Thursday, March 31, 2011

Spring in Arizona

Springtime in Arizona starts a little earlier than mosts places in the country.
And in Arizona, spring means one thing.......
Baseball. 
Spring training baseball to be exact. 
Starts at the end of February and ended....Tuesday. 
The cool thing about being retired is that I got to go to a Spring Training game
whenever I wanted!! 
So away we went......to three games. 
Cubs and Rangers.
Rockies and Cubs.
Cubs and Diamondbacks. 
See a pattern here ;-)  
Anyways, here are a few photos from the various games. 





Hmmm.....wonder who he's rooting for......

No!  I did not eat the whole thing!  
In fact I had nightmares about this hotdog for a whole week afterwards!
(That's another blog post!)



Spring training brings a whole array of visitors to the Valley of the Sun every year. 
And usually there from much colder climates. 
At Tuesday's game they announced the temp. in Chicago.....39 degrees.
And then the temp. in Mesa, AZ.....83 degrees. 
Ah.......yes.......
It is our one bragging right. 
My favorite moment occurred at the first game we went to. 
A gentleman a couple of rows up decided to call his son in Wisconsin....
During the game. 
He proceeded to tell his son  (and all of us) that it was a beautiful 78 degrees
and not a cloud in the son. 
Of course he shared this little tidbit after his son told him he was shoveling snow. 
Bwwwwaaaaahhhhhh!!  Way to rub it in Dad! 

Ummmm...... yeah!  The signs of Spring! 




Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Living, Breathing, Priceless Works of Art

It is no secret that I am a big fan of crafts and artsy stuff in general.  My brain is constantly racing with new things that I want to create, make, draw, put together, etc.  In fact, my brain is pretty much always in overload. 

Anyways, I've made some pretty cool things and I've made some things that haven't quite worked out.  Hmmmmmm.......

But, by far, my greatest masterpieces come in a very different form.  And my brain was not in overload from my greatest creations.  Of course I can't take complete credit for these works of art.  I did have a little a help......it does after all take two (ahem.....sorry.....am trying to keep the ole blog g-rated!).   Oh, and I do believe there was devine intervention from above that had a hand in them also. 

If you have visited this blog for any great period of time, you've probably seen these masterpieces.   First, there is this one.....


There's a little post about her here.

And then there is this little gem. 


There's a little more about him here.

There is another one that I have never written a blog post about and that I rarely speak of.  That is because she was with us for only a short period of time.  Although I don't speak about her that does not mean that I don't think about her especially during this time of the year.  It was almost exactly 26 years ago that she was taken from us.  She went to sleep one night and never woke up.  According to the doctors it was SIDS.  I created this scrapbook page about her a few years back.  



We were devastated.  I guess that goes without saying. 
The passing of the years have dulled that pain.  
I know this might be difficult for some to understand as many never get over such pain.  
I can't explain this exactly.  
Maybe God had better plans for her....
Maybe years of delivering devastating news to others numbed me.....
Or made me realize we all have a burden to bare.  
Yes, coping with this loss came easier over time, 
But there is one thing that has always made me sad.
And it is this......

That my oldest daughter does not have her sister.  
When Robyn was born I was beyond thrilled that Amanda would have a sister.
I was the only girl in my family.  
I had two brothers. 
And I always wanted a sister. 
To fight with.
To swap clothes with.
To talk about boys with. 
To get advice from.
To share secrets with.  
To always have a good friend.
And when I think about Robyn,
I get mad that she was taken away from being all those things to Amanda.  
And for the opportunity for Amanda to be all those things to her.  
It makes me so darn sad.....


 
 

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

So I'm a Styling Blogger.....

Or maybe a Stylish Blogger.  And here is my award to prove it!


Cool beans! I think I've arrived!
Well I guess I shouldn't get too carried away but I am very flattered.

To start with I give a special thank you to Miss Eileen  for giving me this award.  So very sweet of her! 

Now the rules say that I must share 7 things about myself.  Hmmmm...where do I start.  Well here goes...

1.  I am a retired police officer.

2.  I am addicted to Starbucks (not donuts!). 

3.  I love to bake.

4.  I hiked from the South Rim to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in one day!

5.  My favorite season is baseball season ;-)

6.  I am not a neat person.....at all!

7.  I could wear flip-flops everyday. 

And now I must pass the award onto some other stylish bloggers.  These are the blogs I passed it onto.
wiLDaBoUtCoLoR
Crocheting the Day Away
The Pine Needle Valley
The Craft Attic
CroCreations
East of Eden
Butternut Street
HooknWool
Getting Hooked
This, That, and the Other

Check them all out.  They are wicked awesome!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

My Favorite.....So Far!

This past December I was perusing the Flickr GrannySquares Pool looking for inspiration when I came across this blanket

It was instant love.   Of course, this is not unusual for me.  I seem to fall in love everyday when I love at crochet creations.  

But, for some reason, this one was different.  I had to make it......now! 

So I studied it carefully, determined what yarns were needed, and went to work on it.  And pretty soon I had a big stack of granny squares. 



And then February came......
And the stack just sat there waiting patiently to be joined. 
Well, I finally got it all put together.....
Finally. 
And this is the final product.



And I think I fell in love all over again......





And it now has a special place on my sofa. 



