New Face Lift and Haircut

No, I didn't get a face lift, but my blog did.  This is what I've been working on for two days.  I wanted something with softer colors and not so crowded.  I still need to nip and tuck a little, but it's getting there.  I felt like the layout and background I had before was hard to read and I needed to work on getting my pictures more clear.  I hope everyone likes it.  I'm always open to suggestions.

Now comes the haircut.  Yes, my hair.  I mess around with my hair as much if not more than I mess around with my blog layout.  I also re-decorate and re-arrange my house a lot, too.  I assume this disorder is all related somehow.  Anyway, I usually keep my hair really short.  I like to have a simple style that always looks decent without a lot of work.  I get tired of it easily, though, so the only way I could change it much was to change the color.  I guess I just get bored looking at myself in the mirror.  So this was my hair almost two years ago at my son's wedding. 

Sorry this is so blurry.  I cropped from another picture.  But you get the idea.  Very short and heavily highlighted.

Then this was from last summer.  I decided to go a more natural color.  I think this is close to my real color without the gray.

Well, I got tired of it being so short, but I can't stand to let it grow out.  I compromised.  I let one side grown long and kept the other side short.  Asymmetrical and a little trendy.

Here's the long side, obviously.  And now the color is a more natural blond highlight, if there is such a thing.

This shot shows the short side a little better.

 

Now I feel like I have long hair without really having long hair.  Am I nuts, or what?  Anyway, this is the hairstyle for this month.  (Eye make-up would have helped a little!  Hate wearing make-up)  I hate to go  too outrageous or trendy because of my age, but I don't want to look like an old lady, either.

I've always been like this with my hair, changing cuts and colors.  When my son was in first grade they were supposed to draw a picture of their family.  My husband and my other son were very cute stick figures with brown hair scribbled on.  Mine was a nice enough stick figure, but he had every color in the rainbow scribbled on my head.  When I asked him why he did that, he said he couldn't remember which color it was.

I seem to be consistent with my always changing looks and colors, in everything I do.

A Mother's Weekend

For me, this past weekend was all about mothers.  Mother's to be, young mothers, old mothers, and grandmothers.  It was all covered.  The baby shower I gave my DIL Melissa was on Saturday and it went very well.  It was a very pink and chocolate day.  The only way it could have been more perfect is if the weather had cooperated.  It was freezing cold and rainy, so we could not use the deck at all.  No big deal, I guess.
I had finished the baby quilt on Thursday night.

I would have liked to hand quilt it, but I just didn't have the time.  Since it is a baby quilt I machine quilted myself.  Anything larger and I send out to be machine quilted.

I had finished knitting the hat and booties about a week or so ago.  I know I showed them already, but here they are again.

Melissa arrived here early Saturday morning and put together our door prize basket.  We had a diaper fund raffle for it.  For every dollar you put into the diaper fund you received a ticket to go into the drawing.  We then drew a number toward the end of the shower and my Aunt Nancy won the basket.

Mom and I spent a whole day making teddy bear lollipops to be given as favors.  I found the teddy bear mold and the makings at a party store.  Mom and I experimented a little, and by the final batch we were mixing it up with different color bows and feet and noses.  They were fun and easy to do.  I arranged them all in a candy dish filled with pink beads so all the sticks would stand up straight.  Each one was tied with a "It's a Girl" curling ribbon.

My DIL Diana gave me a pink hydrangea plant for Mother's Day the day she left for Spokane on Wednesday.  She knew it would match the colors for the shower and it was perfect for on my coffee table.

I had this teddy bear that I had made from an old rabbit fur jacket that I wore years ago.  I sat him next to the hydrangea. 

My mother was great in running errands for me.  Friday night she picked up the two flower arrangements so I could have the tables all set before Saturday morning.  The caterer arrived with the food by 11:30 Saturday morning.  Chicken and egg salad croissant sandwiches, spring salad and a vegetable tray with dip.  As is usual, you worry that there won't be enough food, and as is usual, we had more than enough.   Mom picked up the balloons and the cupcakes by 11:00 Saturday morning.  The tables looked great.

