Off and Running.....

I got up at 5:00 this morning so I would have plenty of time to pack and pick up the house before we leave for the wedding weekend.



I was a little surprised that Matt had not called me yet. He needed to be on the road very early to drive the 2.5 hours to the airport in Grand Junction. He normally calls me when he's on the road. I decided to call him and when he didn't answer, the first thing I said to Irv is, "I hope he didn't oversleep."

About 20 minutes later my phone rang....it was Matt...he overslept!!! My phone call woke him up. Now he was in the car and driving like a mad man to get to the airport so he didn't miss his flight! If he misses that flight, he will miss his connecting flight in Denver. Great way to start the day!

We have been on the phone, checking Mapquest and checking to see if his flight is on time. Tresa is having anxiety attacks fearing that he might miss the wedding, and here I am just smiling and chuckling because that's just the way things seem to happen in our family, and you know what....everything always works out just fine.

So, after he got stopped by the cops for doing 6 mph over the School Speed Zone speed. limit...which he didn't even see....he was back on his way with a warning to slow down...Matt normally doesn't speed. He's a very cautious driver...very layed back and easy going.

He SHOULD make his flight barring any other unforeseen circumstances...keep your fingers crossed. Then he has 40 minutes to get from Gate A66 to Gate A24 at Denver International Airport...the furthest gate possible!

He just called now and said he has a bloody nose! At least he was laughing. He also said when he was trying to fly out the door after oversleeping by not just minutes, but hours....his roommate who has never, ever, ever parked in the driveway...was parked behind him this morning!

Oh, he did comment that he has no idea if he has everything he is supposed to have. There was no time to double check. He said he can see the bag for his suit in the back of the car with 2 hangers sticking out of the top...he just can't remember if he hung the suit on the hangers when he got home from the fancy benefit dinner he was at last night. Lots of champagne he said, which could be the reason he overslept! :)

I am still laughing! Have a wonderful weekend everyone. I know ours is going to be awesome. If I can find a computer tomorrow, I just might pop in to say hello. If not, I'll be back some time on Sunday!

Thanks for all of your good wishes!

Got An Opinion?

This is going to be short and sweet because I am trying to get my things together for the weekend. For those of you that are new to my blog...my daughter is getting married Saturday! We are headed into the city at about 11:30 tomorrow morning. We are all so excited. It's going to be such a great weekend. My sister is already at the hotel downtown. She got in last night, and Matt will be in at about 3:00 tomorrow. Nails get done at 2:00 and dinner is at 6:30. Saturday, we have the whole day to play because pictures aren't until 4:30 with the wedding ceremony at 7:00 p.m. I will post pictures next week!

Okay, my wonderful blog friends, I need your opinions. I am planning to start making throw pillows for MyOtherShop soon. I am very undecided on color, size and shape....I know what I like, but that isn't necessarily what others would like.

Do you use throw pillows on your couches and/or beds?

Just out of curiosity....what are your favorite colors? Do you like prints? Solids? Funky? Simple? Embellishments? Removable covers? Lacy? Rugged? Big? Small? Square? Rectangular? Round? See, there is so much to think about.

I'm sure every person will have a different opinion, but that's the fun of it. What do you like?

I haven't made a pillow for quite a few years, but I am really into the fabric thing ever since I bought some for the coasters and light switch covers. Now I just feel like sewing again.

So, tell me...what do you like?

Everyone Should Have a Pair of Stilts

I have always enjoyed looking at my old photos, but starting this blog has had me constantly digging in my photo bins looking for pictures to use for my blog. In doing so, I have come across so many wonderful old photos....and then looking at those tends to take me back in time. Sometimes it's back to my kid's teen years with sports pictures and prom pictures....then it's back to when they were really little....then back to our wedding and our dating years and then back to when I was a kid myself.

I was thinking last night about my childhood and in spite of the difficulties of my dad's physical and emotional health...he was a really cool guy! He had an uncanny way with animals, including wild animals. He nursed many a bird back to health and we even adopted a baby raccoon that lost it's mom.

My parents were very involved with the PTA at our school and even took part in the annual "Fall Follies" and fashion shows that were put on as fundraisers. Our neighborhood was close knit and my parents had many good friends. They would walk over to a neighbor's house for coffee or neighbors would stop by our house. They played cards and headed to the local "tap" for a drink some weekends. It was a good life.

The thing that came to mind last night was when my dad made us stilts. They were made from square wood "poles" with a piece of wood attached for your feet. These weren't the kind that strapped on, but rather the ones you wrapped your arms around to hold the long poles. I remember learning to use them and then walking all over the place with them. It got me where I wanted to go really fast because you could take such BIG steps! Then when the other kids saw them.....they wanted a pair too. Being the generous guy he was, dad started producing stilts for all of our friends, many stilts, and what fun we all had!

So, if you are ever looking for an inexpensive and fun "toy" for your kids...something that won't have them sitting in front of the TV, but rather outside in the fresh air....something really different.....make them a pair of stilts! Great exercise and an excellent way to learn balance! I've even found you some simple instructions right here. Now go make some stilts!

