A Personal Decision

When I went to renew my drivers license the other day, I got up to the counter and the nice lady (really) started asking me all of the questions on her little list....

am I mentally capable of driving a car?
do I use any drugs that would impair my ability to drive?
are my height and weight the same as on my current card?

Yes, I am....
No, I don't...
No, they aren't. I actually know I weigh less than what my 8 year old license says and at my age I am probably shrinking in height so I said, "I do weigh less, but I'm sure during the lifetime of this new drivers license, I will weigh 140 pounds again, so it's fine."

She smiled and then without looking up at me she asked her next question, "Organ Donor?"

"Am I not already?" I asked....because I swore I told them yes last time.

"No, you aren't", she said, still not making eye contact.

"Yes, of course. I can do that," I replied.

She proceeded to the next question, but my thoughts were still back on "Organ Donor".

It use to make me feel "funny" to talk about or think about after life decisions, but not any more.
With a waiting list of over 100,000 people, how could I say no? Why would I say no? I thought about my kids...what if one of them were ill and waiting for a transplant?

When I am gone....I'm gone. My organs won't be able to help me anymore...but what if they could help someone else?

Of course, organ donation is a very personal decision...one that everyone should research and then make an educated decision for themselves.

I don't know anyone that has had a transplant. Do you?

I LOVE the Weekends!!!!!

I was SO looking forward to this three day weekend!! Today I will be locked away in my workshop, music blasting, window open....as I finish up a custom order for two vendor aprons, make a ton more ornaments and experiment with some different pins. I want to make some out of cotton for people that live in warmer climates that don't need or want a brooch made out of wool, and Angela from Pickles on Pizza sent me an awesome "how to" for a really neat one!

Included are some pictures of some of the new things from MyOtherShop.

Hobby Horse Ornament

I might throw in some laundry and do a little house cleaning if I feel like it.

On Sunday we are having dinner at Michael and Bernadette's house with Tresa and Chris. I haven't seen the house in a few weeks and since then they have done some landscaping, got their new appliances, painted the kitchen, refinished the cabinets and I'm not sure what else. They have been really busy working on their first house and I'm sure it looks awesome!

New Ivory Brooch

Monday is a holiday in my school district. It is Yom Kippur and even though I am not Jewish....many of our students, teachers and office staff are, so it is a holiday for us and I happily accept any and all holidays they want to give me!

Monday I will finish what I don't finish today....music blasting, window open etc. etc. etc.

New Brown Brooch

I am looking forward to this weekend of family and fun!! I hope your weekend plans include some fun too.

Shake, Shake, Shake......Shake, Shake, Shake

We have the little automatic "wave your hand here" paper towel dispensers where I work.

You wave your hand in front of the little magic "eye" and the machine spits out a nice size section of towel for you to dry your hands with. Cute little contraption.I noticed that a lot of the women at work use two and sometimes even three towels to dry their hands....so I did a little experiment.

Do you know that if you stand at the sink for just FIVE extra seconds after you rinse your hands and shake off some of the excess water, you can easily dry your hands with ONE towel?

Do you know that if you stand at the sink for just TEN extra seconds after you rinse your hands and shake off some of the excess water, you can easily dry your hands with ONE towel and 25% to 33% of the towel will still be DRY?

Really! I do it all the time, and who doesn't have an extra five to ten seconds to save some trees for future generations?

Just be sure to stand back a few inches from the sink as you shake the water off your hands or you end up looking like you took a little shower with your clothes on.

This Girl Just Wants to Have Fun

Irv and I were on our way home from the grocery store this weekend and I asked him so innocently, "Where do you want to go on vacation next year?"

He looked at me like I had a big extra eye on my forehead or something and yelled "Are you crazy? Can't we get through the craft shows first before we start worrying about vacation?"

"I just like to think about it," I answered in my cutest little girl voice.

"Well, I'm not ready to think about it yet!" he bellowed, rattling the windows in my little Prius.

Maybe that isn't exactly how the conversation went, but it was something like that. :)

I LOVE planning vacations. I love researching different areas on line and trying to find cool things to do. We only get to go on vacation if we get a tax refund, so I try not to get too excited about it until I know it's a go.

Our tax guy knows that is what we do, so when he finished our taxes last year and called us, he said, "Well, you are going on vacation." I asked, "In Illinois, Colorado or Hawaii?" He said, "Colorado." That was fine with me!

We have vacationed in Colorado a couple of times now, and I do love it there and I love seeing Matt, but I am thinking it's time for a little change next year. I'm thinking we should try the northeast! We've never been there.

I looked up a lot of stuff about it a few years ago and then we didn't go, but I remember wanting to venture into Canada, see Niagara Falls and go whale watching....but I think that was as far as I got.

Do you live out east? Have you vacationed out east? Any suggestions as to where we should go and what we should see? We would go in late June or early July. I don't eat fish and I don't lay on the beach....any other suggestions would be great!!

Who Are You?

If we are forever growing and changing...do we ever become the person we are meant to be? I feel like I am a combination of a caterpillar and a cat. Caterpillars go through metamorphosis, and I feel like I've done that at least as many times as a cat has lives! Does that make any sense at all?

When I was little, I was outgoing and friendly. I had no problem talking to anyone.

In Junior High, I was still pretty comfortable with myself. Then in high school I started to feel just a little inferior to the beautiful people and the true leaders. So, I became a bit quiet and shy around certain people.

Once I was out of high school I changed again and excelled in my career, but still said "no thanks" when offered management opportunities. That wasn't who I was at that moment.

I married and had children and changed yet again into the "defender" and the "helper" and the "keeper of the children". I wasn't afraid to defend my stance on any subject. My children became life itself.

