Happy is a relative term

Although we are thousands of miles apart, I want to wish a very Happy 20th wedding anniversary to the love of my life!

Things are pretty much on hold here in CA. My dad is hanging in there but his helth is declining. The doctors who said he'd be dead withn a handful of days are dumbfounded as to how he could being hanging on for this long. It just goes to show you that no one can really predict when someone will die. I leave it all in the hands of God, it's up to him when he will call my dad home.

So I'm just playing it by ear, taking my mom to see my dad every day, going out and doing errands here and there. I've met up with some old friends from high school (what a crack up that was). I'm working away on my counted cross stitching project that I brought with me. And just to make it perectly clear- I am not on a vacation. Vacations are relaing get aways...this is anything but relaxing!

quote of the day

Before I met my husband, I've never fallen in love. I'd stepped in it a few times.
-Rita Rudner

just things....

The worst part of this trip is the fact that it was/is one that I made as an emergency. I'm appreciate the time I get to spend with my mother, the brief moments that we share that aren't filled with sadness are a true blessing.
Things that I don't miss about living in California...the heat, the crowds of people everywhere, did I mention the heat? Yesterday it was 105...way too hot for me! I love love love the huge variety of fresh produce out here along with just having a selection of things I'm used to buying.

My Dad is hanging in there. Hospice called today and is giving him medication to make him more comfortable. Every time the phone rings my Mom and I jump. We don't know if this will the "the call", it's not a pleasant feeling to say the least.

I try to get my Mom out of the house but this damn heat is making us both pretty darn misserable. Went to a fabric store today- we were both in fabric heaven. I feel a renewal in my desire to quilt and sew, so does my Mom. I think that I'll make tea cozy from some groovey new fabric when I get back home.

Leaving for California

So in a few short hours I will be on the first leg of my journey to California. Part of me looks forward to the journey and the other part of me looks on it with dread. I hope and pray that Mother Theresa is with me on this trip and never leaves my side.

Quote of the Day

When the heart weeps for what it has lost,
the soul laughs for what it has found.
--Sufi aphorism

My emotional roller-coaster ride

It seems to me that when it rains it pours and today is no different. Through an odd series of events I've been informed that my Dad had been hospitalized and he's dying. I've been working on getting plane tickets to get me out of here ASAP that won't cost me thousands of pounds. As always my BT land-line has let me down and I can't reach my mom in California to let her know that I'm coming out. Of course my mom doesn't have internet...why would she, she's never bother to have cable TV.

So to add more to this today is my Hannah's birthday (Happy B-day Sweetheart).

So I saw my son off to the airport yesterday morning knowing that I won't see him again until December, last night spoke with my dad's doctor and she told me that he is gravely ill and that his death is imminent. I've been trying to call my mom repeatedly and I still am unable to get through-- I've about had it with BT!

Meanwhile I feel like a crap parent as nothing is going right for my Hannah's B-day. And I know that God doesn't give you more than you can handle but right now I'm at the edge. Please keep us in your prayers.

Quote of the Day

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
-Robert Frost

Quote of the Day

Both the cockroach and the bird would get along very well without us, although the cockroach would miss us most.
- Joseph Wood Krutch

9 months and counting

Let me start off by saying NO I'm NOT pregnant, LOL! Nine months is the time that I have let in this wonderful little country. What we first thought was a 2 year assignment was a dream come true- an overseas assignment! Then we found out that it was a 3 year assignment and we said "hmmm" moving with a teenager (again) the summer before her senior year- not a good thing. And now that my husband has put in his retirement paperwork, this will be once again a 2 year assignment for us.

I have been going through a roller coaster of emotions these past few weeks. Retire or not retire, son leaving a month early to bum around South Dakota with his friends before he starts college, living in a house that's making me crazy, making some wonderful new friends, thinking about my family and all of the things we'll have going on in the next months. To leave our daughter in boarding school for 2 months while she finishes up school. Yup I've got a lot on my plate right now!

I want to get this blog back to being a crafty blog alas, my life seems to keep getting in the way. I want to craft and create and be creative but worries and stress seem to keep my mind otherwise occupied at present. I've picked up a couple of counted cross stitch kits by The Historical Sampler Company and will be working on one shortly. Here's a picture of the one I'm starting now (it's for fun), the sampler is called "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and with my growing collection of lambs and sheep, well it was a must have kind of thing for me!







I love classic samplers and have bought the Autumn themed one to work on and will be getting the rest of these samplers before I leave England. To me, these samplers are fine examples of classic British needlework design at it's best!

Quote of the Day

Don't give up! I believe in you all.
A person's a person, no matter how small!
Dr Seuss- "Horton hears a Who"

Quote of the Day

All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts...
-William Shakespeare, "As You Like It", Act 2 scene 7

Life in the Air Force

Since moving here a little over a year ago, I knew that I would be doing 2 moves within one year. This year is my "easy year"- no moves involved. Next year brings with it another move (no joke). Spring 2011 we will be moving back to the USA and enjoying retirement. That's right you read that correctly, my husband after 20 plus years in the Air Force will be retiring. So what does that mean for me? Well my brain is once again on "clear it out mode". I know that we have at least 9 more months here but as it is, I want to be prepared to be able to make this a smooth transition for us. Reduce, reuse, recycle and my favorite...just plain donate!

I'll have time for at least one more trip to Stoke on Trent to rake up on some more great Made in England pottery, not to mention to get in some more trips around England in general. There are loads of places that Hannah and I want to see while we're here and we're going to try our best to see them all!

Quote of the Day

A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized.
- Fred Allen

Scrapbooking the "every day things"

I'm a scrapbooker who is also a military wife. We move around every few years and that means a new to you house with a new view out the windows. Currently I am living in England. There are everyday kinds of things about my life here that I want to document...things like the light switches which are something we take for granted or my tiny microwave that I named Tivo simply because it looks like the Tivo character to Ken and Barbie- my very small but efficient washer and dryer. It's the little things that we take for granted that we tend to forget. There's the ever so small fireplace in the living room or as the British call it "the Lounge"- that would never fit a full sized log, you can even forget getting a half of a log in there. There's the entry way that is only a couple of inches wider than the front door and the fact that some of the walls are about 18 inches or more thick or the back door that opens outward. I want to document the flower beds that we worked so hard, we started with nothing but dirt and have turned them into something beautiful to look at.