The pictures are my dad (shirtless) and my Uncle Bob when they were building our house in 1955, and the other is me (right), my sister Kay (front) and two of my neighborhood friends in 1958.

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall

When you look in the mirror....what do you see?




Sometimes I can be boppin' around the house, listening to my music and I will catch my reflection in the mirror and say, "Holy shit! Who is that person?" That can't be me! That lady is old and wrinkled. She has jowls and droopy eyelids. She's saggy and baggy and looks so "weathered". Her hair is so gray.....no, that can't be me!"

And then...there is the grin. The wrinkles around the eyes appear deeper. The sides of the mouth curl up and become a big smile. HAHA! It is me! It's me, Kathy and hell yeh...I AM wrinkled. I'm 57 years old! Those jowls....just like my dad's and his mom's and those droopy eyelids....just like my mom's.

Sure I'm "weathered". Up until 10 years ago, I worshipped the sun. My hair...what happened to my hair? Oh yeah, that's right...I stopped coloring it to avoid those darn chemicals!

Another grin, another smile and then a laugh...Hmmmmm...yep, that's me.....and then off I go boppin' to the music again.

More Stuff

Well, the wedding countdown has definitely started along with the weather watching. My South Carolina sister was already complaining that it's only going to be in the 40's. I told her to suck it up. I'm happy with 40's.....it could be below zero!

I made a few more purchases over the weekend....found a really cute little purse....even though I HATE purses...dumbest thing there is...who the heck needs to carry around their life in a bag every day? Come on ladies, really! I plan to do a post on this another day. Anyway, I did find a cute little silver one for $13 on sale.

Also found a bra that doesn't show with my dress...I bought a push up bra...but I quickly realized that you must have something for it to PUSH UP in order for it to really work like the picture on the tag! HA!

Bought some make up....another thing I don't use too much of, but I thought I would "girl up" for the big event! I usually only wear powder, a little natural shadow and mascara. I bought some foundation and blush and tried it out today. Not bad.

The big purchase.....Flexees...the generic Spanx. I don't have a lot of large "rolls" but the ones I do have definitely showed in my dress.....I just didn't want to spend the money...but I sucked it up and bought one in order to suck it in and I will say, it does make the dress look better. UGH!

Still can't find inexpensive little silver slip ons though...I may just grab some silver flip flops. I'm hoping to get through a good portion of the evening in my three inch heels, but my back might have a different plan. I would be perfectly comfortable bare foot, but that probably isn't appropriate for the mother of the bride.

I also want to apologize to the wonderful people that have bestowed blog awards on me over the past couple of weeks. I regret that I won't be able to do them the right way this week, but I do want to acknowledge the kind and thoughtful people that sent the awards my way.

I received two Lemonade awards...one from Beholden-to-Nature and one from Rachelluciejewelrydesigns. I also received a Proximidade Award from Softpencil. Please check out their blogs. They are all wonderful. Thanks so much for the honor. I will try next week to pass on the awards to some of my favorite blogs....and I have many. I can't believe how many awesome people I have met through blogging. Never expected it and it's wonderful.

Well, it's time to continue gathering things that go in my suitcase for Friday, so far I have two organic chapsticks packed that I bought for the boys!

Free DVD, Monsoons and Fabric

A few totally unrelated things today....

Each time my friend Nancy has undergone chemo, she has taken on a project that helped keep her mind off of herself and helped her to focus on others. Her first project was a Yoga DVD for Breast Cancer Recovery. She worked with a friend of hers, received some funding and created a wonderful DVD to help people with the negative affects of chemo and to help increase arm mobility through yoga. I have 3 of the DVDs that I would like to give to anyone that needs them. The DVDs have always been free and I will pay to send them out. So, if you or someone you know could use one of them, please e-mail me at itsafourdogday@yahoo.com. Leave your name and address and I will get it in the mail to you next week. If I have more than three requests, I am able to get more. :)

Mother Nature is very angry with Illinois this weekend. In fact she is darn right pissed off! She has been raining on us all weekend and I'm not talking about a little shower here and a little shower there....I mean we have the start of a small lake in our backyard and we rarely have water in our back yard. There are flood warnings all over the place! Poor Wrigley doesn't really care for water all that much and she is a bit confused by it all. My thought though, is that if we get all of this nastiness out of the way this weekend....then next weekend will be beautiful for the wedding!

As you know I am making ceramic tile coasters for MyOtherShop now. I have done paper on ceramic and paper on glass, and now I am doing fabric on ceramic. I had so much fun buying fabric last weekend and I have so many awesome ones that it's hard to decide what to use next! I have three sets almost done that I hope to list later this week...bold colorful flowers, gorgeous dogs and an awesome black and white floral print. Here is the fabric I am making a set out of now. It is unreal and I can't wait to get them done!

And lanyard lady....to answer your question about whether I will be blogging next Saturday....if I can find a computer somewhere...you can be sure that I will be dropping in to say hello!