My life is to make everything around me beautiful.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

I'm Out of th' Boot!!!



Yesssss, I am finally out of the boot. I'm happy, but I'm also missing it already. I felt confident with it on that no one would step onto my heel and it afforded me company without depriving me of solitude. ;-) BUT when the doctor looked at the wound today he saw a stitch that hadn't come out. They weren't dissolving stitches, and he did take them out, but apparently he missed one, and it had started to be covered by the new skin. I'm so glad he found it! I've had wound coverings and silvasorb on that wound for six weeks, and he wasn't going to cover it today but I said I wanted a band-aid. He laughed but I got my band-aid!
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I saw the most incredible acting in a film I've ever seen the other day. It was Sling Blade and starred Billy Bob Thornton. I'd never heard of him but decided to stream the film on my laptop via Netflix and was enthralled by his acting. It was the most incredible acting I've ever seen. But I think I'm through viewing videos now. Hubby has admonished me! ;-)
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Another thought I had was Bruce Willis, whose films I loved because I love action movies. When the "costumer" came up in the credits I thought it should have been "Hanes" or "Fruit of the Loom" because the only thing he wore was trousers, t-shirt and blood in every single video I watched. Love the movies though.
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We were driving somewhere the other day in my car, which usually has the radio off but since hubs drove it one day it was on an FM station called The Tracy and Margo Show. I asked him why he listened to that particular station—old rock and roll—and he said they were funny and he needed humor. I told him he had ME for all the comedy relief he needed. He just nodded and laughed.
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Friday, May 20, 2011

Pink Saturday 5/21/2011 and Some Comments

Welcome to Pink Saturday. To view all the other participants just click on Beverly's logo below.
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I made this froufrou umbrella for my great granddaughter and it hangs in her room.

I made this one for ME out of an old umbrella frame. They are quite adorable and get compliments from all who see them.
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I was informed this week by my podiatrist that I had to wear the boot for one more week to ensure my achilles tendon is firmly attached to the heel bone. So just sitting at home I've watched over 50 movies in the past month. My daughter gave me her Netflix account number to view them on my laptop by simply streaming them since we have no television. So I have some comments on movies and actors as well.
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My favorite movies have always been spy, espionage, action movies; I just love to see the bad guys get their just due. I do not like chick flicks at all. But in reading Claudia's blog last week I think it was, I also would like to comment on the media people.

I have never in my 70 years seen so many people with face lifts, plump lips, whiter than white teeth and cleavage. It's as if they try to outdo each other for the most revealing dress. Trashy! The anchor women on news are so obnoxious to watch. Their heads doesn't move for fear of their hair getting out of place! Are there no normal looking people on television? That's hardly reality. Not to mention smoking, cussing and dresses that my mother would never have allowed me to wear. What is it with modesty anymore? I'm a very modest person, but most of the actresses and anchors dress like prostitutes with nothing left to the imagination. I could actually see up the skirt of one anchor we saw when visiting with kids last year and watching news with them. That's why we gave up watching television year ago.

Then there's the hypocrisy of smoking. Every single movie had all the actors and actresses smoking and driving luxurious cars while they're telling me to not drive or purchase certain cars. We've had a couple of friends buy "efficient" cars but traded them in because they were so bad to drive. Hypocrisy to tell me to not use my dryer and hang clothes out on the line, but it doesn't apply to them. I'm sick of the Hollywood types trying to tell me what to do. Does no one have flat lips anymore or eyes that aren't exactly like every other Hollywood actress because they all go to the same plastic surgeon? Plus their mouths would have been washed out by my father and mother. Filthy language.

I saw The Towering Inferno and really liked it, plus Steve McQueen's acting was very natural. His facial expressions were what I would expect a face to look like in the situations he was in. Very good actor. I haven't seen one actress of today who can act except for Sally Fields and she smoked and had a filthy mouth also. And some popular ones are just plain untalented. I truly was astonished by the lack of acting by most of the ones I saw.

I loved all the James Bond movies. They all smoked, wore bikinis and went barefoot when climbing a mountain to find the evil man's lair. Plus they'd wear high heels to walk on the streets of Turkey. Those are uneven brick or stone streets. Yep, that's how I do things every day: high heels and bikinis. Just nutty in my opinion. And we won't even talk about The Terminator, who in my opinion is simply Euro Trash to do to his wife what he did. How despicable can a man get? But it's becoming the norm. How truly, truly sad.
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This is a video of our General Conference in April. The topic is desire and addresses some the the things in the world today. I thought it's more than appropriate to watch (if you so desire of course) at this day in time.

