Zoo

I had a great week. On Monday, I took Dylan to the zoo along with dad, mom, and Brenda. We started out at the playground where Dylan played for a while and I did a bit of refereeing and trying to keep up. We had some lunch and then made our way over to the zoo. It was a really great day. Weather/temp were perfect. We wondered around the zoo. Dylan wanted to ride the Merry Go Round and the "sish" (fish) is what he picked out. Doing a ride that goes in circles is not something I tolerate very well, but for Dylan, I would do it. He was so excited to ride, but about 30 seconds after getting on the "sish" he wanted off and go very upset. So before the ride could start I moved us back to a bench that we could ride on. He kept is face buried in my shoulder and then looked up and saw the Puma behind us and decided that is what he wanted to ride. Needless to say, we did not change seats. From there we wondered around and got a Popsicle which was almost as big as Dylan. We rode the train and then ended up in the gift shop. The rest of the week was very quiet. Dane had a wisdom tooth removed on Friday and I went with friends up to Plymouth to a scrapbook store and then on the way home we stopped at Lakes of Winona and ate at the Boathouse restaurant. Today Bren and I went to Jefferson Point and had a nice lunch, walked around there a bit, and stopped to visit Mark/Mary Tuttle to look at his photographs. Someday maybe I will be able to take photos like that. That is one of the things on my "Bucket List."

Mom & Dylan

Oz Fest

Well, it was really the Wizard of Oz festival in Valparaiso, IN. I had seen it in a book and as I love the Wizard of Oz, Mauna and I decided to check it out. It was a bummer. Not much going on. A few characters walking around that you could have your picture taken with. Mauna took my picture with a group of them. Check out the blonde Dorothy with red streaks. Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion were there, but those darn little kids took up all the room and wouldn't let me close enough for a picture. I mean really, you would think they would have made room for the old lady jumping up and down and screaming "I love you Tin Man." We also stopped at a couple scrapbook stores which was fun. One was having a 70% off sale. We were suppose to spend the night, but the electricity was out at our hotel, so they let us cancel our reservation and we just came home. We did stop at The Boathouse in the Lakes of Winona for a great meal. I found out today that I won a $25 gift certificate to the scrapbook store. Now I'm going to have to go back.

Thought: Memories are like keepsakes, always to be treasured. (Author Unknown)

Labor Day and Beyond

Karen and her family came home for the Labor Day weekend. We met for breakfast on Saturday a.m. and then most of us headed back to mom & dad's. I kept Dylan with me so he could play with his cousin Kaille who is 6 mos. older. It was fun watching them interact. For the most part, they did pretty good, but it's funny that a toy can sit without anyone playing with it, but as soon as one picks it up, the other one wanted it. There was a lot of "you have to take turns" and "it's my turn" said that day. One cute thing that was said, among many, was the "take it, take it"..........Grandpa made Kaille and Cole chocolate milk. Kaille was blowing bubbles in her's and Karen (Kaille's mom) told her to stop or she would take it. Out of the mouth of Dylan comes "take it, take it."

On Sunday we went to Bren's for supper, swimming, and fishing. Some people caught several and then there were others that caught nothing. We need to get the fish for Christmas a.m. Bren also received instructions on how to fillet a fish.

On Thursday of this week, I met my cousin Nancy at the mall for a visit. It was the first time in many, many years that we visited. We were very close growing up and then everyone goes their own way after school and we grew apart. It was great fun to be able to visit. Don't think she has changed a bit.

This weekend I had Dylan while Garth & Dane went golfing. We visited with Papa and Gege for a while before coming home.

November 12 "Menopause the Musical" is coming to Ft. Wayne. Three friends, mom, and I are going to go. Should be a great time.

Thought for the Day: Maybe it's true that life begins at 50, but everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out. (Phyllis Diller)

This is her second piece, you should have seen the first one. Didn't have my camera at that point. It was probably half the size of this one. I do give her credit for doing it though. We would never have fish if I would have to clean & fillet them. Way to go Bren!!!