The kids grew up and I reverted back to the quiet and shy girl for a while. I wasn't quite sure who I was now or who I wanted to be with my children not "needing" me like before.

Then I slowly went through metamorphosis yet again and became the person I am today. I am quiet when I need to be quiet and outspoken when I see fit. I like myself now more than I ever have, and I think that is fulfilling in itself.

I am not fearful of change. I don't reject change. I welcome it with open arms.

I am in butterfly mode right now, but as time goes by....who knows, I just might go back to being a caterpillar and see what emerges. Life is such an adventure!

Looking for Suggestions....

When I redo a room, I usually get it painted and never have the money to really decorate it. Well, things they are a changing! Some how, some way, I am going to paint and decorate this little house of mine....one room at a time. I am so excited I can hardly stand it! First up is the living room and hallway...after that the bathroom...and then my bedroom.

Today, let's talk living room since it's first on the list. I have a tiny little living room in a tiny little house. Back in 1972 when we bought our house, the first thing we did was to paint the living room bright blue and laid beautiful blue and green shag carpet and hung blue and green open weave drapes. It was.........lovely and very "in" by the way! I use to rake that rug daily! :)

I tend to paint things based on the mood I am in at the time. The last time I painted the living room, I was obviously in a dull and boring mood. I painted it a light khaki color. I love color, but with the room being so small I have to go light.

Here is what I have right now. I have one couch that isn't in bad shape, but needs to be covered. I'm really not a flower person.

I have an ugly plaid love seat that really needs to go. It had a cover on it, but the cover finally fell apart.

After years of having cats with claws, I learned the hard way not to buy new furniture....ever. I don't have cats any longer, but now I have a 12 and 1/2 year old toy fox terrier that once in a while seems to forget that she is supposed to pee outside and not on the furniture. Needless to say, there won't be any new furniture here until Sparky isn't.

We have this HUGE t.v. cabinet that looked the perfect size on the showroom floor at IKEA. It takes up half of my living room!

We are down to ONE goldfish in his little 10 gallon tank. His tank is on top of our little fake fireplace. With my luck he will set a Guinness Book of World Records for the oldest gold fish in history!

I have built in shelves on one wall.


I have a little hallway with very naked walls. The color in the second picture is accurate. Not sure why the first one looks pink.

I have thought long and hard about what I want to do and here are my thoughts. Now I am no Martha Stuart when it comes to decorating, but I have had my nose in magazines for many, many months and I think I have a solid plan.

First of all, I need to paint. I can't have a dark color because the room is so small. I LOVE green so I am thinking a light mossy green or a light fern green and stay with the white trim.

Get a khaki colored cover for the floral couch, get rid of the love seat and replace it with two small chairs.

Get new blinds. I wish they made mini ones in wood that didn't cost a fortune. I need blinds, but hate the plastic ones.

Make valances, or curtains or drapes or buy them if I find something I like. They need be light and airy for the little room.

Get rid of the big t.v. cabinet and get a small t.v. stand with a couple of shelves in a light wood color. Michael and Bernadette have all black accents and I love it, but I'm thinking it might not work in my little room. What do you think? Whatever I get, I might be able to find at a resale shop or a garage sale. I plan to start looking.

Paint this little chest white (or black). It's actually an old toy box...and use it as a coffee table. No room for a big table.

Get a small table for between the two chairs and add a cute lamp.

Get a floor lamp for next to the bigger couch. We need some light.

Take this awesome picture that Matt made us for Christmas last year, hang it in the hallway and surround it with tons of family photos. If you look carefully, you will see the names Kathy, Irv, Tresa, Michael, Matt, Chris and Bern vertically somewhere in the picture. I LOVE this thing!

Mat and frame some big green leaves (like ferns) and hang them on the big open wall in the living room. Maybe 3 in a row....big frames. I saw it in a magazine and it was amazing!

Get something fun to hang over the couch. Not sure what though.

Get rid of the ugly hanging plant...so yukky. Get a nice tall skinny floor plant for somewhere and then lots of small green plants to put on shelves and tables.

Take the black and white photos out of this sad frame and frame them individually and put them all over the built in shelves instead of the "assortment" that is on the shelves now.

So, what do you think? I think this is a start. I'm sure once I get started I will change my mind about some things, but I like the idea of it right now. I am open to any and all suggestions before I get this project under way....so let's hear what you got!

Chee Hoo!

When Life is A Big Bowl of Cherries

Let me tell you....things are just rolling right along....so very smoothly right now.....everything is cool and calm.....there is a quiet sense of peace in the air. So, what the heck is going on? This is not what my life is normally like. It's usually....When life hands you lemons....

Not sure what's up, but man is it sweet. When I really think about it...I'm not sure that anything has changed though.......I think it's just the way that I am looking at life that has changed. Whatever it is...it feels oh so good! I even woke up to another etsy order. I sold my only vendor apron. Man do I have a lot to do!

I got so much stuff done yesterday that I am on top of the world. I got my little sleds listed in MyOtherShop, and I am anxious to see how they go over the next few months. I decided to offer them "naked" and personalized.



I also made a couple of brooches! I was given a ton of old jewelry and it was driving me nuts to see it just sitting here. Most of it was parts of necklaces or single earrings and some old buttons. Then my darling daughter-in-law sent over this brooch she had bought and said that I should make them. It was really cute, but I haven't seen it for a while and couldn't remember exactly how it was made. I bought some wool and just started playing around. Mine aren't nearly as awesome as I recall hers being, but it's a start. I listed them on etsy yesterday too, and the ivory one already sold to a really awesome etsy buyer. :)

I also got this little hobby horse ornament done last night. My kids use to love these on our tree. We had them in all different colors.

Now it's time to get to work. Make it a fantastic day for yourselves!! Chat with you soon.