Within my reach when I am just sitting there watching TV. 
It's also within reach of the doggies.....
They totally loved snuggling up under the blanket as I was joining
the squares together. 
I with I had gotten a picture of them...it was so cute!
Yeah, I'm one of those people....the dogs are my little humans. 
But hey...cut me some slack....
Grandchildren are not in my near future!! 

Anyways....it is done...
And I thank Amanda for the inspiration!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Mornings


This is generally what my mornings look like. 
Actually this is what the dining room table looks like.....
Minus my cup of coffee which I had already finished when I took this picture. 

It is an illustration of how scatter brained I can be. 
There is my textbook and my assignment right next to the computer....
And if you look closely I am not working on homework as I should be. 
Instead I am easily distracted. 
I'd much rather be reading blogs. 
Or doing the crossword...
My husband gives me the part of the crossword he finds too hard. 
And on this particularly morning....


It is really hard!!! 
He handed it over to me straight away. 
And this is as far as I got. 

Hmmmm.....I guess it is time for more homework.
Or just a little more blog reading...

TTFN and Happy Monday to everyone :-)

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Doodly Doo and a New Title Too!

A couple of months ago I signed up for an online doodling class with Stephanie Ackerman.  I love to just doodle but unfortunately I haven't had a whole lot of time to do it lately.  I did manage to "doodle" a birthday cards for a couple of friends.   And I integrated some crochet into in.  This is how they turned out. 


I put the crocheted flowers on the card in a way that they could be easily detached and used for other things like as an embellishment on a scrapbook page or as a coat lapel pin.  Or as an added embellishment for a headband.  Anyways, you know what I mean...   I think I'm going to do this again for future birthday cards and maybe even Christmas cards!  But I think I'd better get working on them now ;-)  I can see myself procrastinating.....hmmmm....yeah....not me....no never!!  (insert sarcasm)  

Another thing I've been up to is a re-naming of the ole blog.  I initially picked the title "This and That" because I honestly couldn't think of anything else.  I just figured there would be a whole lot of  "this" and "that" on the blog so that's what I went with.  Well, the other day, as I was on a little hike I was thinking about my blog and some of the things I wanted to blog about.  I want to blog about all my various hobbies, but I also want to blog about this new phase in my life.  So somehow "the art of 50" came to mind.  Meaning there will be art (or actually crafts) on this blog but also there will be entries on the "art" of being 50.  Get it?  Art? 50? Yeah.....I know.....I'm a goof.   But, hey!!  This is totally 100% me.  In all my imperfect glory.  Can it get any better than that????  Hmmmm.....yeah.....I'm gonna say it can get so much better....but it's the best I've got.....

Ta Ta for Now!  And Happy Thursday!!!!


 

Thursday, March 3, 2011

MIA

Well, before I get started I'm going to post this pic.....



Of this little work in progress.  I do so at the beginning because the rest of this post might be a tad bit....hmmm.....depressing.  My own little pity party.  So, read beyond this point at your own peril.....remember I did warn you!

Yes, it has been a while since I have dropped in on blogland.  I've been missing in action....for several reasons.....

For one thing, I have been busy!  Yes, I know it is hard to believe being retired and all.  But yes it has been a busy month.  It went something like this......

I turned 50. 
Then I promptly got sick.  First with a respiratory thing then with a stomach thing. 
Next, my hormones went wonky ( yes, TMI, I know!) 
And with those hormones came a face full of pimples (still get 'em even at my age...)
Oh, and a big ole red splotch below my eye that looked like someone punched me.

I spent an entire weekend crocheting a baby blanket for a friend.  Was working feverishly to get it done before the big arrival.  Of course it would have helped if I had not waited until the last minute! 
I went out of town for a time (wine tasting and Sin City).  And again I got sick...oh, and had horrendous insomnia.  Nothing like dragging your butt through your whole mini vacation. 
Then there were the two midterms I spent hours and hours studying for.  The older I get, the less the information sticks

Oh.....and did I mention I turned 50....
Hmmmm.....did not think this was going to be a big deal.
But I felt strangely lonely. 
Yes, there were people around. 
I just thought it was going to be a bigger deal. 
Well, it was a big deal...but in a different way. 
I learned it was a much bigger deal to me than it was to anyone else. 
But I guess that's the way it is suppose to be. 
After all, they weren't turning 50....I was. 
And why is that a reason for anyone else to celebrate. 
There was a little celebration in California.
With a old friend I hooked up with after 30 years. 
And it was wonderful. 
I felt bad for her though because I got sick :-(
So I wasn't as much fun. 
I don't know....it just could have been my mood of late. 
Turn 50 and there's this sudden realization that you most likely have more Christmases and Birthdays behind you than you have ahead of you! 
Yikes!  I am depressing aren't I!
Don't mean to be....just needed to type what was going through my head. 
And, no, I don't feel old at all!! 
Just a little reflective that's all. 

Another reason for not so much blogging is that I have been trying to think about the direction I want the blog to go.  Initially, it was just going to be daily observations.....
Then just artsy, scrapbooky, crochety stuff....
And now, I need it to be something more...
All my neurons are firing at full speed and I have so many things going through my head......
(Neurons and dendrites and axons have been on my mind a lot lately!)
But I don't want to scare anyone away. 
So here is the plan....
There will be my usual stuff.
And there will be daily observations. 
But there will also be a little bit more of me and my thoughts. 
At the beginning of any such posts I will give you a little warning....
In case you don't want to read the blatherings of a premenopausal woman. 
If you happen to be a premenopausal woman you may understand. 

In any case....I plan to still be here......