Jan. 31st - Looking out the Window

Rufus loves to look out the window to see what's going on.

Jan. 28th -Scrapbooking

Went scrapbooking today and got 22 pages done. My goal is to get 240 pages done this year, which averages out to 20 pages a month. I thought this is doable as long as I do it.

Jan. 22nd- Playing in the Snow

Here's Landon and Rufus playing in the snow. They made a fort, tried it out, then Landon jumped in it to destroy it.

Jan 21st - Lots of Snow

This morning I woke up to more snow, in total we got 7" of the fluffy stuff. It's a heavy snow. I went out to clean off the driveway this morning and make a compfy clean area for our dogs to potty on. They don't like trying to get through the snow since they're smaller dogs.

I don't like shoveling but it is pretty when you just take the view in. Here's a couple of photos of my yard with the blue spruce tree and some birch trees.

If you'd like to see the photos larger, just click on the photo and it will bring it up.

Jan. 20th - Snow

It snowed yesterday, Thurs. Jan. 19th. Before I went to bed we had about 1-1/2" of snow. We probably got another half inch by morning. So about 2" of snow total. But, on Saturday we're suppose to get another 4 to 6 inches of snow and sleet on top of that.

I used to love playing in the snow when I was a kid but now I would just like to be somewhere where it's warm all year round. It wouldn't bother me to never have snow again and having to deal with shoveling off the driveway. Most times my husband does it but there are times that I must get out there and do the back breaking deed of shoveling.

Where are you summer?

Jan. 19th- Tucker

If I were Tucker, my 9 year old dog, whom by the way just celebrated his birthday the other day, I would say about this photo..."Boy, I like these photos from above looking down on me, makes me look thinnner." LOL. Anyway, Happy Birthday to my 9 yr old boy and I love you with all your graying hair and your set in your way's attitude. Hope you have many more birthdays.

I call him my "faithful steed" among other nicknames he has. Okay I know a steed is a horse but I'm thinking of Donkey here on the movie Shrek. Anyway, Tucker follows me around the house wherever I go and would protect me no matter what. Well, maybe...he does seem to run away in the face of danger. But, to his credit he does bark and growl when he thinks I might be in harms way.

What are some of the other nicknames he has you ask? My husband calls him McFly from the movie "Back to the Future". Plus his eyes are bigger than most. When my husband tells him to go to "mom" (which is me by the way, lol) he knows what he is talking about. He knows all the nicknames, plus he knows alot of single words that we've taught him through the years. I don't know exactly how many words he knows but I know he knows what a good many are, maybe I'd say at least 20 to 30 words, maybe more but I never sat down to write them out to see how many. Maybe I will do this someday when I'm sitting in the boring doctors office for hours.

So, do you have nicknames for your animals? How many words do they know?

Jan. 18th- Picture Frames with Lids

Since jelly jars (With Smuckers it has to be good, lol.) are already decorative I made these magnet picture frames for the fridge. I just cut around the photo with the lid, put hot glue on the back of photo, put inside lid, then put a magnet strip on the back of the lid. Hang on fridge. Easy. Would make great gifts for kids to give at Christmas time. You can use any size jar lid.

The jars I used are already decorative, but you can use any type of a jar lid in different sizes.

Jan. 17th- Book and More Organizing

Book:

I went to the Inspirational book group yesterday and to my surprise one of my friends at the group, Pat, gave me this book. Pat is truly an inspiration herself and a wonderful kind person whom I've gotten to know through my book group over the past three years. I belong to two book groups, this one, and then one at the library. I try to go to both of them when I can.

One of the quotes I like in this book is this one...because you truly don't know what anyone else is going through.