Some scrapbookers feel as if they should only be scrapbooking major events such as birthday, Halloween and Christmas. Not me, I've always wanted to take notice of the little things. How we really lived, what we really did and what we were really like. I hope to be able to capture this is some of the photographs that I take.

Quote of the Day

“May those who love us, love us; and those who don't love us, may God turn their hearts; and if He doesn't turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles so we'll know them by their limping.” ~Irish Blessings

I saw this quote on a friend facebook page and well, it gave me quite the little smirk-enjoy!

Storage Space or the lack of it

I know what I'm going to do after we retire from the Air Force (yes it's a "we thing")...it's to design closet organizing systems and help people to organize their storage spaces. Oh am I feeling more like ME again! All I need is a little challenge and I'm all over having something organized and working well!

When you move as much as military families do, you need something that you can take with you to help you stay on course and stay organized. I've decided that I'm going to design something to help us frequent movers to stay focused and keep our belongings more organized. I've got great ideas now to put pen to paper and to get them out of my head and onto something that I can look at. I love a new challenge and I'm giving myself one!

Quote of the Day

There comes a time in life when you walk away from all the pointless drama and people who create it, and surround yourself with people who make you laugh so hard that you forget the bad and focus on the good. Life is too short to be anything but happy!
author unknown

Holy Catfish- am I ever busy this week!

Just another week of go go go and go faster for yours truly. Some days it's just non-stop stuff and others it's not "as busy". I'm not trying to ignore my blog it's just that my time and days are so divided that I start something but can never get around to finishing it.

I plan on bringing my camera to RIAT and taking pictures. Apparently there will be some people there that we know from the bomber world- hopefully I'll have time to say hello -alas, my day is already preplanned for me (courtesy of the USAF protocol office).

It's been drizzling off and on for a couple of days now. I wish that we could have a good ole heavy downpour with thunder and lightening like we used to have in Texas and South Dakota, believe it or not but I miss that kind of weather.

Quote of the Day

I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.
-Arthur Rubinstein

Quote of the Day

We are the people our parents warned us about.
- Jimmy Buffett

"manly" thank you cards?

The thing I don't get is why my husband and son are having such a cow of a few little flowers on a thank you card. All I'm asking is to have a manly thank you card- says the husband, LOL! Manly? What's this "manly" thing? Does that mean less flowers? Or is it no flowers? I made the cards in shades of blue with little flowers, but apparently they guys want it with NO flowers :-( I'm a flower lover, I'm surrounded by them how can I not put flowers on anything? So all I did was to hunt up a thank you stamp and use the same design that I did for the graduation cards and turned those into thank you cards. There- are those manly enough? Yes they were- now for me to move on to something else...Men!

Quote of the Day

for man with no forgiveness in heart,
life worse punishment than death.
-Mr. Miyagi

Greeting Cards

Alright I know that this is supposed to be my scrapbooking/paper crafting blog...so do I ever do paper crafts any more? Yes I do! Here are some examples...

Friendship cards-one can never have too many of these hanging around! I finally used up the rest of that striped Susan Branch paper that I've had in my stash for YEARS!!!!
Get Well - copied this card layout from an old card idea book. Please forgive me for not remembering which one it came from. This certainly is a cute get well card!

Congratulations- This little gem is my own design! I was getting frustrated at the poor selection of graduation cards at our BX- okay so it was more like our BX had NONE to speak of! So out of desperation I created this one! LOVE how handy my Quickutz dies are! The Graduation cap is a 2 piece die set, and now I can say that I finally got to use it!

Visiting my favorite place in England

Everyone has a favorite place that they enjoy visiting, mine hands down has to be Jane Hathaway's house in Stratford upon Avon. The flower gardens there are impeccable! I based my English flower garden in South Dakota off of hers! It was full of flowers in bloom and the Sweet Peas were delightful! Many different colors of them all on display for our enjoyment :-) The tour of the house was the same as it was 4 years ago- charming and delightful! For me, it's the gardens that captured my heart! From the willow hut (which I want to recreate in our own backyard) to the lovely flower beds full of color! I want to be able to bring a bit of Shakespeare's Britain home with me. The weather was perfect! It was in the lower 80's with a slight breeze, which is just fine for me!




Here's my Hannah being a goof as I was attempting to take a picture of the house.
A picture of me with my children...of the 10 attempts at a decent photo, this one turned out the best. The rest was a series of us laughing or looking in other directions.

LOVE this Willow Hut! Talk about simply too cool! We'll make one of these in our backyard when we retire. It's going to take a while (years perhaps) for the plants to cover. This is something that our future grandchildren will enjoy.

The diagnosis is...

Yes friends, it's broken! I'm glad that I have a removable splint versus a non-removable cast. As least this way I can get through airport security and not worry about getting a full body scan or a body pat down/frisk search, LOL! Now because I am an adult, the Doctor trusts me to keep this on (silly man). What's the alternative of not keeping it on while it heals? Oh I already know that one- it's extreme pain! It's amazing how wearing this for a couple of days has already helped to reduce the amount of pain I've been suffering from- now that's just plain weird! But then again I can't bend or twist my wrist and forearm what so ever so there it is. Which bone are you thinking is broken? It's the long skinny one on the under side of your forearm, the Ulna. So it's not a broken wrist it's a broken forearm-ugh! How on earth did I do that? That's the weird question that I can't seem to pin point really. I have a broken bone in my left arm and I don't know how on earth it happened!

Quote of the Day

In a country as big as the United States, you can find fifty examples of anything.
- Jeffery F. Chamberlain

Quote of the Day

I don't understand the sizes anymore. There's a size zero, which I didn't even know that they had. It must stand for: 'Ohhh my God, you're thin.'
- Ellen DeGeneres

Busy Military Spouse Syndrome

Being the ever so busy wife and mother that I am, I do tend to neglect myself from time to time. This time being that I have hurt my wrist and it hurts A LOT!
I hurt my wrist last week, and to be honest with all what I had going on, I never really had time to attend to it. It hurts to touch it or move it.I've been bullied by my daughter all weekend long to make an appointment to have it checked out. So today I do have an appointment to have it attended to and I will let you know what's up with it after my appointment this afternoon.

Yup this is what you get with Busy Military Spouse Syndrome-it's self neglect. You don't take time out for yourself and you end up 'squeezing in" a doctor appointment only because after a week and the pain is getting more intense you're afraid it might be a broken bone. I did this a couple of years May 2008 (check out the blog postings on my foot surgery) with my foot- ended up being a MAJOR thing wrong and having to have surgery to repair the damage. So everyone, please keep me in your prayers that the doctor can assess what it wrong with my wrist and that I get the proper medical treatment needed for swift healing.