The punch is just Hawaiin punch with Sprite.  I also dipped all the strawberries in chocolate. 

 

I had blush and riesling wine in the decanters set up on the wine cabinet.  About a month ago I discovered a new wine at a local winery called "chocolate covered cherries"!  And that's exactly what it tastes like.  It's like a desert wine or a port.  Mmm! so good.  I set those bottles out with shot glasses.

The gifts Melissa received were all adorable and mostly pink of course.  Melissa looked beautiful in a long pink dress and pink and white vest.  I also wore a pink and white dress with a brown sweater.  No pictures of me, though.  I was too busy to stand still.

We had 25 guests and the day was a success and a lot of fun.  That should be the one, only and last baby shower I will ever have so I'm glad I got the chance to do it.  I have to say, though, that I was extremely exhausted by the time it was over and I still did not feel good.  But it was all worth it!

Baby Shower, Coming Up!

It's 7:00 pm. and I had to take a break.  I've been working for about 12 hours now, cleaning my house and setting the tables to get ready for tomorrow's baby shower.  It's been fun.  I just still don't feel well with this killer of a sinus/allergy/cold/whatever it is.  I'm taking decongestants and antihistamines, which helps to dry me up, but it makes my head so foggy.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing except when you have a lot to do and have to think a little. 
I've got the pink and brown chocolate teddy bear lollipops done and the chocolate dipped strawberries are finished.  The floral centerpieces are on the tables, the tablecloths are on, the plates, cups, napkins, and forks are set out.  I have to organize the activities now and wrap the little knit hat and booties.   DIL Melissa is coming early in the morning to help make up our door prize basket and help with any final touches.  I'm having the rest of the food catered, which I gave second thought to figuring I could save money doing it myself.  With the way I feel, though, I'm glad I stuck with the caterer.  It'll be a lunch of egg salad and chicken salad croissant sandwiches, spring salad, and vegetable tray with dip.  Cupcakes are being done by the bakery and balloon bunches are being made by the party store.  Mom is picking up the cupcakes and balloons in the morning for me. 
I'm excited for tomorrow.  I'll take pictures and hope to tell all about it on Sunday.
BTW, DIL Diana called me this morning.  She is back in Spokane with Brandon and she had her follow up testing this morning with a specialist to check on the possible spina bifida with their unborn son due in September.  She and Brandon were told everything looked fine and good, but they will do sonograms once a month now just to keep an eye.  They were much relieved and I felt pretty sure of this result after talking to many people about it, but just to have them relieved makes me feel much better. 
So all baby news is good again. 
OK, break over.  Going to finish up today's list, then take a hot bath with a glass of wine.  I know, I probably shouldn't drink wine with the allergy pills, but at this point how can it hurt? 

Routine and Organization

We took the grandsons home Sunday evening and I'm tired.  I've been thinking about this and wondering why?  I raised two boys that were also 16 month apart in age and very active, just as my grandsons are.  I never felt so tired raising my boys as I do after five days with my grandsons.  Why?  There are a couple of reasons I've come up with.
First, and most obvious, is that I'm 25 years older.  Second, I've figured out that routine is a large part of my daily life and existence.  I love routine.  I thrive on organization.  And the older I get the more attached to routine and organization I become.  Because of this I get a lot done and when all is going according to routine I feel at peace.

