Happy Birthday to You

Well, Birthday Greetings are in order - My oldest son, Computer Guy has a birthday this week! He will be 32 on Friday! Wow - I can hardly believe that 32 years have gone so quickly! (This picture was of him and MissC at her birthday party 6 months ago!)

We tried to get pregnant for about 6 years before I had to have some corrective surgery - and "taa-daa" - we did it!! We were on tour with the gospel quartet hubby sang with back then and we were in Durango, Colorado where they did an outdooor concert at the home of some friends. I was 7 months pregnant and was very uncomfortable sitting in a folding chair, so I was hanging out at the back with the kids and there was this darling little boy - who's name was C***! He was the cutest kid I had ever seen and later that night I asked hubby if he had noticed him. He had, and right there and then, we had a name for our baby if it was a boy! I sort of "knew" down inside that a boy was coming - we didn't have ultrasound for that sort of thing then!

He has always been a terrific guy; very compassionate, good athlete, loyal friend, consistant christian, incredibly smart with computer stuff, super musician, now loving husband and daddy! It was so fun to watch my kids grow up and become who they are! And such a blessing to see what quality people they have become! CG was my first reason for being a stay-at-home-mom and I never regretted making the choice to quit work and raise my kids. They were so.much.fun!! Oh, we had our time-outs and spankings (yes, I spanked) - but over all I had a great time! Now he is all grown up and has a family of his own - Darling wife and sweet MissC and even a granddog who is a character!

One of the fun things about CG's birthday, is that 4 days later is Darling Wife's birthday! This year we get to celebrate both birthdays by taking them all to Disneyland! It will be MissC's first time so you know we will both have cameras ready! (Providing I can get blogger to post the pictures I'll show you next week!) Hubby and I are taking a day off work and they are driving up to meet us there. We are so excited to see CG and DW of course, but MissC changes so much every time we see her - we can hardly wait! This morning DW emailed me to say that MissC has added the word "pretty" to her vocabulary! Perfect timing - with Disneyland being so pretty!! I hope she can make it to the fireworks - that will really exercise her new word!!

This is a recent picture of her I just can't resist - DW let her pick out her own outfit that day, and this is what she wanted to wear - don't you just want to kiss that face??!!

Tag - I'm It

Morning Glory tagged me for a little word meaning meme - I'll bite!


Piggy Bank - Not my style - never liked those little guys looking at me!

Yesterday - is gone, but not forgotten, but in some cases needs to be gotten over

Ronald - Well, we call him Ron and he is a dear friend

Rainbows - hmmm - I love looking at them and looking for them, they remind me that God is there, even in the storms.


There! Not too difficult! How about it Tammy, Karen and Beth?

Here are your words:

Mountains
Humor
Candles
Elephant

Any body else want to play? Let me know if you did!

A New Adding Machine

Oh! The joy of a new adding machine!! Now this might not seem like a joy to you - but I use mine a lot here at work!! My old one never really quit working, but over the last few months has started to blur all the numbers. Not too bad when it was just for my eyes, because I could still see the totals on the screen even if I couldn't quite read all the numbers on the tape. Things changed last week though, the gal who always did the bank deposits moved on to a new company - and since we don't have an accounting department in our office - and since I am HR (and can do darn near everything!) it naturally (?) fell to me!!

"So what?" you say? Well, since I now have to run tapes of all the bookstore sales and the bookshow sales (we sell building code books) I now have to have tapes someone can actually read! I scrubbed the number barrel on my old machine with a toothbrush and a soft cloth - but that actually made it worse - so I broke the news that it was time to retire and I placed my request for a new machine.

I got it this morning - and, WAHOO!!, I (and anyone else that wants to) can really read the numbers!! Not only that but it has a setting so that I can print the date on the top, and it automatically counts the number of items I have just listed! It also prints negative numbers in red and is a lot faster than my old one! I am in adding machine heaven!

I know - it doesn't take much to please some folks - - and that is me today!! It's nice new, clean cover has promped me to clean that area of my (usually messy) desk so I can actually use it without reaching over a (smallish) pile of paperwork! And since today is the day the Brinks truck comes to pick up my deposit, I will be proud of the results on my new machine!! Oh - happy day!!

Neat Stuff

One of my friends sent me an email with these handy tips. Most of them are new to me - find any you like?

Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a non-stick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.

Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add the remainder of the ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggie and squeeze mixture into the egg half. Just throw bag away when done - easy clean up.

Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar/calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Newspaper weeds away
Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers and put layers around the plants overlapping as you go. Cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.

Broken Glass
Use a dry cotton ball to pick up little broken glass pieces of glass- the fibers catch ones you can't see!

Squirrel Away!
To keep squirrels from eating your plants sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.

Easier thank you's
When you throw a bridal/baby shower, buy a pack of thank you cards for the guest of honor. During the party, pass out the envelopes and have everyone put their address on one. When the bride/new mom sends the thank you cards, the envelopes are all addressed! She also won't have to set some aside for addresses and run the risk of losing them!