A side note- I'm just wondering what a broken wrist feels like because if this is what it is...well can I get some better pain medication please? Because Motrin is simply NOT cutting it!

Quote of the Day

Most people would rather be certain they're miserable than risk being happy.
- Robert Anthony

I survived the weekend!

It's hard to spend quality time with family friends when you're always running around. This past weekend was a busy one! From the Independence Day Celebration at the base on Friday to Speech Day at Kingham Hill School on Saturday and the Graduation party on Saturday night. Lets not forget the running around I did during the week in preparation for all of these things. I had once again made meatballs for the masses which is rather time consuming.


Now for pictures- I did take some, I promise to upload them.

Quote of the Day

They certainly give very strange names to diseases.
- Plato

Quote of the Day

Privacy and security are those things you give up when you show the world what makes you extraordinary.
--Margaret Cho

Shop 'til you drop

I take that phrase "Shop 'til you drop" pretty seriously. Ask my mother-in-law, she knows exactly how I work, and it's go go go then come home unpack it all, put it all away and sit down and then you get to catch your breath. Poor thing, I've done nothing but drag her around for 3 days straight.

We did manage to get over to Bicester Wools and get a few things there. LOVE love love that shop! The owners are the nicest folks! Very accommodating too!

I've been loving having my mother-in-law here to stay. We're kind of like 2 peas in a pod...especially when it comes to shopping and going out to lunch :-) We've eaten in a few different places and each time we've had fantastic meals. There are some really great little home grown restaurants and tea shops to go for lunch. I truly feel blessed that I'm able to share this with my mother-in-law. I love living here, what a true gift from heaven to be able to have this experience.

Yesterday is was shopping for shoes and clothes great sales going on at Edinburgh Woollen Mills and Clarks, today it was grocery shopping and a trip to the Brackley Antique Cellar and we had a lovely lunch in the tea shop. I wonder where tomorrow will take us :-)

Quote of the Day

If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.
-Albert Enstein

Volunteer Appreciation

No matter what base we've been assigned to, I always go and show my support at Volunteer Appreciation functions. Today's military would be no where without it's constant stream of volunteers. Today's Volunteer Appreciation Ice Cream Social had a terrific turn out of men and women from RAF Croughton. All of whom have made a difference in the quality of life for the servicemen, women and families of RAF Croughton and the surrounding area. There were 3 special volunteer awards, not to mention certificates of appreciation for every person who has volunteered at our base.

Now for the BIG surprise...so not only was I nominated but through a selection process of my peers I have been given the Certificate of Volunteer Excellence. As it's written on my certificate...

for exceptionally meritorious

volunteer service to the

United States Air Force community.

I can't begin to tell you how it feels to be recognized for all of the volunteer work I've done at this base since arriving here a year ago. To know that others do appreciate the work I have done and continue to do. For me, it's validation that I have made a difference in the quality of life for others in our surrounding community. Thank you RAF Croughton and the towns of Bicester and Brackley.

Quote of the Day

Of course there is no formula for success except perhaps an unconditional acceptance of life and what it brings.
-Arthur Rubinstein (1886 - 1982)

My Life...in Pictures

A picture says a thousand words- or so the saying goes. Here's a scrapbookers confession...I've not printed a single picture since moving here. Nope, not a single one. I must have thought about it a hundred times or more but I've not done it. I loved getting my photo's printed at Walgreen's, but alas they don't ship to APO addresses :-( I've not found a place here that's local so I figure that I have enough "other photo's" to keep me busy. Not to mention that the exchange rate makes the pictures pretty darn pricey.



Now as being a true scrapbooker, I always have photo's to work with. Although I do remember a time when I was totally caught up, that was the summer of 2000- what strange thing that was! So I hope to break free of my chains so to speak and get back to business at hand and get some scrapbooking done!

Quote of the Day

The scientific theory I like best is that the rings of Saturn are composed entirely of lost airline luggage.
- Mark Russell

Quote of the Day

Someday I want to be rich. Some people get so rich they lose all respect for humanity. That's how rich I want to be.
-Rita Rudner

I can't keep myself from laughing at this

Have you seen my cooking blog lately?

Did you know that I've got I've got 3 blogs? Oh yeah, I'm such an over achiever, LOL! First and foremost there's My Scrapbook Nook but I also have My Cookbook Nook which is all about What else, FOOD! There's recipes, product reviews and my foodie life. My Look Look Book which is strictly pictures. My Look Look Book has been sadly neglected for little over a year and I hope to get pictures posted there again soon. A dear friend gave My Cookbook Nook a face lift and now it's got a great new look! I've added many new tried and true recipes that I've made for my girlfriends over the years. I hope that you'll pop by and tell me what you think of the blog, try some of the recipes and give me some feed back on them as well.

Quote of the Day

It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.
--Robert H. Goddard

Quote of the Day

"I like summer. I like warmer weather and long days. I'm one of those silly people who still enjoy lying in the sun - my children are horrified!"
- Danielle Steel

Dreams...

Who hasn't looked at a handbag, a shoe a jacket or even printed fabrics and papers and though or wondered about the person who designed those items?

Have you even given any thought to the creative process that one went through in developing that pattern for your favorite handbag? Or the beautiful design on your favorite silk scarf?

I see both of my children doodling all of the time. The designs that they come up with are astounding! I tell ya, I could have a "family" business with my children in charge of print design, my husband and daughter could take my ideas and make them into patterns. From marketing to product design, sales and management... Oh yeah I could bring the entire family into my crazy notion for a business.

Here's my business idea layout...
I'd have to get a building, like a little strip mall. My empire would consist of the following businesses...

♥ Quilt Shop- that beside selling patterns, fabrics and thread also sold nice fancy yarns and needlework supplies and needlework patterns and of course held classes and sold sewing machines.

♥Scrapbooking Store- that also sold stamps, inks and calligraphy items plus had a huge crop room for workshops.

♥Tea Shop- would sell coffee (steaming hot in a mug), loose teas of every kind, teapots, teacups and of course tea and coffee related items. As for food of course there would be various great soups, salads and sandwiches. I'd open for dinner but only for special groups and events like crops and quiting events.

♥Day Spa- well we all need a great place for manicures, pedicures, massages, facials and of course getting our hair done!

♥Consignment shop- where people could sell their handmade items and antiques of all kinds.

