Happy New Year!

One of my New Year's Resolutions for 2012 is to post to this blog regularly. Let's see how that one works out for me, OK?

I'll be 60 years old in January 2012 - kind of daunting to think about really. I never really thought I'd be 60. That was really old years ago. I don't feel old even though it's harder to get up from the sofa when my ankles and legs don't seem to want to move quite so quickly. I wonder somedays who that woman is looking at me in the mirror with wrinkles around her eyes. These eyes though seem to be much wiser than the ones I imagine should be looking at me.

They have seen happiness, sorrow and pain, the joy of children being born, of marriage, of divorce and death.

The laughter has included the birth of two children - watching a son ride his bike finally jumping a ramp he had built, play football and graduate on a field of Army recruits, of adopting a child and finally knowing she is his. Of a daughter playing with her dolls preparing for the day she would have one of her own, of cheering her high school team, later having that child and realizing how much a Mommy can love and finally marrying the man who makes her happy.

They have seen tears shed and shed many of their own over hurt feelings, some legitimate and some not, and sorrow and disappointment. When your children hurt, you hurt and you want to fix it, but it's usually impossible, but you do hope for a future in which they will find happiness.

It's been a heck of a year, but we end it with Karli happy, Scooter happy and therefore Karl and me happy. Who could ask for more than that for their kids?

Of course, there have been the downs - Daddy died, Ashlynn moved to far away, Karl lost a second job in a year and Scooter finished out the year by losing his job. I figure though after losing Daddy most other things dim in the process. I realize now jobs come and go and life isn't nearly so bad as I had thought before hand.

It's much harder to lose a parent than I ever thought. We lost my father-in-law years ago and I thought that was devastating. I am now reminded of devastation. I thought I understood how others felt, but I really had no idea of the hopelessness you feel knowing your Daddy is gone and there will be no more hugs, no more be careful Baby and don't drive so fast and finally the one thing I heard way to few times, I love you. Just a couple weeks before he died, in fact the last time I talked with him, Daddy reminded me before I left him to talk to Mama, I love you Baby. Oh Lord, I do so very much miss you Daddy.

So what does this next year hold for us? Good question - I've made resolutions that I never make, but this is a different year - you see, in case I didn't think to say so yet, I'll turn 60 this year. I hope though that 2012 is a year of fun, of adventure and of LIFE.

Happy New Year everyone.

The shower curtain

Daughter Karli sent me a picture of a shower curtain she had found on Anthropologie, "can you make one like this?" Well of course, let me get to work on that right away and of course, I put it off. Then she called and said will my shower curtain be ready by Thanksgiving or do I need to buy another one until then?



Oops, "Procrastinated Project Number 24" had a deadline. I thought I left deadlines behind at the paper, guess I was wrong about that, huh?
The shower curtain turned out OK, but I do know after the first of the year I'll be making another one - for her vintagey-type bathroom. My perfectionist mode found a ruffle that's a tad off kilter and that means it's not what I'd call perfect and I can't have that in her house.
Sooooo, I'll begin on that one in January.
First though, I've got to finish a few other projects, like wrapping packages for under the tree and baking more cookies.

A discovery

I'm looking over this blog and all of a sudden it dawns on me - only two entries in two years. Time to do something about that and it's probably time to announce to the world that I do have a blog and that it could be interesting, it could be something that I find satisfying because there are times when I miss writing for the newspaper.
It's been four years since I left the paper. How can that be?
So today I get a better, or maybe I should say updated picture (if there is such a thing) of me. I'm thinking new picture and have to laugh as I think I'm glad Karl is still asleep and can't snap a pic at the moment as I sit at the computer with my white fuzzy robe and polka dog glasses on and my hair uncombed, but me after I put my face on and my contacts in.

Like Mimi?

I've discovered over the last few months I can't use my old 35mm around Kayli or Ashie. Everytime someone takes a picture they squeal - "Let me see, Let me see" and expect the picture to pop up in the preview window in the back of the camera.

I found myself wondering what in the world did we do before we had digital cameras. There are at least 300 pictures, at least 1000 before the computer crashed, stored on my computer. Thank goodness I had saved everything on disks.

I didn't really start taking lots of pictures until I started working at the paper and I'll admit I took advantage of the fact I could pay for the camera and use the paper's film and pay for some of the processing. The motto was - film and processing is cheap, shoot the same picture many different ways. I learned to be a really good photographer, but now I want to look at taking photos more seriously and I've realized I want to go back to that 35mm with the finish rubbed off, that I carried day in and day out while taking pictures every single day. I also want to look at doing a class on self-portraits.

So watch out ya'll, I'm going to be playing with my camera a whole lot more so there's probably going to be a heck of a lot more pictures of the girls.

Ashie's Play - Zach and Lena

Well, it was no surprise to any of us that the Ashie Girl loved drama camp this summer. She's been singing songs from Annie and The Sound of Music since she was but a little mite and then came High School Musical and Hannah Montana. It was always a treat to carry the girl shopping, we'd be in the middle of a store and all of a sudden she would belt out a song, way too old for her child size body. People turned around from all over a store to look at the little girl riding along in her stroller singing for everyone.
That child never had a shy bone in her body - that is until she got on stage for a beauty contest.
So at the end of the first week she asked me to come to her play - Zach and Lena. She was dressed as a Forest Fairy. The play was cute, but although the leading actress must as been Lena, I thought my little Forest Fairy was the hit of the show.