Happiness!

Today I got a text message from my Hannah Banana...

Happiness!

I love this girl a whole bunch! I am so proud of her.

Have a great day!

Donnelly

A catch up is in order

It has been a while since the last time I posted and I was feeling a little bit (okay, a lot) sorry for myself.

I came to the realization that I have yet to post a photo of the necklace I won on Betz White's blog. I love it! The chain was a little small, so I got extenders at Micheal's to make it more comfortable. I love that I chose the word SIMPLIFY. And I really feel that I have accomplished a lot toward my goal of simplifying my life. Since the first of the year, I have cleaned my house every weekend but one!

That weekend, we took the rest of Hannah's belongings up to her and spent the day with Brady at the thrift stores. We don't have a Goodwill in our town. Our capital city has 2. It was rather exciting. Didn't come home with a lot, but it was still fun!

I have been missing my Hannah Banana something fierce, I am not going to lie. But I love that she still texts me almost as much as she did before she moved. And there is also Facebook. She told me this weekend that she will be here on March 10th and 11th. Happiness is not a big enough word to express how I feel about this.

I had a four day weekend this past weekend, and it was a much needed break. Rick and I reclaimed our house from my mother-in-law.

When we moved in to our new house, Rick set up a small den as our t.v. room. We set up Rick's mom's t.v. in the living room.

Picture 2 large adults, 2 large dogs and a small dog all crammed into a 6 x 6 room. Not comfortable, not condusive to relaxation.
Rick has been so stressed out about being in that small room. We were desperate. Rick told his mom that she was going to have to switch places or go to a managed care facility. Needless to say, she thought that the alternative to switching rooms was not for her.

When we moved in to this house, we had set up the living room with Rick's pool table and the dining room as the living room. This weekend, we moved the pool table into the dining room and moved a loveseat, Rick's recliner and my rocker into the living room.
I bought Rick a 32" Vizio t.v. for his birthday/Valentine's day present. His birthday is the 15th of February. I thought it was only fair as he had bought me a new Blackberry for my Valentine present. Here is a collage of the new arrangement. I am already planning on making it flow better, have to wait until next payday though.

I am loving being able to look out the windows. I am enjoying the light. I love the fact that our record player is in the living room and we can listen to music. I am loving that the dogs can stretch out and not be on top of me and on top of each other.

It is really wonderful!

Have a great day!

Donnelly

When did I get old enough to be an empty-nester?

I have been seriously contemplating when I got old enough to be an empty-nester.

My baby girl is moving 130 miles away.

Makes me a little sentimental and a whole lot sappy.

I don't feel old enough to be one of those people that only get to see their children when you go to their town or holidays or weddings or anniversaries or funerals. But as of tomorrow, only one of our five will live in the immediate area.

I don't feel old enough to have grey hair and rheumatoid arthritis.

I am not afraid to say that I am 43 years old and that I will be 44 in April.

I don't feel old enough to be in charge of taking care of my mother-in-law.

I have been married for 20 1/3 years. Sometimes I think about that. It really seems like I have been married for less time than that.

I really like my husband. I know that seems kind of silly. Let me explain. I certainly love my hubby with all my heart, no question. But I really like him. If I weren't married to him, I would definitely have him as my friend. He is level-headed he has a kinder soul than I do.

I guess that what I am getting to is that I am sad to see my baby girl move, but I know that I will be okay. I am glad that Rick will be here to see me through it.

Have a great day.

Donnelly

Happiness and Sadness

Some days... life hurts.

Today is one of those days. Today is full of raw feelings. Today is full of hurt.

My son, Brady, and his wife Kylie have filed for a divorce. Not sure of all the circumstances. I know they have had their problems, wish I would have been able to help.

And my heart hurts.

Hannah, Brady's sister, has gotten a job in our capital and will be moving in with her brother.

Makes my heart hurt...and makes my heart happy.

Happy that they will be together to take care of each other.

Donnelly

Thrifting finds for Monday, January 24th

There are some days when it is hard to go home from work.

There I said it.

I work with children with emotional and behavior disorders on a daily basis, home some days is not as restful as it should be.

When I have change in my wallet, I give myself a little bit of "me time" and I go thrifting on weekdays. Yesterday was such a day. I went to 3 different stores in our area and found both of my finds in one. Total time spent 45 minutes, total cash spent $1.67!

My first find is an aluminum-ware ice cream/dessert dish. I love aluminum-ware. It keeps things so much colder during the summer. My total count now is 2 cereal bowls, 2 ice cream bowls and 20 glasses!

This ice cream dish is a brighter green, I played with my photo software to bring out the colors of my butcher block and my cooker and it washed out the colors of the bowl.

My next find is a gravy ladle. Sure wish I could figure out the hallmarks. I found items with the same hallmarks on E-bay, but it didn't tell me who made it and when. I love it no matter what, I would just like to know a little bit more.

I am sorry about this next one, I forgot to clear it up a little bit. I do love this view. I love the way the handle was connected to the bowl.

Here are the hallmarks. I am going to spend some time this weekend trying to figure out what they mean.

Today's finds were not huge. I got some plastic hangers 6/$0.50, a Yankee candle votive for .35, a crystal wine glass for 2.00 and a silver plate fork for .25. I will try to post a photo of my fork tomorrow.

Hope your day was awesome and tomorrow is better.

Donnelly

Hello

I have a photo to share of my Cathedral Windows work that I did yesterday.

I have also been doing a little bit of tatting off and on this week. It is an edging from my favorite tatting book: Tatting Patterns and Designs by Gun Blomqvist and Elwy Persson. It is called Margareta. First row is pink, second row will be aqua. I will be using the edging on pillowcases for our bed.

I had a couple of thrifting finds that I'd like to share.

First off is a milk glass lamp that I scored for 3 bucks! I bought a little black shade for 6 dollars and it now dresses up my desk in my craft room.

Next up is a set of salt and pepper shakers pre-WWII. They remind me of our little farm house and our barn. I love them. Can't wait to use them at Thanksgivings!

We, at the Webb household, are forgoing today's Barrett-Jackson classic car auction for football. We are hoping for a Packers/Steelers Superbowl.

Hope you have a great day!

Donnelly