Thought it was about time to post some pictures from my travels. First stop (after renting a car at the airport, getting the munchies en route around 1:00am, stopping at McD’s, being told that they were having “technical difficulties” while we waited & waited at the drive thru, having everyone behind us honking at us & giving us dirty looks as they got mad & drove off before driving  the remainder of the 125 miles to her home) was my younger sister’s house for the family reunion scheduled for later that day:

This is the pond in my younger sister’s back yard. A few years back, she & her husband along with my brother & his wife purchased property adjacent to each other, with the idea of designing a pond to overlap both properties. My sister & her husband built their house & dug their half of the pond and before my brother could get his half started, he died. His widow bravely decided to go ahead with the plans and finish on her own. That little bit of the building you see on the left side of the photo above is the home where she now lives….

People began to arrive for the reunion about noon. My cousin brought these cute little fishing poles for her kids to use off the little dock. My younger sister decided to give our cousin a tour of the pond from the paddle boat while the kids fished. Yours truly was dividing her time between stuffing her face with brother-in-law’s grilled brats (the food, not the kids!) & taking pictures….

The kids wanted to paddle around with my sisters & cousins……

My brother-in-law decided to take out one of the kayaks after he finished his grilling for the day. (Can’t let the kids have ALL the fun!) The young lady in the red boat is gaining on him, though…..

The little dude caught a fish!

Nephew & girlfriend trying not to look too bored……

My Mom & her friend enjoying the perfect weather & the yummy food. Both declined the opportunity to kayak or paddle the boat around the pond, though…..

All too soon, it was quiet around the pond again as everyone headed home–except us, that is. Daughter, soon-to-be son-in-law & I got to feed the fish at the end of the dock with the fish food that my sister puts out every evening. It made me think of the times that we would all pile in the family car on a Saturday & drive up to Grayling to the fish hatcheries to feed the fish there when we were kids…..

The next afternnon was my first MK party (I did three while I was there so that I could deduct the travel expenses & help to pay for my trip) at my younger sister’s….

Doesn’t she look pretty?

That night, our daughter & her fiance’ were in charge of the meal. He did this really spicy jambalaya thingy & she baked brownies with caramel chocolate chips in them. Mmmmmmmmmm…….

The next day, my younger sis & I headed over to the retirement apartment complex where my Mom hosted another party for me. I introduced (or re-introduced) 12 more ladies to MK that day. Sorry, no pictures. It got a bit crazy-busy, even with the superb assistance of my sister after she watched me do her group……..

It was absolutely HEAVEN to come home from that MK party to a wonderfully prepared meal right off the grill. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm…..

The next day, we packed up & headed to my older sister’s house near Battle Creek. More about that one in part 2….

Tomorrow I am hoping to get back to the deck, so I thought I would try to find some pictures to share with everyone:

We started with the idea that we would just replace the boards that had rotted out and keep the same design….

The more we replaced, the worse the other ones we weren’t planning on replacing began to look…….

See what I mean? Ooops! How’d those feet get in there?!?! Shot myself in the foot, I guess…..

I really wasn’t liking the idea of trying to re-create that crazy quilt thing in the middle either…….

Since we did not have enough wood to redo the whole thing, we crafted a different plan…..

With the help of (handsome young man!) offspring…..

We moved the railing over a few frame “spaces” and reduced the upper level to about 2/3 of its original size……

I did get the stair railing moved since this photo was taken, but still need to finish rebuilding and relocating the steps and also complete demolition of the unused portion. The exposed parts next to where there used to be a deck will also have to be finished off, too…..

All of this time outdoors has also inspired me to try to spiff up the yard and garden, as well. There’s the outdoor furniture that needs a new coat of varnish, borders around flowerbeds that need some attention, some stepping stones to come up to the new location of the deck steps, not to mention all of the weeding and stuff that hasn’t been getting done while I have been otherwise occupied playing with the power tools…..

I will try to get some vacation pictures up before I get too busy with that other stuff, though.

……but just till tomorrow. I have to stop unpacking & doing laundry so I can pack for my trip to Dallas tomorrow where I will at the Mary Kay seminar!

Perhaps when I return on Saturday I can just kick back & relax like our kitty does……

Maybe even upload all the pictures in my camera of the lovely places I visited and share them on xanga!

Oh, wait…..the deck still needs to be finished, we need to find a new vent over the stove top & the a/c has been acting up…..

RATS! Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 (Hope I didn’t get anybody wet with that juicy raspberry!)

Later, fair fools….. 