♥ I'd also have a B&B (not in the same building). A grand old house with beautiful flower gardens and patio areas where you could sit outside and enjoy the scenery. Where scrapbooking, quilting and needlework retreats could be held.


Okay now for me to start playing the lottery because this is going to cost a lot to get off of the ground!

Quote of the Day

It's hard to take over the world when you sleep 20 hours a day.
- Darby Conley

Today's quote is dedicted to my teenage son Andrew who is off to South Dakota for this 3rd time since moving here. This trip is for University orientation at SDSU.

Quote of the Day

I like life. It's something to do.
- Ronnie Shakes

Sleep- or the lack of it

I am sleep deprived. The sun is up at 4 am at this time of year- if the sun is up then so are the birds. There's this blackbird you see, and he is VERY loud. Morning, noon of night this crazy bird is squawking up a storm. I say squawk and not chirp because this bird is not singing sweet birdie songs, oh no this is a loud obnoxious squawk! So now I'm up yet again many hours before the rest of my family will be on a Saturday morning, what is not right with this picture?



We're getting ready to send out boy back to South Dakota- yes again! It's for college orientation (he'll be back in a week). With all of the flights to and from South Dakota there's got to be a free ticket in there somewhere with all of those frequent flying miles, LOL!

There's so much going on in my life right now...if I could only begin to tell you half of it.

Quote of the Day

His house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking, best, or a pleasant mixture of them all.
-J. R. R. Tolkien (1892 - 1973), The Hobbit

My busy life...

It's the little things that keep you going round in circles...take these power outages that we've been experiencing here in Caversfield. Power went off 4 separate time on Sunday and frankly I was never able to get on the computer for dear that the power would go off and fry my system. So here's a run down of what I've been up to...

♥ Sunday- Went up to Alconbury for an afternoon party at the Wing Commanders house. It was a Hail and Farewell basically a welcome to England for one family and a good bye good luck to several other couples moving to new assignments in other countries). It was a good get together of staff members and their families, I was very glad that I attended this function. Afterwards my husband took me out to this great little restaurant in a neighboring town. It was my belated birthday dinner- just the 2 of us :-)

♥ Monday- The big deal was Monday evening when our daughter had a melt down and let us know that she has been dealing with a bully. That she's been tormented by the boy since November. My heart simply sank. Our daughter was in tears and she said that she's at her wits end with this kid.

♥ Tuesday- Between the phone lines not working and the power outage that lasted nearly a hour, well I was not in the best of moods. Talked with the people I needed to talk with at the school and the bully situation is under control. Hannah came home happier than she has been in quite some time. I asked her if she felt that the situation has been resolved and she said yes, but only time will tell if it truly has.

Last night I attended my first British military function, it was the "Bicester Garrison Cocktail Party and Beating Retreat". We watch a British Army marching band preform for us. Mayors from all of the surrounding towns were there and I think that there may even have been a representative from the Queen at this function. We met many very interesting people, many of which I would like to get with again.
The gardens of this place were amazing! It was beautiful there, it's how I imagine my dream garden being. Flowers and trees bordering a large grassy lawn,a separate vegetable garden and a green house made out of glass.A lawn large enough (and flat enough) to put up a tent and have a garden party. With small tables and chairs, wine flowing freely and friends enjoying themselves. Oh how it makes me want to host a garden party of my own! Now to get some more lawn furniture, LOL!

♥ Wednesday- Today hopefully won't be plagued with power outages as I've really got laundry piling up around here! I've got letters to write and well I've decided to make myself sit down and hand write some letters, and to start working on quilting and scrapbooking projects again.

That's it in a nutshell! TTFN!

Quote of the Day

Any fool can know. The point is to understand.
-Albert Einstein

A fine ending...almost

Yesterday was another one of those days where I spent the majority of the day in the kitchen. Once again I was wrangled into cooking big for a function, but not a military one, this one was for a school party. I jumped at the opportunity to help out.

The "Leavers Party"- obviously this is a British wording and not American as we would have worded it quite differently but it gets the point across none the less. This is not only a party for those that are graduating from Kingham Hill but also for those US students that are moving away this summer. What a wonderful tribute to pay to those US students that work so hard to fit in, to adjust to something new and foreign to them and all supported by their British friends and teachers. Even our Andrew had a special speech said about him- and it pretty much summed up what he had gone through- I had to hold myself back from crying because there it was out in the open-All of the things he thought that his Senior Year in High School would have been and we move him right before all of that. Everyone applauded him when he stood up, the journey was over, he survived and he even made a handful of great friends along the way. It was nice way to start the final days of school.

Although Andrew is technically done with school, Speech Day is July 3rd and we will ALL be in attendance then! He's off to South Dakota soon (yes again) but this time it's for University orientation. He'll spend 4 or 5 days there then he'll be back here, then he goes back to South Dakota at the end of July . We won't see him again until December.

I took about a gazillion pictures (of which I need to upload to my computer), now to find out where my camera had gone off to...it's around here somewhere. Now for some coffee and working on finding that camera!

Quote of the Day

Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.
-Demosthenes

Quote of the Day

I'm kind of jealous of the life I'm supposedly leading.
- Zach Braff

Quote of the Day

Never find your delight in another's misfortune.
-Publilius Syrus

Something Special I do for myself

I see it as being rather funny how so many of women friends save their China for that "special occasion". I have many friends who either have it and don't use it or they use it only once a year for Christmas dinner. Maybe this is an American thing- being that I don't have all that many British friends and the ones I do have, well they think I'm a nutter with all of my pottery (and that's okay so do my American girlfriends- I still adore them).

My thing is this...make you a priority. You're someone special aren't you? The next time you make yourself some tea and lunch- serve it up on that lovely china you that you've been saving for that "special occassion".

Quote of the Day

Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it.
-Publilius Syrus

358 days later...

June 15th, 2009 is when the movers first arrived at our house in South Dakota and they left 5 days later with ALL of our belongings being packed into crates. Today the claims adjuster is coming over to go over our damage claim. Nothing like timeliness (can you feel my sarcasm?) It's not enough that your things are damaged beyond repair, but they make you wait months on end for them to process your claim. Meanwhile you're having to store all of these damaged item somewhere in your home. If your house is like our house there's not much storage space to speak of. And what storage space I do have here, well I need it for every day kind of stuff...lawnmower, kids bikes, weed whacker, winter/summer clothing storage and that other crazy thing we like to do...we like to park our car in the garage.

