Friday, December 29, 2017

Goodbye 2017...

It's almost over..2017 that is. I can't say it was a bad year. In fact, for me 2017 was a good year. A couple of very sad months when we lost Winston and then Kitty, those were rough. But, I've decided to copy a friend of mine http://itsmylife-jen.blogspot.com/ and post the year 2017 in pics...

Jan...
We went on a cruise to the Bahamas with Eric, Jessie, the kids and some of Jessie's family. We had a lot of fun and I snorkeled. Haven't done that in 10 years.



February...
Got myself an Instant Pot. Makes the best eggs and also is my new favorite appliance..I am in LOVE!
March...
We planned for almost a year to take a relaxing vacation in Cancun. Jenn and Dan asked if they could horn in and came with us to Imperial Valentin Riviera Maya. So fun!! So relaxing and So gorgeous!


Very sad day on the 25th, we lost our beloved Winston. I knitted like a crazy person just to have something else to do, other than cry.


April...
Paul fell in love with this little guy. We brought him home and named him Bentley.



May...
We went on a Kentucky Bourbon tour with Joe and Diane. Had a blast!! We also bought a motorhome..went in halves with Paul's brother Bobby. It's gorgeous!



June...
I got the surprise of my life when Paul and my family and friends threw me a surprise birthday party for my 60th. Not only that but Eric, Jessie and kids were there and REALLY surprised me. I didn't stop balling my eyes out for a week!


July...
Paul ran in the Kerstetter 5k race. We wore some shirts Jenn got for us in support of Law Enforcement.

August...
We had the kids again for 2 weeks. We went camping in Hershey Park and ALL kinds of fun things!! Paul and I went to see Tim McGraw and Faith Hill for our 41st Anniversary! 💖



September...
Paul and I visited the sunflower fields in Avon. It's called Maria's Field of Hope for all children who have or have had brain cancer. So beautiful and so sad at the same time. 



October...
We had our annual Halloween Party at Joe and Diane's. I actually made my costume and if you can't guess, I'm the person on the operating table in the game Operation. Paul said his costume was so comfortable that I have to figure out what I can be next year so he can be a surgeon again. I sliced my leg open by dragging Toby across it. He didn't know. He was bracing himself and I need to trim his claws. Spent the morning in the ER. 





November...
Me, Paul, Jenn and Dan saw Wicked. First we ate at Hofbrauhaus. We all had a wonderful time. Jenn said she'll never look at the Wizard of Oz the same. 
The kids came from Virginia Beach for Thanksgiving. What a fun time we had!! 






December...
Got our tree up. We bought this tree last year and we're so in love with it. Holds all our ornaments we've been collecting since 1980. Bev, Joanie and I went to see On Your Feet, the story of Gloria and Emilio Estefan. It was fun.



And there you have it. 2018 I'm going to try and post here more often. I was going to back off of Project Life but over Thanksgiving I noticed Emmy looking at the albums, not once but twice! That's what it's all about so I will continue in 2018 to capture our memories with photos and document them.

As always...

Thursday, November 2, 2017

Happy November!

Oh my!! It's been since September that I posted here. Wow!! Not only wow that it's been so long but wow has a lot happened!! Sorry this is going to be a long photo heavy post.

1st of all, you'll notice a new link to the right. I've started using doTERRA Essential Oils and am IN LOVE! I'm still learning (there's a lot to learn) but I'm really enjoying the process, the oils themselves and the company! Not only do they process their oils from the natural geographical location where the plant actually thrives and is native to, they hire the locals that are living in that region and give them fair wages so they can earn a decent living and support their families. So, if you click on the link, you can see what the oils and the company is all about.

A couple of weeks ago we had our annual Halloween party. It WAS a blast as usual. I didn't have any of my kids there this year but that's ok, they have VERY busy lives. Both Jenn and Steve are studying for their master's degrees and that means BUSY + STRESS for both of them. Who wants to try and figure out costumes and shit when you've got work, studying and sleep to do? I'm so proud of both of them.
I made my costume this year. It was a lot of work but I loved it! Paul was my surgeon and has decided that next year he wants to dress up as the same since it was SO comfortable.