My sister in law sent me this photo today in an email entitled, “pot at the end of a rainbow” and I thought I could at least share it with all of you since I have been so busy trying to finish the deck, stay caught up on “house stuff,” prepare for houseguests this weekend, my trip to YankeeLand & also the one three days later to Dallas that I have all but forgotton how to use xanga…..

Please accept my apologies for being such a crazy-busy fool!

This one kinda tickled my funny bone:

http://www.jibjab.com/originals/founding_fathers

Not much else may be happening around our place to celebrate since plans got changed so Donkey’s sister & her family will not be able to visit…..

Donkey will have lots of time to xanga & snooze since the weather made it possible to get most of the yardwork done this past weekend….

If the weather doesn’t allow for more work on the deck, I will have plenty of things to keep me busy, too. Three family birthdays in less than one month & two trips coming up have been demanding my attention….

Anyone out there in xangaLand going camping this week?

Guess the fire was already out….

Have a safe & happy 4th!!!

Any influence or control I may have had regarding our 20-something offspring has dwindled to nearly nothing by now. A part of me is fine with that, especially the part that has come to grips with the fact that there are many facets to their lives that they can now manage even better I did when that was my job. There is that other part though, that cannot see how the choices that they are making right now are going to serve them very well and as most mothers do, I worry about that. I take some comfort in the fact that many of the worries I have had turned out to be unfounded. Sometimes, though, trust is all we have to be able to rest peacefully at night. Thankfully, I was recently reminded in my “e-devotional” of one of the best places to place our trust……. 

Funny thing about this little cutie. A friend of mine passed it on to me four years years ago and I filed it in my “too good to toss” file since the message it conveyed seemed to ring so true for me at the time. I went spelunking through that file today, looking for something to share with friends for Mother’s Day. When I first got it, I did not take notice of the things that mom was putting on her face since I was not familiar with MK products at the time…..

Why I Love Mom…
Mom and Dad were watching TV when Mom said, “I’m tired, and it’s getting late. I think I’ll go to bed.”
She went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for the next day’s lunches. Rinsed out the popcorn bowls, took meat out of the freezer for supper the following  evening, checked the cereal box levels, filled the  sugar container, put spoons and bowls on the table and  started the coffee pot for brewing the next morning. She then put some wet clothes in the dryer, put a load  of clothes into the wash, ironed a shirt and secured a  loose button. She picked up the game pieces left on the table and put the telephone book back into the drawer. She watered the plants, emptied a wastebasket and hung up a towel to dry. She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom. She stopped by the desk and wrote a note to the teacher, counted out some cash for the field trip, and pulled a textbook out from hiding under the chair. She signed a birthday card for a friend, addressed and stamped the envelope and wrote a quick note for the grocery store. She put both near her purse. Mom then washed her face with 3-in-1 cleanser, put on her Night Solution & Age-fighting moisturizer, brushed and flossed her teeth and filed her nails.
Dad called out, “I thought you were going to bed.”
“I’m on my way,” she said. She put some water into the dog’s dish and put the cat outside, then made sure the doors were locked. She looked in on each of the kids and turned out their bedside lamp, hung up a shirt, threw some dirty socks in the hamper, and had a brief conversation with the one up still doing homework. In her own room, she set the alarm; laid out clothing for the next day, straightened up the shoe rack. She added three things to her 6 most important things to do list. She said her prayers, and visualized the accomplishment of her goals.
About that time, Dad turned off the TV and announced to no one in particular. “I’m going to bed.” And he did…without another thought. Anything extraordinary here?
Wonder why women live longer…?
CAUSE THEY ARE MADE FOR THE LONG HAUL…

Moms wouldn’t be Moms without offspring, so I thought I might add this little gem, too. Since the mother who wrote this lives in the same town as me, I have often wondered if it was originally written by the mother of my son’s very impulsive and fun-loving best friend who just happens to have two other brothers…..

The Joy of Boys

The following came from an anonymous Mother in Austin, Texas:

“Things I’ve learned from my boys (honest and I am not kidding)”:

1.) A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep.

2.) If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.

3.) A 3-year old boy’s voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.

4.) If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20×20 ft. room.

5.) You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way…………..

6.) The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn’t stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan……..

7.) When you hear the toilet flush and the words “uh oh,” it’s already too late.

8.) Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke – lots of it.

9.) A six-year old boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old man says they can only do it in the movies.

10.) Certain Lego’s will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year old boy.

11.) Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.

12.) Super glue is forever.

13.) No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can’t walk on water.

14.) Pool filters do not like Jell-O.

15.) VCR’s do not eject “PB & J” sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.

16.) Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.

17.) Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.

18.) You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.

19.) Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.

20.) The fire department in Austin, TX has a 5-minute response time.

 21.) The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.

