Scrapbooking Retreat at Last!

Six months ago, my friend C asked me to go with her to a scrapbooking retreat in Weatherford. For several reasons, the timing wasn't right then, but when she returned and told me the dates of the next one, I said, "I'm in." Well, this weekend, long awaited, has finally arrived!

Tomorrow morning I head out, pick up C, and drive to Weatherford to the Covered Bridge Inn. It's a Victorian house set up specifically for scrappers. Upstairs there are beds for 18, downstairs there's an eating area, and, most importantly, a beautiful scrapping room. A hot tub and massage will complete the luxurious, relaxing weekend.Now, you might ask, what am I going to scrap? Well, Ian, of course. I have plenty of photos of him to put into scrapbooks. I also have a trip to Atlanta from April that I want to scrap. So there'll be plenty to do, but mostly, I want to relax, meet new friends who enjoy the same hobby, and have a mini-vacation. Hooray!

Next week, I'll post photos of the weekend, so stay tuned!

Closet Makeover

I have always wanted to have a beautiful closet. I figured this summer was a good time to try to bring order and beauty to this overlooked spot in my home. I ordered flocked hangers from HSN and started changing out the old for the new. You may not be able to tell much difference from these photos, but believe me, I have a lot more room in there now. You can actually slide the clothing to the side to get what you want instead of digging in with one elbow while your hands pull out sleeves to see what's there. :)


Here's a "before" photo of the slacks/dresses section.









here's "after"
here's "before" of the shirts

here's "after"
here's "before" of hub's section

here's "after"

A Stray at Home

Yes, Gunny has made himself at home. He is a young cat, apparently, but sleeps a lot. He's a lap cat and is content to sit on you when you're watching TV. He does play some, but is mostly pretty laid back.

Here's his new perch:

Sorry, Ian!

This face makes me smile...

Hi, Ian! I love you!

We're NOT Going to Have Any More Pets!

Those words now belong in the category of "Famous Last Words." Yes, we have acquired a cat.

Actually, the cat chose us. He's a stray that hung around our yard for a week or so, then the hub started feeding it...outdoors, of course. The next thing I know, the cat is "just visiting" in the house.

"He wanted to come in," hub says in explanation with a shoulder shrug.

"Hrumph!" I retort. "I bet he opened the door, too."

The next week, another larger, fiercer cat arrives in our yard (an interloper!) and scarfs down all the food. The food moves indoors. Now the cat hangs around outside, is allowed inside for extended periods, and in general, has made himself at home. He was obviously domesticated before being dumped on the county road that runs across the back of our property.

Well, the cat remained nameless all these weeks. After all, if we didn't name it, we couldn't claim it, right? (isn't that theological?)

Well, when Karen came to visit this week, she was charged (by her sister-in-law) to come up with a name for the cat. We tried out several, none seeming to fit just right for this gray and white male cat. Some were too long, some too awkward, and some had a vague connection with meaning.

Then, today, on the ride back home, she came up with the perfect name. Introducing...
GUNSMOKE a/k/a Gunny. That's the perfect name considering his gender, his color, and hub's hobby. He's a really good lap cat and rarely meows. He's not messy with his food and...goes to the door to be let out. No litter box, hooray! What a great cat!

Grandson

Our grandson and his mom came to stay a few days with us. We so enjoyed their visit! Baby Ian is sweet and cuddly, baby soft and smiley. Mom got some work done while I babysat Ian.

Here's a playmat pic:

My healthy ice cream

Since I am diabetic, I watch the sugar/carbs I eat pretty closely. One thing I really missed is ice cream. I love ice cream....all flavors, brands, varieties, with toppings or without.

Years ago, I purchased a counter-top ice cream freezer. You keep the canister in the freezer until needed, put it in place on the electric base, pour in the ingredients, and voilà, you have ice cream. It's soft so I put it in small plastic containers to pop into the freezer. Then I enjoy these when I want something cold and yummy.

Okay, so what's healthy about this? My recipe. It is sugar-free and fat-free, and has only 4 ingredients. Here's the recipe:

Beat with a whisk 2 eggs, 2/3C of Splenda, and 1 t vanilla. Add 1 quart of fat-free half-and-half (I use Land 'o Lakes from WalMart). Whisk till completely blended. Put freezer container on base, turn on machine, pour mixture into the top. Set kitchen timer for 20 minutes. Turn off machine, spoon out ice cream into plastic containers, and freeze.

Smucker's makes a sugar-free strawberry topping, and I also found a sugar-free chocolate syrup. Add sugar-free Cool Whip on top, a few chopped pecans, and you'll have a sundae worthy of Dairy Queen...with no guilt!!

On Vacation

My vacation this year looks really different. I usually spend a week with my parents, another week visiting children and friends, then my last week at home scurrying around to get the summer projects done before heading back to work. I usually arrive back at work exhausted.

Because my health has not been optimal for about 3 months now, the hub decreed that I was put on travel restrictions this year! Ugh! Although I know it's necessary for me to rest and restore my health, I chafe against the limits.

So, my to-do list looks like this: organize closet, clean out old clothes, clean out drawers, organize the garage, do some yard work, read books, eat healthy meals, exercise every day, do some Arbonne work, scrapbook, read blogs, etc. Not too much exciting there, and you might think that that is still a lot to accomplish. However, one task a day is how I'm approaching it, and that is easy compared to my past schedule. :)

There are a few bright points in this 3-week hiatus. One, our daughter came to visit (thanks, Lyd) for a few days. Just having her here brightened us both up and we loved visiting with her. Two, our daughter-in-law and g'son are coming next week to spend a few days with me. I get to babysit while she gets some urgent design work done. Third, hub relented and let us take an impromptu day trip last Sunday to meet our new "adopted" g'kids in Southeast Texas. Our friends are adopting again, so we went to meet the four kids and had a great time. So, as long as I get to see everybody and spend some time with them during my vacation, I'm happy!

I will take before and after photos of my closet re-do. I started on it this morning and ran out of hangers before one wall was done! So I ordered more which should arrive before my vacation is over, hopefully, so I can finish this project.