This is where I really miss my house in South Dakota- with it's deep spacious closets, 2 large storage ares inside of the house plus that huge 3 car garage where you could actually pack 3 cars, 4 bikes, a ride on lawn mower and a push mower, have a work bench, numerous shelving units with gardening and camping equipment, have a table saw, wheelbarrow, beer fridge, recycle bins, rubbish bin and more! But alas we gave that up right?

What I could use here is a nice spacious kitchen with a gas range and a refrigerator that I could actually get both doors to open the way they should so I could use it the way it was intended to be used. Adequate heat/window ventilation would be nice too.

Sorry everyone, I'm cranky today. Reliving all of my move today and it's not good. My heart broke when I saw my damaged bed, damaged furniture and the crap way things were packed for our overseas move and I've got all of those feeling rushing over me right now.

Quote of the Day

If you have courage, you will influence people based on your convictions. If you lack courage, you will influence people based on your comfort zones. Courage will take you any- where you believe God is leading you. Without courage, you will go where you are comfortable.
--Wayne Schmidt

Happy Birthday to Me!

wait...I post more later but for now the title will have to suffice.

Quote of the Day

"It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad".
C. S. Lewis

Let's get Crafty!

I'm going to do something in my scrapbook nook today! I refuse to let my family pull me in different directions!

Quote of the Day

"Your attitude is like a box of crayons that color your world. Constantly color your picture gray, and your picture will always be bleak. Try adding some bright colors to the picture by including humor, and your picture begins to lighten up.'

-Allen Klein"

The First Rose

The first rose in my newly planted rose garden. This was a true labor of love. After having to get housing here with a jack hammer to clear out the huge blob of concrete that weighed several hundred pounds from the flower bed so we could actually plant flowers...well here's the end result.





Soon, my little rose garden will be filled with roses as there are rose buds on every one of those small bushes. I made sure to get heavily scented ones...I so miss my flower gardens from our past homes. Every new place gives us the opportunity to start anew- be it in planting flower gardens, making friends or decorating a new to us house. Take every opportunity to explore your new surroundings and it's never to late to take in a new friend!

Happy Campers

What do you get when you mix... warm weather, a week long term break from British School, a big backyard and a bunch of teenage boys?


It's Camping out in the backyard in a tent!
We've been blessed with quite the backyard here and if our teen son wants to have a camp out what the heck- go for broke! Our camping equipment is (yes you guessed it) it's stateside in storage-ugh! Our son's friends came over with this large tent trust me when I say that they were quite "happy" with having a place to pitch this tent. If it's the normal crew of guys that our son usually hangs out with, then there's got to be at least 5 or 6 of them in there...now that's got to be crowded! They were up talking and laughing until wee hours but that's okay- they were having fun and that's what counts!

For the most part these teen boys stay in a tight-knit group, not letting others really into "the fold" so to speak. I consider myself to be blessed that they brought our son into this group. He was having such a rough go of it with this move here to the UK. It's not easy moving away from everyone and everything you know- especially the summer before your Senior year of High School. These kids have gone through quite a lot, probably even more so than their military and state department parents realize. They too go through that roller coaster of emotions but feel them more deeply. They quite often leave behind the best friends they've ever known, their first loves and quite frankly we pull this all away from them. This group of young men have helped my son to get over that "painful" part and have opened up a new world of adventures to him. Even at his worst they still came and made him go out- to the Lord I am forever thankful!


There are ways of "surviving it" with your teen and how to get them to love you again. It's not an easy path and there were many times when all I could do was to cry with him when he felt so lonely- but I want to say that they have passed. Our son has racked up the frequent flier miles that's for sure! He's now surpassed his mother in overseas flights! Letting go and trusting your child is the key. Let them vent, and buy them an airline ticket to visit their friends. If possible, arrange for your child's friends to come out for a visit. Between flying 2 of his friends out here to England and then flying him state side a handful of times...I should be able to get a free airline ticket soon, LOL! Andrew flies to SD again this month for his college orientation, he'll be there for 5 days and then it's back here to Bicester until Graduation day or as it's called here "Speech Day". Then he flies back to SD later on in the summer. We've not traveled as much as we would have liked but then again our boy's happiness means more to us than anything. With him back in the USA this Autumn being among his old friends at South Dakota State University, we ALL will embark on a new chapter in our lives.

Quote of the Day

Love is a gift of one's inner most soul to another so both can be whole.
--Tea Rose

Brain Freeze

Busy is as busy does...and lets face it, I'm just plain busy these days! I had a major brain freeze just now while on the phone trying to change an appointment- it's so sad when old age catches up, LOL! Only a few more days until the old B-day and here I am thinking wow I'm so close to 50 I can almost taste it! No, I'm NOT going to be 50 this year, but I am getting pretty darn close. So what was the brain freeze all about? Trying to change an appointment with the American Orthodontists office that's 2½ hours away and trying to explain to the receptionist what GCSE's and prep are (insert eye roll here). This is what happens when you're calling people who do not have teens enrolled in British schools. I now have an whole new appreciation for all parents of children in British schools be it private or public.

I've gone and triple booked myself twice now (2 different days). I need to have either a palm-pilot or a blackberry so I can have my prior made appointments with me while making other appointments. So it's just one of those kind of days...the run around like a chicken with it's head cut off days that is.

How many BBQs, farewells or seasonal parties can one attend before you just drop dead from exhaustion? Well I'm going to try and find out. The parties start this weekend and keep on rolling until July 3rd. There's never a dull moment around here that's for sure!

Quote of the Day

"Education is what survives when what has been
learned has been forgotten.
--B.F. Skinner"

Is it June already?

It's been a busy few days for me - visiting with family, doing some sight seeing, dining out, dining in, taking my daughter to Lakenheath for an orthodontic appointment, doing some grocery shopping etc etc etc. But now my time is once again my own to command.

It certainly was nice to have my husband's Mother and his Aunt here for a visit. I gave them the quick tour of the base, took them to a couple of my favorite dining establishments, they got to see the inside of a couple of grocery stores out here on their quest for snacks to pack on their train trip up to Scotland. On Saturday, We (husband and me) took the family (b-i-l, s-i-l, m-i-l and aunt) to Blenheim Palace. The tour was lovely and this time I got to tour the upstairs. I didn't bother bringing a camera as the rule of "no picture taking" is allowed in Blenheim Place. Outside yes, inside NO. It was funny to see tourists getting the feathers ruffled on some of the tour guides and getting chewed out by them as well...when they say NO picture taking at Blenheim Place they mean NO PICTURE TAKING! I wish that more people would respect this rule.