Just Because Time Off

I took Friday off as a "Just Because" day. I was really wanting to hit some of the local craft stores and also to see my friend's new home. I hit Joann's first and purchased some Sizzix diecuts, then on to Hobby Lobby where I picked up a couple Cuttlebug embossing folders and lastly the stamp store to see if they still had the Cuttlebug Halloween embossing folders because Hobby Lobby didn't have them. Picked up 2 there, but keep in mind folks, it was a $1 more than Hobby Lobby.

I came home and did a few layouts and then my favorite little man came to spend the night with me. We got out his box of stickers, crayons, and paper and had a craft time. We played in his "tunnel" which is actually a pop-up tent that I had picked up for him in Nashville. Dylan and I also went to Papa's and Gege's to help celebrate their anniversary.

Saturday was more layouts and recipe cards, both creating and printing.

I sure could get use to "Just Because" time off.

This coming weekend Karen and family will be home which will be fun and the next weekend is my trip to the Wizard of Oz festival. That should be interesting. I don't suppose my tall, dark, and hopefully handsome man will be among the munchkins do you? He sure would stand out among them.

Thought for the Week: Always keep several Get Well cards on the mantle so if unexpected guests arrive, they will think you've been sick and unable to clean.

Week In Review

Boring! That about sums up my week. I went to work, got groceries, saw Mamma Mia! (great movie.), visited with some friends (good time), and went out for supper with Bren to Triangle Park. OK, so maybe my week wasn't as boring as I thought. I am having had a great weekend. I got some cards made using my Quickutz. It's about time I did something with those things. I seem to collect them and then not use them. I also did a couple scrapbook layouts which you can see. I really enjoy digital scrapbooking. It is so much easier. Not necessarily faster sometimes, but at last I can undo anything I don't like or change colors to meet my needs. I order a book this weekend also. I can't remember the title, but it is about reading the Bible in 365 days. Maybe I can make it through the Bible then and at least say I've read it. I order it in large print just in case these old eyes need it. Anyway, here are a the layouts I did this weekend. Enjoy.

Scrapbookers Dictionary:

Chocolate: Food for Thought.

Creative Juices: Beverages consumed while scrapbooking.

Creativity

Just finished reading an article in one of the ladies magazines on women who started a blog for various reasons. A couple had really creative names, for example, "wouldashoulda" or "ican'tbelieveiambloggin". Now why couldn't I come up with a more creative blog name than Debbie's World? I'm going to have to work on it.

Had a stamping/scrapping garage sale last weekend with 3 other friends and it went fantastic. Got rid of enough suff to help pay a couple bills.

Bren and I went to see Mamma Mia. Great movie, especially is your are middle age. Definitely a toe tapping movie and pretty funny. You know my psychic said I would marry someone a couple years younger than me. I'm not one for younger men, but after watching the movie and seeing some of the young men, I may have to re-think it. I wish I could be as outgoing as the women in the movie were, even a little more would be fun. Anyway, great movie.

Next pro golfer.

Thought for the day:" Maybe it's true that life begins at 50, but everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out. (Phyllis Diller)

Vacation Week

What a fun week. It started on Sunday, July 27th with Dylan's 2nd birthday. The picture is of Dylan trying to get his 2 fingers up. Then on Monday, July 28th, Brenda and I started our trip to the outlet mall/Nashville, IN where we were meeting Karen for 3 days of fun and laughter. It was very relaxing. We did a bit of shopping at the outlet mall and thendrove to Nashville, IN and checked into our great room. I would definitely recommend going there during the summer because the rates for the room right downtown were fantastic. It cost each of us $40 a nite for our room and the room also came with a full breakfast, an afternoon snack, and a dessert in the evening. The free food is what sold us on the Cornerstone Inn. We went into Brown County park and did a "easy/moderate" 1/2 mile trail. That was a joke. Picture below shows some of the stairs we had to take on this trail. Karen and I didn't make the full half mile. Bren, however, jogged part of it. Bren and I also had a reading done which was really fun. My future doesn't look too bad except for getting a new job in the next year, but supposedly I will be much happier. We'll see how that works out. I don't know how long it has been since I laughed that hard. It was a very relaxing trip. After I got home, I decided to continue my vacation with getting my hair cut and highlighted and my nails done. It was a great vacation.

Does this look easy? I don't think so. This picture doesn't even show all the stairs.