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Off my soapbox...for today anyway.
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Monday, May 16, 2011

Ramblings Today 5/16/2011

Today I went out into the yard. Now, this doesn't sound like a big deal to most of you but it was to me. Love Bunny isn't here. He's been gone to northern Idaho for 4 days. Okay, so he left me alone without being able to drive, a boot on my foot and not being able to walk well, but that was okay. He knows I'm a strong and resilient woman. And that's what I want to talk about today...among other things. ;-)
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This is a gurgling fountain in our front yard. With a webcam out there I can hear the wind chimes and the gurgle on the fountain. (The cam is video and audio and allows me to see who is on our porch without answering the door.) I love the tinkling of the chimes.

I was practicing closeups on my camera once again. I realize you may get tired of hearing this, but practice is the only thing that makes perfect. I am not perfect with the camera yet, adequate perhaps, but far from perfect so I need the practice.

While schlepping around the roses, I stepped into a depression with the booted foot and it hurt. Will I never learn?! Our lawn is lush and deep green because we have a local lawn care man come 4 or 5 times a year to spray and it is well worth it. People are always asking how hubs keeps it so green and lush. For one thing, he doesn't mow short; he mows long. That helps keep the grass green. So we sink into it when walking in that grass. Roses aren't budding yet as we had a late frost. But soon, very soon!

We have islands on the entrance into our sub-division and each street. This is our view.

This sycamore tree was very high and dying at the top. Hubs cut it back last year, and it's grown several feet back this year.

This cute little sign is what I see while on the potty. (Is that too much information for ya, chicks?) ;-) I had to straddle the toilet to get this pix of it. I think I got it at TJMaxx for a song but I think the 2 I got are adorable. The other one is below this one and is what is over our garden tub in our master bath.

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Now, let's talk about an incident that took place a few days ago.

A sweet young mother I know offered to pick up an Oriental Chicken Salad for me from Applebee's (Hubs might be gone, but that in no way means he can't buy me dinner even if it was take-out) and stopped in to chat while delivering it. She was in some distress since a client had taken advantage of her. She's a professional and I've told her she needs to raise her rates but she was hesitant to do it since she's only been doing her job for a few years. I've seen her work and it is outstanding. I pumped her up with a pep talk about being assertive. While taking a class in her profession recently, she was told the very same thing. She's timid but I'm determined to help her become assertive! She knows she doesn't charge enough for her skills, but people still take advantage of her and, as with a lot of women especially, she's afraid of losing business by being firm and not getting referrals. I came a bit unglued with her. I see her timidity—something of which I'd never, ever be accused—and get a bit frustrated with her for not standing up for herself when I see so much potential for her. She just needs some confidence in herself.

I told her to do an exercise while going through the grocery store. Look at the women. Some are quite clearly "victims" and others possess a "self-confidence" just in the way they walk, look and shop. I think all of you know what I mean. Now, don't get me wrong. One can be nice while being assertive. One piece of advice I gave her was to put on a "steel magnolia smile" and by that I mean show confidence in her ability with a smile if that is all she can manage at the moment. Show the client the contract, explain it to them, highlight certain things if need be and tell them very firmly those are her terms. Show confidence in her voice, her face, her demeanor. I believe a lot of women need to learn how to be assertive while still maintaining their femininity. That's very important. We are women and we don't want to be men. I want my man to take care of me—and he does, but I also want to be able to take care of my man and myself should the need arise. We need men. And we need to be confident in our abilities as women and the keeper of the home.
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Off my soap box for now. ;-)
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Friday, May 13, 2011

Pink Saturday 5/14/2011

Another Pink Saturday has come around. To view all of the participants, hop on over to Beverly's blog by clicking on the icon below:
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I cannot tell you how good it feels to simply take a shower or even just wash my hair over the kitchen sink. Having this boot on my foot has lost its luster, let me tell ya. To update you, I had a doctor's appointment 3 days ago. When he walked into the room he asked me where my boot was. It went downhill from there. :-(

Through miscommunication I thought I didn't have to wear the boot. He had a fit when he found a lump on my heel incision. He thinks he may have to go back in if that lump is an injury. We'll know next Tuesday. I was furious with myself for believing I wasn't finished with the boot. Plus he had told me not to drive and I drove there! Love Bunny was teaching and couldn't get out of it so feeling pleasantly well enough I drove. I didn't drive home! I called a friend to come and get me.