The day was a blustery rainy sort of day, perfect for touring such a grand house. Spending time hearing the various stories of the China dinnerware collection that was on display in one of the rooms, the many oil paintings, watercolors and tapestries and even the rugs that were throughout the house. All of it was to be savored. We ate lunch in the restaurant there in the building, the food was delicious and the room was cosy- all perfect for such a rainy day.

I came out from this day trip with BOOKS. Who could pass up reading about Capability Brown? His landscaping works are still visible to this very day! He's done the landscaping of many a famous "home", the man was a visionary and simply put pure genius! I was recently at a farewell luncheon for a friend and the group gift was a book with the title "I never knew that about England". I saw that and said...ooh that's one I want to get for myself BEFORE I leave England. So when I saw it I bought it! I showed it to my daughter Hannah who promptly ran off with it. And just a few minutes ago I saw it in the kitchen on the table...time for me to go grab it and read a few pages of it before Hannah realizes where she left it, HA!

There will be a few things that will come back with me after our tour here in the states is concluded...tons of photographs of everywhere we've been here in the UK, beautiful English made pottery and heaps of books of the various historical places in England and Scotland that we have visited. Now for me to make a cuppa and curl up with a good book.

Quote of the Day

"It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for.
--Benjamin Elijah Mays, American educator (1895-1984)"

TGIF

And I mean that! Thanks be to God that it's Friday! I've made it to Friday and that right there is a miracle! My brother and sister in law arrived after a 22 hour traveling ordeal. They missed the Confirmation Mass but were able to make it to the reception.I'm just happy that they were able to get over here after all what they went through.

So the kids had to go to school today, my m-i-l and her sister are sleeping, I'm typing away in my jammies and the cat is meowing to get outside... yes, my life is back to normal. With coffee in hand I'm ready to conquer the world!

The confirmation Mass was lovely, with the Archbishop presiding, along with my 2 most favorite priests it was a most humbling and beautiful service. How moving? Well at one point I was crying tears of joy. You could feel the love from our fellow parishioners pouring out to our 2 Confirmandi. The dinner event after the Mass was extraordinary! The food, table settings- everything was everything that it should be. My whole hearted thanks go out to everyone who helped to make this event such a special one!

I'll have pictures soon as our Daughter's Religious Education teacher was taking pictures - he is out in residence photographer...Bob's photographic work is astounding! I am so thankful and feel so blessed that he did this for our 2 Confirmandi's for FREE! What a true blessing!

Quote of the Day

I dream, therefore I become.
-Cheryl Renée Grossman

Confirmation Day

It's here, it's finally here...a real photographic moment for me to take pictures of!!! Something else...we're in panic mode. We have 4 family members arriving from Boston and what happens? Flight delays on one of the flights. So 2 family members will be arriving hours before the others. I feared that something like this would happen. So now were buzzing around like a bunch of bees trying to get last minute things together here, and we have to drive out to the school to pick up our eldest who has testing today. Not what I planned but I'll roll with it. Keep you up to date...now to run off and finish up some stuff and get my spouse out the door to pick up is mom and aunt.

Quote of the day

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much.
-Mother Teresa

Start Each Day in a Happy Way

It's a Wednesday and what do I seem to be doing on Wednesdays anymore...yup it's cooking! Tomorrow we celebrate Hannah's confirmation in our Catholic Parish. There's of course the Bishop who's coming out to perform the Confirmation Mass and the dinner we parishioners are catering. Our theme is Italian foods.., now who doesn't like Italian food? I mean really!
So here I am. surrounded by meatballs. I've made over 300 of them so far and I still have 2½ pounds ( that's a little over 1kg) of meat to go. The question is...should I open those packages of ground pork and beef (that's "mince" for my friends here in the UK) or should I take a break and call it good? I vote for a break, I think that I deserve one. Oh and all the time while I've been cooking and rolling meatballs I've been having to run outside and move the sprinkler around-ugh!

After my break then I'm on to chopping and dicing fruits and veggies to make chicken salad for tomorrows lunch and possibly (if I haven't fainted from pure exhaustion at this point) making some mini cheesecake desserts for the dinner tomorrow-again that is IF!

Time for a break...toast with jam and tea..m'm!

Quote of the Day

My mother buried three husbands, and two of them were just napping.
- Rita Rudner

Art- is in the eye of the beholder

It's hard to imagine my life without art. I see it everywhere- in flower beds, in architecture and in the presentation of food. My crafting medium these days seems to be food. I love to create with my hands, that's why I love paper crafting, designing and making window treatments, needlework and quilting. But there's whole new world opens up for me when I use my chef's knife and a bamboo cutting board. I think my passions take turns and they go in a rotation. I'm starting to work on needlework projects again, I can't go to sleep without reading first and I seem to have a major cooking project going on every time I do "What's on your Work Desk Wednesday".

Today I shall be grocery shopping for items to make that special luncheon for our family that arrives on Thursday, also for those great dishes I'm making for our confirmation dinner on Thursday. I would love to bring my camera to the grocery store- but I would probably get some strange looks when taking pictures of produce or the fresh breads section- don't you think so?

Quote of the Day

Please write again soon. Though my own life is filled with activity, letters encourage momentary escape into others lives and I come back to my own with greater contentment.
-Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, 'A Woman of Independent Means'

Why is it...?

That when my life gets hectic that I must immerse myself into something creative? I suppose that it's my way of letting my mind escape it's trappings and do something fun. This week IS going to be a very busy week for me.

♥Monday- planning the weeks menus, getting laundry caught up, clean out fridge, organize the menu for the Confirmation dinner.

♥Tuesday- grocery shopping- make dinner reservations for Friday Night, plan picnic lunch for Saturday and/or Sunday.

♥Wednesday- cook foods for Confirmation dinner (yes,I'm catering), tidy house for guests arriving from the states.

♥Thursday- go over guest bathroom one last time, prepare beds for guests, make some closet space for said guests, Confirmation event to be followed by Confirmation Dinner. Set up tables and arrange flowers, finish meal prep at chapel annex. Go back home get ready, pick up family go back to church.

♥Friday- exhale! Pick kids up early from school- bring Granny and Aunt to Kingham Hill school to have a look see. Dinner reservations planned at Cartwright Hotel.