So this brings me to tell you a short story. One time I was listening to an audio tape where the speaker was talking about riding a bus and there were about four children on there being loud. This gentlemen was getting highly aggatated and said to the father, "Don't you think you should do something about the children being so loud?". The guy looked at him and said; "yeah, I guess I should. Their mother just passed away and I haven't told them yet." Wow! The guy who was speaking to an audience said he then felt bad because all he thought was that the father wasn't making his children listen and sit still. But, no one knew what this person with the four children was dealing with. Even when someone is always telling you they're fine, maybe they really aren't and just need someone to talk to, or maybe a nice smile or some small random act of kindness. The next time you start getting upset about something that is trivial think about this story. Doesn't that put this statement into perspective?

More Organizing: I'm still trying to get my scrapbook room back to being organized. These original Sizzix's were in plastic bins that I couldn't easily see so I didn't use them much. Well, now I switched them over to a drawer and it makes them much easier to find.

Monday, Jan. 16th- Organizing DieCuts

I started to organize my diecuts so that I can actually see them easier. If I can see them, I figure I will use them more. I took my Sizzix orginal and Bigz die cuts and put them in a desk drawer and put my small Sizzlits in a card file box. A small card file box will hold 40 small Sizzlits or 20 med. Sizzlits. Works great. I had all my Sizzix dies in plastic containers and never seem to use them because their hard to get to, now I can just open up a drawer and they're there organized.

Sun. Jan. 15th- Movie / Books

We went to see the movie Contraband today starring Mark Wahlberg. It was pretty good.

I watched Mark Wahlberg do a interview on the Piers Morgan show and it was really interesting. It's great how he turned his life around.

Now just got to read some more of my book "The Book Thief" before our book group meets this week.

Also, on the Kindle today you can get the book "Organized Simplicity" by Tsh Oxenreider for free. So I'm going to download it. I've been wanting to read this one. Hopefully there's some useful tips in there I can use.

Jan. 14th - Cassette's and Pencils

What does cassette's and pencils have in common?

Someone posted this photo on Facebook and boy did it bring back some memories. The statement on the photo is so true. Makes you think about how many other things that our kids won't know about. And, if they do learn about them it will seem like something they are unfamilar with. Something ancient or something that should be in the history books.

What about some of the other things they probably don't realize especially the little ones that are growing up now or children in kindergarten. The ones I'm thinking about are record players, 8-track tape players, which by the way didn't stay around long.

What about the bee-hive hairdos of the 60s I beilieve, or how about the big hair from the 70s and 80s? Then there are leg-warmers but they seem to be coming back. I recently noticed them in a store a few weeks ago.

I can remember playing with clackers. They were two clear glass balls on a string where you had to get them going fast to clack them when they were swinging on the top. Alot of bruises on the arms on that one.

Well, enough of that. So, you probably still want to know what cassette's and pencils have in common? They help each other out. Without pencils we couldn't have saved our cassette's. When you put a cassette in a cassette player and hit eject sometimes the tape would unravel. Well, to get it back into the cassette without having to throw it away you had to use the pencil to twist the tape back in working order. You would put the pencil in the cassette hole and twist the pencil to wind the tape back in if it was out of the cassette. Hope that makes sense. Hard to descibe without showing someone.

Jan. 13th - Transformed Wreath

Here's the wreath transformed after I redid it. I think it looks cute now. Then I'll transform the wreath again

when Saint Patrick's Day comes up.

Jan. 12th- After Christmas Sales / Mom

Isn't it great to get a bargain? If you wait long enough after Christmas you can get some excellent deals. I bought this barely decorated wreath for $5.99.

It was marked up with an original price of $29.99. Hard to believe I know, since it's not that pretty.

I decided I could take all of this stuff off of this wreath and redecorate it for Valentines Day and then again for Saint Patrick's Day. I'll post a photo when I'm done.

To get all this stuff for two holidays I ended up paying just under $30.00. I'm still saving money since if I had to buy two wreaths it would have cost me double. Heck I may even decide to redorate again and just use it for my spring wreath too.

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Just found out today that my mom had 3 stints put in her leg for clots. My parents never called anyone to let us know she was having it done. She went in in the morning and was home later that evening.