Then when hubby called me that he was on his way home that afternoon I told him what happened. I figured he'd come home and get someone to go with him to fetch my car. Nuuuuu, Mr. Macho drives his truck to the doctor's office, switches to my car, leaves his truck there, comes home, rides his bike over there, pitches it into the back of the truck and drives home. What is it with men having a problem asking for help?

But anyway, I'm having to wear the boot even to bed and can only take it off if sitting and watching videos on my laptop. I've now watched over 50 videos from friends and the complete collection of James Bond movies for which my daughter sent me the DVDs. Okay, enough of my travail.

I was in WalMart on Tuesday with hubs—me in the riding cart—and a woman stopped me and said she loved my hair. What is it about my hair that so many women find appealing? Her appeal was its fluffiness. Sometimes it's the color. For Pete's sake, it's only gray sprinkled around a light brown, nothing special I assure you, but her compliment came as a surprise. I said thank you, always the best response, and drove away in my electric cart. But I was still astounded by the flattery, albeit, pleasantly. This photo is today after washing it and feeling marvelously better.

This little shelf was one of my very first attempts at painting. I'm sharing "old stuff" as I simply don't feel stable enough to go out much wearing this boot.

Another attempt at bird nests.

My bouquet will be 50 years old in about 3 1/2 more weeks. I couldn't just stash it away. It is part of my wall decor in the living room.

My Mother's Day rose is finally wilting but I won't throw it out until the petals drop.
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Monday, May 9, 2011

Mother's Day Spring

Our Mother's Day yesterday was a rather rainy, dreary one, but I did manage to get out and try my hand at videoing and grabbing some closeups of our apple tree. The apple blossoms were gorgeous.

I stayed home from church again because my foot hurts very badly, especially to walk on it. I finally got a photo of it Friday with a lot of contortions on my part to photograph that part of my anatomy, but it is really too gruesome to show here. However, I have an appointment with my podiatrist tomorrow. I'm hoping he declares it "healing well."

I also posted a video yesterday of my quaking aspen trees. And if you go back to see it on the previous posts, you'll see two of them. I loaded one from youtube and one directly from my computer on to blogger. I like the larger one but I'm still experimenting to see if I can get it to load larger from my computer as I don't like all the ads that come up with the youtube one. Go check it out if you are viewing this post because there are 2 from yesterday and let me know which one you like best. My preference is larger ones.
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But Love Bunny attended church and brought me home a beautiful flower the Young Men and Young Women got for each mother. Plus my son sent me an Edible Arrangement of chocolate covered strawberries and apples. They were delicious but I'm trying my best to lose some of this extra weight and gave half of them to a friend.




I got some very closeups of our apple blossoms.

There are few things prettier than apple blossoms or roses.


This is the exquisite rose hubs brought home from church for me. It actually had a strong fragrance to it. I love the colors of it.

Don't you just love that center? It looks like red velvet.

The color flows from a creamy white to pink to red on the tips.
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Random Thoughts:

People who choose not to have children are selfish. I'm not including those who don't have children because they can't; I mean the ones who think they are "saving the planet" or just think children "are too much trouble" or "interfere with their lives." Those are the ones who should be ashamed of themselves for being so selfish. Children are a blessing from our Lord, and if you're a Christian we're commanded to go forth and multiply. I can't think of any other blessing that compares to children.
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As I said, I'm trying to lose weight I've accumulated over the past several years, but truly I try not to anything without a saturated fat close at hand.
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Goodness speaks in a whisper; evil shouts. This is absolutely true. Listen to the still small voice and you can't go wrong.
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Love is sharp, it pierces, and love is a needle that sews shut the hole sin in our hearts, that mends our wound but it can also cut deep, wound and kill.
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Ever think of what we do in front of Jesus Christ that we wouldn't think of ding in front of grandma?
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Every day is to me a "Momentous Day"!
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