♥Saturday- take entire family and relations to Blenheim Palace possible dinner at Pudding Face.

♥Sunday- attend church, have picnic lunch- note to self...need to find place for said picnic.

Quote of the day

Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint on it you can.
-Danny Kaye

Sunshine in England

I know that it's some sort of running joke that it rains all of the time in England but I have to say that it's simply not true! we have had the most enjoyable weather lately. Yesterday my entire family and myself managed to get a sunburn! Today it's supposed to get up to 80º, how delightful! Now for the not so delightful part- homes here do not have central air conditioning. We bought a portable air conditioning unit last summer- it saved us when it got so hot in the house that we couldn't breathe. Here where we are is much like where we lived in Maine- it doesn't get really hot for longer than a couple of weeks each year. BUT when it does get hot, you are truly miserable!

Quote of the Day

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be.
- Kurt Vonnegut

My busy life

As I try to get over feeling so sullen over what has happened in Afghanistan, I'm suddenly snapped into focus on my own base. There was a motorcycle accident involving 2 young military members on Thursday evening. They were taken to two different hospitals one was taken by helicopter. One of those airmen are new to our base, only been here a month. He has a wife-who I just in met in person at our spouses group bingo event on Tuesday and they have a small baby. That poor woman's world is now turned upside down.

Her husband went into surgery yesterday and she wanted to be with him- we had been talking about baby sitters and such before this sad event happened because she was so happy to have made some new friends at the Bingo event and they had made plans are were all going to meet up at the club on base. As we all know, life can turn on a dime and suddenly she doesn't need a baby sitter for Friday night, she needs childcare for her baby all day so she can be with her husband who is having surgery. Of course I step up, what is a friend if not there in another friends hour of need? I can not possibly even begin to imagine the amount of stress this woman has pumping though her veins- new base, new country, husband in a motor vehicle accident. A dear friend lent me a pack and play so baby had a place to sleep, others stopped by and played with baby.Another friend did the tag team babysitting with me while I got out and ran some errands. Our neighborhood pitched in and helped me out with baby- it was wonderful! I was also able to arrange to have a couple more ladies contact our new spouse and arrange child care over the weekend. We've got such a terrific group of spouses here at Croughton, I can't begin to tell how proud I am of them!
Please pray for the recovery of our airmen. We're still waiting to hear on the status of the 2nd person as that person had received spinal injuries.

Quote of the Day

All is in the hands of man. Therefore wash them often.
- Stanislaw J. Lec

My military life

It's not easy being a military wife. It's reading my e-mails this morning that have put me in a somber mood. The first was from a dear friend whose husband is deployed to Afghanistan who wrote of her husband called her to tell her that their base was under attack. That they were sustaining heavy fire. he was scared for his life. The other being from another military girlfriend who I've known for nearly 20 years who asked us to pray for a friend of hers- her friends husband was killed in that attack on the same base in Afghanistan. He left behind a wife and 5 children and a new grandchild- of whom he probably never got to see in person. Here is the news story on MSNBC if you care to care it- Insurgents attack Bagram Air Field. My Heart is breaking for both of these families.

...meanwhile as I pull myself together after wiping away the tears I remember my duty to the airmen and women living in our dorms at the base. Tonight is Dorm Dinner night, where we have a big sit down meal with the single members of our military community and show them how much we appreciate their service to our great country and that we truly do care about them. As I sit here peeling what seems to be an enormous amount of apples I think about how happy this meal will make them, those that are so far away from home- some for the very first time. It's important to get to know those around you, to show them kindness and let them know that they're aren't alone. I did this last night with the spouses function. Sure it was pottery bingo- but we had a handful of new to our base spouses come to their first ever base spouses group function. It's important to give a warm welcome to those ladies (and men) who stand here on the sidelines waiting for their loved ones to come back to them after being "down range". Many of these military spouses are new to this strange world of acronyms and uniforms not to mention having their husbands or wives working such long or strange hours. Many of our spouses are the farthest away from home as they've ever been, and they feel lonely. I'm here and with the help from a terrific group of ladies to help them through that lonely transition time. We do this through getting out and becoming active in things like dorm dinners, lunch bunch, crafting groups, walking groups and more. If you read my bio you know how truly dedicated I am to the military spouse support system. No military spouse has it easy but we can help to ease their burden by showing that we care.


Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.
Mother Teresa

Quote of the Day

The Serenity Prayer
The full text of the original "Serenity Prayer" written by Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

GOD, grant me the serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change,

Courage to change the
things I can, and the
wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship as the
pathway to peace.

Taking, as He did, this
sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it.

Trusting that He will make
all things right if I
surrender to His Will;

That I may be reasonably happy
in this life, and supremely
happy with Him forever in
the next.

Amen

Copy Machines- a Security Risk

I'm posting a youtube news video that I hope that everyone will take the time to watch- it is an eye opener to say the least about the dangers of digital copiers. And this is why we never donate a computer- we take the hard drive out of it and smash it to smithereens with a hammer...same goes for our copier/scanner/fax machines.

Can you say BUSY?

My days are filled with busy whatnot's. I seem to spend a lot more time in my kitchen and laundry room than in my craft room these days. Last week was the dinner party for 15, yesterday there was the appreciation luncheon I hosted for my board members (lunch for 5) this morning I'm baking treats for the Spouses group event tonight and tomorrow I'm making a big Ole pot of Jambalaya for the dorm dinner (another base function) and then Hearts Apart on Thursday. There's next week -Hannah's confirmation of which I am in charge of the catering. Yup, I am spending my life in the kitchen. Good thing that I like to cook eh?

Quote of the Day

People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

Quote of the Day

What a blessing it would be if we could open and shut our ears as easily as we open and shut our eyes!
- Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

I ♥ my daughter

I think that I have just about the most thoughtful and fun loving daughter anyone could ever wish to have. This is a wonderful child that I thank the Lord for (on most days). She continues to amaze me with her quirky sense of humor, her thoughtfulness, her generosity and her unconditional love of her friends and of course her dork brother.This is a person that will find happiness wherever life takes her and will strive to make a difference in the world around her.

Yesterday as we are on our mother/daughter trip to Maidenhead to pick up my latest e-bay find and then to Windsor Castle she says to me "Mom, I want to pay for the tureen, I want it to be a gift from me to you". As feelings rushed through me all I could think was Oh my goodness what a truly wonderful, loving thoughtful and generous child I have been blessed with!