Jan. 11th- Weight Issues

I went to Weight Watchers today to get weighed-in. I was up 2.2 lbs. Originally it has taken me since April of 2011 to lose 23 lbs., now I'm back up. So now I'm down 20.8 lbs. I know it's better than being up but I am struggling so much with my weight. It doesn't help when you have health issues along with it.

I do know I haven't been walking as much now since the weather has started getting colder. It's hard for me to get outside when it's cold. Well, it's back to getting myself in gear to exercise.

I refuse this time to give up no matter how many road blocks befall upon me.

Jan. 10th-Book Group

Last year (2011) I read 30 books either by reading them or listening on audio. This year I've commented to reading 36 books. That's 3 books a month. I am usually always listening to an audio in the car and reading another one. So this should be doable for me.

Right now our libary book group is reading "The book Thief" by Markus Zusak, which I'm just starting.

Here's what it's about: "Narrated by Death, the book is set in Nazi Germany. It describes a young girl's (named Liesel Meminger) relationship with her foster parents, Hans and Rosa, and the other residents of their neighborhood, and a Jewish fist-fighter who hides in her home during the escalation of World War II. Published in 2005, it has won numerous awards and has been listed on the New York Times Children's Bestseller List for over 190 weeks."

I list the books I'm reading and my reviews on goodreads.com Here's my url for my list of books. Barb's Goodreads Books and Reviews

Even though it says it's considered a young adult book a numberous amount of adults have been reading it.

Mon. Jan. 9...Skunks

Seems like I'm always posting today from something the day before, but I guess it all works out in the end.

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised when my grandson came home yesterday after visiting his other pap for a day with a gift for me. He wrapped it up in a papertowel. He got these skunks from a flea market and bought them for only $1.00. He knows I love skunks and my kitchen is decorated in skunk stuff. Not only does he know what I like, he is a thrifty spender for 9 yrs old.

He also got John (his pap) a magnet that you put on the refrigerator with the Steelers on it.

Jan. 8th...Rufus Sporting His New Jacket

Jan. 8th...When the weather gets cold outside, Rufus sports his new jacket. He doesn't seem to mind wearing it, and when it's cold I think he actually likes it on.

Other News: My borther-in-law, Denny, is out of the hospital after he got a stint put in his heart on Friday.

Also, I got my 2 mile walk in this morning.

Jan. 7th...Getting Heart Healthy

It's beautiful outside this morning. Here's the weather where I live from the accu-weather online site.
43°F-Feels like 39° Sunny (Clear)

And supposed to be a High of: 46° We just got done having a bitter cold day so this feels like spring, and it's only 10 am.

I took my older dog Tucker for a short walk, just a quarter of a mile, because if you take him too far his leg will hurt. He's going on 9 yrs old this year so I take him for my warm-up walk. Then I will take Rufus the rest of the time for my two-mile walk. He's still a young pup just over a year and a half old. Here we are taking our walk this morning. I like the shadow shots as they make me look thinner. lol.

I've been trying to walk at least five to six days a week for a 2-mile walk each time. When the weather is really cold it sets me back some, so today was a perfect time for a walk. I have to try and keep my heart healthy because of some health issues with that and also I've got to keep my blood glucose levels in check.

I pushed myself with the exercise today because yesterday my brother-in-law had to have emergency surgery on his heart to get a stint put in. He had a blockage of over 80% something. All it takes is something like that to get you moving again with exercise. Although, now-a-days it's much easier to have things like this done. He had his done by the doctor going through a catherilization, so they don't need to cut your chest open.

When I had heart surgery after I graduated years ago, I had to have open heart surgery, but I had a hole in my heart that didn't close. My parents have also had heart problems so it runs in our family. This is why exercise is so important for the heart. Even if you're a thin person you still need to exercise the heart to keep it strong.

I guess according to my sister her husband will get to come home today or tomorrow. That's only an overnight stay or possibly a two day stay, compared to when I had mine done I spent two weeks in the hospital. The recovery time is so much greater now because of technology.