MINE!!!!!
If you purchase a new bike for your child, place their picture inside the handle bar before placing the grips on. If the bike is stolen and later recovered, remove the grip and there is your proof who owns the bike.

Flexible vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and - Voila - static is gone.

Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill it with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry the cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a felt chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Reopening envelope
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Voila! It unseals easily.

Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's a lot cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair...

Goodbye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass fill it 1/2" with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dishwashing liquid, mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it "home," & can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works & you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

Take baby powder to the beach
Keep a small bottle of baby powder in your beach bag. When you're ready to leave the beach sprinkle yourself and kids with the powder and the sand will slide right off your skin.

Disclaimer - I have not tried most of these - so if they don't work - Oh well!!

Thursday Babblings 7

This last couple of weeks have totally flown by!! I looked back to see when I last posted, and it was a LOOONNGG time ago!! I was out a couple of days helping mom with legal stuff. And I had my eyes re-lasered to try to get my distance vision a bit clearer. I now can see to read without my "cheaters", however, that wasn't the plan - and my distance is still fuzzy! I go back in 2 months for a re-check and I don't know if they can laser them again or not! Seeing up close is not all bad though, I am enjoying not having my granny glasses around my neck on a chain! (I know - not a pretty picture, but they were handy that way!!) I was going to have to wear them for up-close anyway, so if I can see everything else pretty well, maybe I'll just wear glasses to drive and call it done! We'll see - I have to keep my eyes very moist with hourly doses of drops, and they will continue to adjust for about 4 months. I would love to have the best of both worlds, and not have to wear any glasses at all, but I can't do mono-vision (one eye for close, the other for distance), so that is probably not in the cards!

Mom is doing very well - she is keeping pretty busy. Her lonelist times are around dinner, so quite often she calls a friend and they do dinner together - either potluck or out. She started back at her art classes today and is excited about the new painting she has started. She started taking classes several years ago and she is VERY good!! She sells them every once in a while and averages $300 - $400 depending on the size!! I feel very lucky to be able to "baby sit" some of them in my apartment! She is doing a 1-woman show next summer that will require her to hang 30 -40 paintings for a month. But I get to keep them til she needs them for that! I should take some photos of them and post them - I'll have to see how they come out!

I am having a "rich" couple of weekends! Last Saturday Computer Guy and Darling Wife came up with Miss C for a visit! We hadn't seen them since July 4th in San Diego and in that short period of time Miss C has certainly bumped up on the cuteness scale!! She is 16 months and her hair is getting long enough to curl around the back of her neck. It's blondish and she has big blue eyes! She had fallen asleep in the car, so DW carried her upstairs and put her on the floor in the guest room with her blankee. We halfway shut the door and were visiting quietly in the living room. About 15 mins later Miss C came out of the bedroom dragging the blankee with the biggest smile on her face! She was SO CUTE!!!

We got the blocks out and she sat and stacked and whacked and stacked again for the longest time! She is such a joy - very happy, and will come to Grandi and Poppy for a kiss without being shy!

After a late lunch we went out to the pool and Miss C loves that too! DW and CG are teaching her to be pool safe - she is a little young for swimming, but is not afraid of the water and was at ease floating on her back! They are very cautious with her anywhere near a pool, but her San Diego cousins have one, so she will learn to swim early!

In the early evening we got ready and went to a 1-year birthday party for Miss McK - another cousin and really good friend. There was probably 60 people there during the evening, and momma served 4-ft long burritos - it was a lot of fun. There were several kidlets there, and they are not totally sure how to play together yet, but it was great fun watching them!

This weekend is going to be fun too! We leave tomorrow morning early to fly to Ohio to see our other granddaughter; Miss T!! Her parents, the VP and his wife (daughter-in-law) have invited hubby and me and my mom to come back for a visit. We haven't seen her in a year, so we can hardly wait!!

I could write a lot about the relationship to explain why so long, but it's not fun to talk about, so I won't! The VP has been lobbying for this for several months however, so we are grateful that DIL said yes!! She loves my mom, so she was delighted that she is coming with us!

We will be staying at a nice hotel just a couple of miles from their house, so the 3 of us will have fun there too! Hubby and I flew back last September when VP was starting the new job and getting the house ready to move in to. We weeded flower beds, ripped up carpeting and stayed out of the way of the guys laying a new tile floor in the kitchen and generally had a really fun time with him! DIL and Miss T flew back about a month later after their SoCal house sold. He told me today that their new patio should be done by noon Friday, so we are anxious to see the house now that it is done and the new patio!

I hope to be able to post some pictures when we get back! Bye til then!

A Friend Returns

Christina over at Mind Wanderings is back! Be sure to drop by and give her an encouraging word! She is learning some new techniques in child raising!!