According to Wikipedia:  "Routine, as a course of normative, standardized actions or procedures that are followed regularly, often repetitiously".
And according to G.K. Chesterton: "Of all modern notions, the worst is this: that domesticity is dull. Inside the home, they say, is dead decorum and routine; outside is adventure and variety. But the truth is that the home is the only place of liberty, the only spot on earth where a man can alter arrangements suddenly, make an experiment or indulge in a whim. The home is not the one tame place in a world of adventure; it is the one wild place in a world of rules and set tasks."
These are words that I live by.  Well, you throw two little active boys into my neat, organized, routine of a life and it's not that I don't want them, it just takes me a few days to adjust and situate myself and the boys into a new, temporary routine.  So by the third day that the boys were here we settled into a good routine.  We all had fun and the boys were well behaved and I wasn't "growly", as Landen would sometimes call me. By the fifth and last day they were here Bob and I hated to see them go, almost, but we were glad to resume our old and familiar routine once again.  The boys said they wanted to stay and live here forever.  But if that happened, life at Bobby and Nina's (Grandpa and Grandma's) would soon turn into a normal routine for them and they'd want to move on to a more fun temporary routine someplace else, I'm sure.

This week so far has been spent fightning an allergy, sinus thing and it's kickin' my butt.  Regardless, I got more work done on the garden beside the shed and I'm getting the inside of the house cleaned up for the baby shower this Saturday I'm giving for DIL Melissa.   DIL Diana and granddaughter Riley were here Tuesday and Wednesday.  They headed back to Spokane today.  Oh, that little Riley is just the sweetest little thing.  I just can not quit kissing her. 
Today I'm off to finish the baby shower shopping.  I have a whole list of odds and ends that need purchased and done for Saturday. 
Lists:  That's another must have in my life.  So off I go now to cross off the items on the current list by day's end. As is my routine, I'll have a new list for tomorrow.

Busy Weeks Go By So Fast!

Have you missed me?  This has been such a week. 
My computer kind of died on Monday.  It just kept shutting down right in the middle of things.

 I couldn't work on it like that.  Got it to the computer fix-it shop and it looks as though the fan and motor just needed some cleaning.  Working good now. 

We also got the grandsons on Wednesday since their mother had another sonogram on Thursday and then left from there to go for her Air Force Reserve weekend in Pittsburgh.  Their dad, (our son, Austin), works long hours as an Air Force Recruiter and does quite a bit of travelling so they just brought the boys to us until Sunday.  They are really good and very sweet, but I get so worn out.  I wouldn't have had time to get on the computer even if I had one this week.

They love getting a "tubby" with bubbles in the jetted tub.

My other DIL, Dee, and my granddaughter, Riley, are in town from Spokane for two weeks.  They split their time between her family in Pittsburgh and the rest of the family here.  We got to see her Wednesday and Thursday.  What a doll baby.  Dee looks real good.  She's also pregnant and due in September.

 They're having a boy this time. We now have a pattern that seems to be evident; the DIL's gain more weight being pregnant with girls versus pregnant with the boys.  Interesting!

I had all three of my grandchildren with me at the same time for one day.  That's only happened twice now.  I'm a lucky grandma.  I can't wait to be able to get pictures after September of me with all five of them.

We had a frost for two nights in a row and it looks as though my yellow dahlias didn't make it.  I covered them each night.  The red daisies did just fine, though.  Now today was a beautiful, sunny and 80 degree day.  I was able to clean off some of the yard furniture while the boys played outside.  Work time is cut in half with them, though, because of the potty runs and food and drink requests.  Then at 2:00 I took Logan into the doctor for his shots needed for kindergarten in the fall.  Oooh! he was real brave until those needles went in, then what a scream.  Then the little sweetie apologized to me for crying! Ahh! So like any good grandma, we went to Wal-Mart for a new Transformer and then an ice cream cone.

 He was as happy as could be instantly.  I just can't believe he'll be in kindergarten!

Austin came up for tonight and tomorrow to be with his boys and then he has to work at a marathon in Pittsburgh on Sunday. 

Oh, almost forgot!  I'm also trying to finish the pink and brown baby quilt for Melissa's baby shower that I'm planning for next Saturday.  I got the newborn hat and booties finished.

 I work on the quilt from about 8pm until 10pm.  I'll make it!