Since he usually bartends, I guess wanting to be comfortable isn't asking too much.

Diane & Joe were Jesters! Too cute!!


Lisa & Steve won 1st place! Are they not adorable!! 


1st time for Barbie & Joel. Is this not creative??!! Wow!
Lisa & Brad..such a cute couple!!
My buddy Bev as the "Punk"in!
Pumpkin Spice shots were a hit again...yumm!

Moving right along, last Saturday I was sitting in my chair with my feet on the ottoman having my morning coffee. My Toby jumped onto the ottoman and I called him over, he's facing me and I pick him up under his arms to put him on my lap. He braces for the "carry in the air" that was about to happen and has his back toes spread with claws out. What do I do? I drag him across my leg! Ugh. Paul looked at the scratch and said, uh yea, we better go to the ER. So, we changed out of our jammies and headed up there. Since I have such thin skin and it wasn't too deep, they just cleaned it really good and put bandage strips on. I won't post the before pics (although I texted them to my kids and friends) but I will the bandaged up leg...


Let's see what else is happening. Oh, we're training Bentley with K-9 Off Leash out of Cleveland. Last night was our last class and little Bentley is doing great. Paul and I will continue to train him to sit, heel, place and down. He's doing better than I anticipated.

Heel with Branden

Sit
Last Sunday Crocker Park hosted a dog Halloween Costume Contest. Little Bentley wore a jockey costume. When he got on stage the announcer said he was the smallest dog he'd ever seen! Since it was so freaking cold, he was a real trouper!



I couldn't believe how some people really go over the top with this. This lady with the beehive and her little dog dressed up as a bee...c'mon LOL!
On top of a stroller no less. 

The little dog he's standing next to was THE BEST pet costume I've ever seen...
Seriously! Check out the stitches and the knife!! 


They did come in 1st place for the overall best costume! I'm so glad.

Bev, Joanie and I went and saw Waitress at the Connor Theater downtown. First we went to Yard House in Westlake to get a bite...

Me and my buddies. Either they're really tall or I'm really short LOL!
So thanks for sticking with me til the end..and as always,

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Project Life May 2017

I've got some serious catching up to do and I plan on it.


Using a half page insert
Other side of insert.
It's hard to go back months ago before Kitty passed away. Always brings tears to my eyes. Winston too.
As always..

Island Bunco..

Hi! Sorry I've been MIA again. My life! It gets in my way! Too many things I want to do vs have to do. I'm sure you get it.

One thing I wanted to do and I did was I went to Kelley's Island and played bunco with my girlfriends. Molly, one of the ladies in our group, owns a beautiful home on the island. We went there last year to play, and it was decided that since we had soooo much fun, we're going to make it a yearly thing, Bunco on the island. This time we decided to get creative too. A few of us who stayed a night or two painted rocks and then Molly, Bev, Joan and I made new name tags for everyone..for all 16 ladies in our group. We tried to make them fitting of their likes and personalities. Wow did we have fun!!

Molly's beautiful home (photo taken last year when it was hotter than hell)
Our Bunco group at dinner (those that could make it).
Barbie and Joanie getting ready at the Head table.

Having fun on the island, eating, shopping etc.
Two of my besties...Joanie and Bev
Searching for "the" perfect rock to paint.
Here's some of our creativity at work painting rocks...

Molly, "Oh, I think it's going to look mighty nice".

Bev, "I'm just not sure".

Deb, "ugh, decisions-decisions".
Arlene, "if you just hold your brush steady".
Some masterpieces..




Paul actually found this rock at home and thought it looked like a boat. He asked if I'd paint it for him :)



Then on Sunday, working on the new name tags..


We LOVE them! We're very proud of ourselves :)
Me trying to take a selfie. My arms are just too short LOL.

As always...