So here it is, my gift from my daughter...a Portmeirion Soup Tureen, pattern is Pomona. I know that this kind of thing isn't for everyone and some people are happy serving their store bought soup right out of the cook-pot. As for me, I like to make soup from scratch and now I can serve it up right! My many thanks go to my loving daughter Hannah! Now her Momma can have luncheons and dinner parties in style!

Quote of the Day

There is no difficulty that enough love will not conquer; no disease that enough love will not heal; no door that enough love will not open.
-Emmet Fox

It's Saturday!

What to do on a nice weekend like this...maybe go out and do something touristy with my daughter while my husband has to work and our teenage son wants to do nothing but sleep and play video games with his friends.

Quote of the Day

Work and struggle and never accept an evil that you can change.
-Andre Gide

Dinner for 15

This went off so well that I would love to do it again! The recipes should soon be trickling in and once they are then I will be posting them on my cooking blog. Clean up was a snap! My behind the scenes helpers kicked in and did a fantastic job -many thanks to my awesome husband and daughter!

Just so you know- I'm not one to use disposable cups, plates or plastic eating utensils- I have a serious aversion to using such things in my own home. It's been about 15 years now but I remember it like it was yesterday - I ruined a very nice outfit because of a cheap quality paper plate at a First Friday function and ever since then I just avoid using them period!

I served everyone off of real dinner plates- a big Hooray goes out to my Fiesta Ware 10 inch plates and my Portmeirion 8 inch plates! I was in my element last night! I got to use those lovely large serving bowls and platters that I have collected. German pottery, English pottery, American pottery and Polish pottery. And it all looked so beautiful together. I received many compliments from the ladies who loved how all of the dishes meshed together and I have a few ladies who are VERY interested in going on a pottery shopping trip to Stoke-on-Trent with me the next time I go. Life is Good!

Now for the good stuff- what was served (m'm). My theme was "Salad's". I was the hostess for this months event (meals I made have a * by them) and everyone brought a dish to share (on our theme)...We had 3 different versions of
♥Caprese Salad* (one can never have enough of this stuff) I made a roasted tomato version of this the evenings event.
♥Cornbread Salad
♥Broccoli Salad
♥Grilled marinated Steak Salad
♥Orzo Pasta Chicken Salad
♥Raw Spinach w/Fresh Fruit Salad* and home made Asian dressing*
♥Baked Spinach Salad*
♥Sandie's Chick Food Chicken Salad* with Croissants
♥Asian Salad* with homemade Asian salad dressing*
♥Italian Pasta Salad
♥Curried Chicken Salad
♥Apple Snicker Salad (this tastes just like a caramel apple rolled in nuts-YUM)
♥Rhubarb/Apple/Strawberry Gelatin Salad
♥Chocolate cake with marshmallows
♥Lemon Bars
♥Mimosas...which is nothing more than orange juice and champagne

And lets not forget about all of the breads, crackers, olives and other nibbles that I placed throughout the table. You can't have a big spread without the nibbles! Polish Pottery to the rescue! Besides using platters and sandwich trays, I also got to use those cool Olive Trays that I bought at the Polish Pottery store in Germany. :-D I feel so happy today that dinner went off so well! We had sooo much food that I'm bringing in a surprise lunch for my husbands entire office today! They will ALL be doing the happy dance!

Quote of the day

The future is here. It's just not widely distributed yet.
- William Gibson

Portmeirion, Burleigh & everything else good and wonderful

It's a fact, I'm in love with British pottery! I simply don't seem to be able to get enough of it! All of my Homer Laughlin solid colored Fiesta pottery ties in with it all! This is the best of both of my worlds- solid colored pottery from the USA and the lovely floral potteries from England- I'm in heaven! Throw in some Polish pottery to go with my Burleigh pottery and I'm sooo there!

In case you're wondering what I'm going to do with all of this pottery that I've been buying up like a crazy woman...Do I ever use it? Oh yeah! Tonight it's a casual dinner for 15 or at least it was at the last RSVP count, there's always those that don't RSVP and just show up and I'm okay with that! I bet that you're wondering -what's up with this dinner? Believe it or not, but I'm in a cooking club. I giggle with the mere mention of it!

As for the Cooking Club- we limited it to being neighbors (we want to keep it small and within walking distance). We set our own themes and work from there. The theme that I set for tonight is "salad". Now lets think outside of the box for a minute...not all salads are lettuce based. I wanted to challenge people with this one...I make the main dishes and everyone else brings smaller items to go with the theme...desserts included. I'm anxious to see what others come up with. Another great by-product is that my family also gets to partake of this huge feast!

Now for me to prepare my formal dining room for the the buffet. The table leaf needs to be inserted, tablecloth needs to be pressed, plates set out, glasses set out along with napkins and flatware. OOh I'm sooo in for this!!!

Quote of the Day

Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious.
- Peter Ustinov

Every Day!

Every new place leaves me with something to do- always. Everyday is a blessing, Everyday is an adventure, Everyday something new will happen...Everyday is a Blessing!

Kindness, love, compassion- this can be shown and expressed in so many ways.

You know that you have the best kind of friends when they phone to tell you that they've been praying about something that involves you. With that...I am now a board member on our Parish Advisory Council. I truly feel Blessed! First for having friends think that I would be good at this and secondly for having friends that see what I've done as far as military community relations are concerned. We may be a small parish, but we do so much more than any other church I've ever been a member of these past 20 years! Being here at Croughton has had it's ups and downs but most of all I feel that it certainly is a blessing!

Quote of the Day

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
- Hunter S. Thompson

Just When you think you're ready...

You're not. At the end of next month I will have been living here in England for a year. In the past 11 months I've moved house twice, lived with temporary/borrowed furnishings for over 5 months, have 2 shipments of items in non-temp storage and here I am hosting my first dinner party in my home and I'm not feeling ready. I'm sure it's just nerves and the thought of having people in my home not just to dine but ones that want have a tour of the place. Lets face it, I'm the mother of 2 teenagers who NEVER have clean rooms. It's hard enough for me to keep their bathroom tidy, never mind having to clean their rooms...I'm a Mom not a Maid. So if I take the thought out of my head of having to clean my teenagers rooms then I'm okay with having 12 friends dining in my home.

Now to get on my menu...this for me (feeding 12 people) is the easy part, cleaning the teenagers rooms on the other hand put me into a temporary tail spin!

Quote of the Day

A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus: 1. What am I trying to say? 2. What words will express it? 3. What image or idiom will make it clearer? 4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?
George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language", 1946