course...it was the right price!
Glad that we worked together so Jenny could
get some money saved up for her American Girl Doll!

Fun Day!

For the first half of the day, I finished cleaning my house. I always wonder why I don't clean it a little bit at a time instead of having to kill myself when company comes? It is just so different with Jeff and I just here. He doesn't mind the dust bunnies rolling across the floor in front of us and so since I was so sick for 6 months, I am afraid that I sorta adopted his attitude. You know what they say..."If you can't beat them, join them!"

The worse part is I am so all over the place, I would be cleaning some part of the kitchen and then go and put some away somewhere else... then I would see something there and start cleaning that. ( I know what you are probably thinking...she must be A. D. D. ) well I probably am...just never diagnosed. Oh well, at the age of 55 guess I am not going to change too much now!

Anyway, I got it all done and then showered and jumped in the car and made it just in time to pick my family up.

My brother and 3 of his kids came to stay for the week. I am so excited they came, I have always been close to these kids...they sorta feel like my Grandchildren. We don't get to see each other very often and this is the first time they have ever been to Washington. The good news is... that they came this week and the weather is just beautiful and it is suppose to be this way all week! 

When Jeff came home we decided to take them out to dinner...so we introduced them to one of our favorite places....called M.O.D. Pizza, they loved it! MOD stands for Made On Demand, so you choose your pizza and toppings right there and they make it for you. It is great pizza and a fun place to eat.
After that we had frozen yogurt and then headed to Juanita Beach to walk along the boardwalk. They just couldn't get over how beautiful it was here.

Then came home Jeff then gave those who wanted a ride on his motorcycle around the block. Then talked on the deck while the sun was setting.
What a fun day, I have missed my family and love them very much. So glad that they couldn't wait to get to Aunt Lynn's house. It is going to be a great week.
Good night dear friends!

I'm not a hoarder!

First of all, I wanted to say thanks so much for all the wonderful birthday cards, letters, calls, messages, flowers and gifts. I truly am blessed with so many wonderful family and friends! Thank you for making me feel so LOVED!

Today Jeff and I spent the whole day cleaning out our garage, after a comment he jokingly said about me being a hoarder. I have watched those shows about hoarders...common, I am not a hoarder. I just a collector of many things! :) Hoarders don't say that do they?

 It was important for us to get the garage more organized for a couple of reasons. One we have my family coming in to visit in a couple of weeks and I need to have my stuff more organized. Two, we have a wedding in 2 months and Jeff is going to make a few things for the Wedding Reception so he needed some more room to work.

So even though I feel absolutely beat, it is nice to at least be getting closer to having things ready for all the great things our family has coming up soon.

Anyway, I am just glad that  I know more than ever ...where all my stuff is! ( That didn't sound like a hoarder ...did it? ) 

Good Night dear friends!

And I will use all the crayons ...now that I know where they all are! :)

Should have taken photos of the garage before we cleaned it! You would have been so proud!

Cleaning Stains!

Loved this article. I love the way Jason f. Wright discovers lessons of life... from plain old ordinary things.
Good night dear friends!

What I learned about cleaning stains from a Marriott Courtyard

I've stayed in every imaginable hotel brand from sea to shining sea.
My speaking and touring schedule has landed me in four-star hotels that make you feel like the only guest on the property, and I've stayed in motels where I might have been the only one on the property not under police surveillance.
I've stayed in B&B’s, cabins, hostels and rental cottages. While traveling to North Carolina a few years ago, a client booked me in a motel where I had to wake up the owner to check me in because I’d arrived after hours.
Awkward.
Once, while staying in a major hotel brand in Small town, Idaho, I discovered something hanging on the bathroom doorknob that should have required a trip to the emergency eyewash station.
Like many business travelers, I always request early check-in. Most hotels are happy to oblige and the courtesy allows me to fine-tune an evening speech, iron a shirt or take a breather from a long day of planes, trains and automobiles.
During the recent holidays, I traveled with my family to visit my mother in Charlottesville, Va. It’s become a tradition to have an adventure by staying in a hotel, swimming in the pool and jumping on the beds. If the kids are good, I let them jump, too.
On this particular trip I’d booked rooms at the Marriott Courtyard North and, as usual, requested an early check-in. I’d also requested adjoining rooms, which Marriott does not guarantee, but does everything to accommodate.
We arrived Friday afternoon and the associate at the front desk proudly shared that the hotel has been undergoing a major remodel and the lobby and restaurant had just been completed. It was beautiful, we noted, and the young woman added that not only were the guest rooms next, but that the process would begin the very next Monday.
We took our keys and off we went. My two youngest — both boys — were so excited to swim, they might have skipped putting their suits on.
When we arrived at our rooms, we were startled to find a housekeeper and a manager on their knees just inside the door of one of the two rooms scrubbing a small spot.
I asked, “Is everything OK?”
The manager apologized for the room not being quite ready, but explained they’d noticed a stain in the carpet and wanted to get it out for us.
I made a joke about hiding a body, which my children promptly rated as “lame,” but the manager laughed anyway. Then she promised they’d be finished shortly and invited us to occupy the second adjoining room while we waited.
As we settled in next door, I asked my children if they recognized and appreciated the message. How much easier would it have been, I wondered aloud, for the employees to ignore the spot and call it good.
I imagined the conversation. “Oh yeah, you’re right. There’s a stain right there. Oh, well, whatever. They’re replacing the carpet soon anyway. Plus, the guests won’t even notice and they’re probably the last ones who’ll stay before the remodel.”
Isn’t that how many might have reacted? Judging from the carpet in many of the hotels I've stayed in, yes.
Instead, two dedicated Marriott employees were on hands and knees working to clean a stain no one else might have ever noticed. And whether genuinely happy or not, they were doing it with a smile.
Later that evening, the entire gang enjoyed an epic splash battle, hotel explorations and elevator rides. The kids returned to the front desk for more towels, batteries for a remote and to report a broken vending machine. Each request was met by the front desk staff with biblical-level patience and long-suffering.
We’re home now and the holiday bells are just a quiet memory. The carpet probably is, too. But for me, the message rings on.
I wonder about the ugly spots in my life that no one sees but me. It’s certainly not hard to ignore them and hope they go away, replaced by something more beautiful.
But isn't there also beauty in the cleaning itself?
A flaw is a flaw.
A stain is a stain.
Life’s dirty spots deserve to be cleaned whether we’re the only one who sees them or not.
It’s not just the message we learned at that Marriott in Charlottesville. It’s also a pretty good way to live.
I read the article here:

Sleep verses Cleaning!

Woke up really early this morning because I was hurting and just couldn't go back to sleep. My arm has started swelling again, I have been wearing my compression sleeve every day and doing my lymphatic draining each day too, but still it isn't going away. The pain feels like it is a bad ache all the way to my bone in my upper arm. Days like this make me frustrated that the Doctor took so many, if not all of my lymph nodes out. I know that is just what they did years ago when they were treating cancer patients. But I was a swimmer at the time and specifically asked not to have many taken out...just for reasons such as this. It has been 5 years and I have had to deal with this the whole time. That is very frustrating. Good news is, I think now they try to leave as many nodes as they can, so maybe there won't be so many women suffering from Lymphodemia as much. We can only hope.
I decided since I couldn't sleep to just get up and clean, that didn't make my arm feel better at all but...I was glad to have a cleaner house. I am still struggling with a decision I have to make and that too ( along with the pain ) was keeping me from sleeping. Why do I let things go so long, before I stand up for myself? I know better than to stay in a situation when there is bad energy there, I can't afford to have that. Negative energy is bad not only for your health, but for your heart and your soul.
Today as I cleaned, I think I came up with ways to fix my situation, but they aren't going to be easy or pleasant, that is what I don't like. Oh well, need to head to bed and see if tonight will be kinder to me.
Good night dear friends!

Cleaning verses Priorities

Today my daughter and Miss Jenny came over while Angie was in school. Angie is trying to help Lee and I organize the garage. I know that we do it at least twice a yea,r but that really isn’t even enough. We laughed so hard as we would go through box after box of my stuff. She would call me a hoarder and I would start laughing and say “ I have asked for years for help… and all you guys do is make fun of me.” I know I am not really a hoarder but I do have a lot of stuff, supplies mostly for any type of arts and crafts, or sewing project you could ever imagine. For 20 years I sold Arts and Crafts to help pay for Birthdays and Christmas. I don’t believe there is a craft out there that I haven’t made and sold! Honestly…I have done just about everything out there and the proof is in the garage!

Well, we thought it wouldn’t take too long, but low and behold we were still there when Angie came home from school. She wasn’t too crazy about us cleaning and kept asking if we could play. Finally we went outside for awhile and then she went over to see our neighbor who was working on her lawn. In her yard, she had some apple trees and so she asked Angie if she would like to pick some. Of course she was thrilled… and so after she got a bag full then she begged to make Apple Cider, Apple pies or anything. Amy and I kept cleaning and then finally I looked at her face and realized I needed to stop right then and just go make apple something with my girl!  So that is exactly what we did.
Is the house or garage finished? Absolutely NOT…but Angie and I had a blast making Apple Scones and Apple Crisp. Angie loved using the apple peeler/slicer too!
So I was grateful that I finally remembered as a Grandma ( actually Nana ) what my priorities are,  and need to try not to forget them so quickly!

 

“My life is blessed; I have held my children's children.”     ~Jeremy Taylor

“Surely, two of the most satisfying experiences in life must be those of being a grandchild or a grandparent.”      ~Donald A. Norberg

“Grandma always made you feel she had been waiting to see just you all day and now the day was complete.”      ~Marcy DeMaree