22.) The spin cycle on the washing machine will, however, make cats dizzy.

23.) Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

24.) 80% of men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.

25.) 80% of women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids.

  a) For those with no children – this is totally hysterical.

  b) For those who already have children past this age, this is hilarious.

  c) For those who have children this age, this is not funny.

  d) For those who have children nearing this age, this is a warning.

  e) For those who have not yet had children, this is birth control.

Blessings to you & yours this Mother’s Day!

My business has been really booming lately. Prom season has helped to build my client base and now we have Mother’s Day, graduations & the wedding season to keep things growing along nicely. I also have a trip to my home state planned for the end of July to mix a bit of business with family time and then I will return to home just in time to head to Dallas for MK Seminar. Sometimes, things have gotten so crazy-busy that I feel like I really haven’t had a chance to raeally enjoy the blessings in my life. Don’t get me wrong–I’m NOT complaining…

I have really missed hanging out with all of my xanga friends and sometimes get this feeling that all this really funny stuff (serious stuff, too) has been shared while I was off doing other stuff, so I have missed it.   I figured if I didn’t like that sort of feeling and I needed to enjoy more of the “wonder-full” blessings I have, it might be time to do a blessings post. I am adding some lovely flowers and also a Happy Mother’s Day wish just in case I don’t get to post again before then, too…

Thank you, God

for sharing with me

the works of your hands.

For the singing birds,

lush, green plants,

rainbow colored flowers,

sturdy, towering trees,

the warm, shining sun,

cooling rains,

gentle breezes,

starry skies and

moonlit nights,

for those I love

and those who love me,

I thank Thee.

For restful sleep,

nourishing, flavorful foods,

refreshing drinks,

invigorating exercise,

places of quiet beauty,

creative and curious minds,

caring and loving hearts,

social consciousness,

the joy of expression in the arts,

All good works and crafts

we are inspired to do.

Thank You.

Happy Mother’s Day, everyone!

Don’t forget those special ladies in your life and also that I do gift baskets…..

Since I have had a number of people express interest in my Frozen Pistachio Salad reciepe, I thought I would share it:

Frozen Pistachio Salad

1 4-serving size Pistachio instant pudding mix

1 8 oz can of pineapple with the juice

1 16 oz package of sour cream or Cool Whip (I like the sour cream better)

1 1/3 cups shredded coconut

Mix sour cream (or Cool Whip if you must) with pudding. Add pineapple & coconut, freeze in shallow pan. I like to cut it into squares & serve them individually on a bed of lettuce.

It has been quite a while since I have enjoyed this. We never had it while the kids were growing up since our daughter was allergic to nuts & Donkey is not really crazy about anything that contains coconut….

And now I will stick another funny (courtesy of my younger sister) since I have no time to think of something else to add to this rather lame post:

Navajo woman 

For all of us who are married, were married, wish you were married, or wish you weren’t married, this is something to smile about the next time you open a box of chocolates. 

Sally was driving home from one of her business trips in Northern Arizona when she saw an elderly Navajo woman walking on the side of the road. As the trip was a long and quiet one, she stopped the car and asked the Navajo woman if she would like a ride. 

With a silent nod of thanks, the woman got into the car. Resuming the journey, Sally tried in vain to make a bit of small talk with the Navajo woman. The old woman just sat silently, looking intently at everything she saw, studying every little detail, until she noticed a white bag on the seat next to Sally. 

“What in bag?” asked the old woman. 

Sally looked down at the white bag and said, “It’s a box of chocolates. I got it for my husband”. 

The Navajo woman was silent for another moment or two. Then speaking with the quiet wisdom of an elder, she said:

“Good trade.”

I sure do have a great bunch of e-mail buddies. I just had to share this one, too:

Three Trees

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams then the first tree said, “Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty.”

Then the second tree said, “Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take Kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull.”

Finally the third tree said, “I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me.”

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees.

When one came to the first tree he said, “This looks like a strong tree. I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter, “and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree the woodsman said, “This looks like a strong tree. I should be able to sell it to the shipyard.” The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened, because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, “I don’t need anything special from my tree, I’ll take this one,” and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for.

The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end.

The third tree was cut into large pieces, and left alone in the dark.

The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams.

Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this
event and knew that it had held the Greatest Treasure of all time.

Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second Tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn’t think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and He stood and said “Peace” and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill.

When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story is that when things don’t seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, God will give you great gifts.

Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined.

We don’t always know what God’s plans are for us. We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

May your day be blessed. And until we meet again, may God cradle you in the palm of His hand.

And then there is this one that represents her not-so-serious side…….

Everything I Need To Know I Learned From The Easter Bunny..