Jan. 6th...It's a Stuffed Up World

Yesterday Landon wanted to get all his stuffed animals out and take a look at how many he has. He decided to cover up pap with all of them. You can see his foot sticking out at the end of the couch.

Landon keeps some of his stuffed animals in his room and then sleeps with a different one every night. His pap and I take turns picking him out one each night, and Landon will tell whose turn it is to pick. Every now and then Landon will get them all out and trade them out from the ones he has in his room to the storage downstairs. This way his stuffed animals get equal time to sleep with Landon. LOL.

Jan. 5th...Something I Don't Like...

When I was taking a walk the other day I noticed something that I could take a photo of that I don't like.

Every year we have one neighbor who likes to put these inflatable decorations up and this is what it usually looks like about 70% of the time. This is the reason I won't buy these things. I wouldn't be able to stand having to inflate these all the time.

Do you ever drive by someone who has these type of decorations and it looks like there's a Santa bowing to you, or maybe a reindeer with his head tilted a little too much?

Jan. 4th - Lobster Lunch

Jan. 4th...Today my husband and I went to Red Lobster for lunch. It was more like dinner since it was around 1 o'clock in the afternoon and we probably won't eat a meal later. This is one of my favorite places to eat but we only go here about three times a year. Once in awhile we splurge. This is what I had for my meal, rocktail lobster, baked potato, salad, stuffed mushrooms, and those yummy biscuts.

Since our grandson doesn't like sea food we stopped for popcorn chicken and mashed potatoes for him for his dinner at Kentucky Fried Chicken. So after he gets home from school his meal will be already set to eat.

January 3rd...Rufus and Tucker

Jan. 3rd...Sorry, I know Project 365/366 is suppose to be one photo a day but I can't show off one dog without showing off the other. So here is both of our dogs.

Jan. 3rd...Rufus our puggle, a part pug/beagle mix is very mischievous but makes me happy. He's always getting into trouble but then again he's a snuggle bug too. Puggle's have the head tilt down to a T and I even think they know when they do this that you can forgive them of anything they have gotten into in the first place.


Jan. 3rd...Tucker is our other dog who is 9 yrs old, a part rat-terrier mix. We've had him since he was only over a yr. old and he was adopted from the dog shelter. I also got Rufus from a dog shelther. I believe in adopting dogs who need homes from shelters. Both of them bring us joy. Tucker loves his doggie ice-cream and once you give it to him you won't get it back.

January 2nd...One Little Word

Jan. 2nd...Every year there are alot of people picking one word to focus on during the year. I've started this a few years ago. This year my word is "Faith". I picked the word faith because of health issues I was having in 2011. I've decided that I will have faith that God will see me through anything that I may have to go through whether health issues or anything else. Here is a partial dictionary meaning of the word and a few quotes I liked.

In the past years I have picked the words...
2011 was Perseverance (Even after I spent the 2010 focusing on decluttering, I still wasn't done and chose this word to perservere through to keep going on my decluttering.)
2010 was Declutter (When I focused on this word for the year I did get a good bit of decluttering done.)
2009 was Health (to get fit and healthy)This one is still a work in progress.

January 1st...Happy New Year! And, Family Traditions.

Every year I make pork, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, and hot-dogs. It's been a family tradition ever since I can remember when I was young. My mom used to make it each year and now that's what I do every year. It's believed by some that if you don't have sauerkraut on the 1st of the year you will have bad luck through out the year. So that being said, why take the chance? So now it has been my tradition for as long as I've been cooking. I happen to love pork and sauerkraut anyway. One day we will eat it as a meal, and then the following day I'll have a hot dog on a bun with sauerkraut and mustard. Yummy!

Welcome to My New Blog...

Hi Everyone, Just started this new blog to post my Project 365/Project Life, which in this case for 2012 will be 366 days. This year is a leap year and we get one extra day.

In case your not familar with Project 365/Life it's where you take a photo everyday of something in your life basically to log your day to day activities or anything you want for one full year.