Sunday, March 16, 2014

Dog Party & Skating

The quarry is still mostly covered with ice, but it's not stable enough to ice fish.


I went out there to see how it was and did some hiking.


Lately, I've had a houseful of kids, natch.  :)


Jean had Mic over.


Troy had Hayden over.


 I had the neighbors doggie's over.  I enjoy looking after them.  Their little legs are so short!
 

Sophie and Fatz are in love, but I think it's just Puppy Love.  Bah HA!


 Lola is cuddled next to Mic.  Everyone enjoyed the dog party in the basement!


In other news, the pontoon is out of the barn; a lovely sign of Spring!  I have a few kinks to work out with the motor before it's travel ready though.


The dogs and kids played at Fall's park.


Gladys had her friend, Bella, met her at the park. 


Sophie stayed right at my side the entire time.


We went to Geist Marina to see if they had what the pontoon needed.  While we were there, the kids explored the floor models.  I have a feeling I get super quick service by walking in there with an army of kids. JK  ;)


The kids toured the empty docks most of the time.


And unsuccessful fished for dead fish with a stick.


Geist was still 90% covered with ice.


After we left the Marina, the kids spotted a Play Place!  Troy is almost getting to be too big for it.


For some unknown reason, play places are almost non-existent in this part of Indiana.


They had a blast and supper!


Sunday, I thought my in-laws were coming for a visit, but do to health issues, they didn't make it.  So, Jean and I shopped for a new pair of waders at Dunham's. 


Then we all went to the roller rink.  It was freezing and windy outside.


I skated and skated and got totally wore out-- good exercise though.  Especially the speed races.


I'm not a fast skater compared to the little kids that zip all over the place, but I did okay (and I didn't break anything).  It was a little weird that I was the only person over the age of 20 skating.  Oh well.  Do what ya enjoy-- Right?


Keep ON Rollin!

Friday, March 14, 2014

My 42nd Birthday!

Yay-- I've made it to 42!   Yesterday was my birthday.

Don't just count your years, make your years count.   -Ernest Meyers

 

To celebrate, my family and I went bowling and they had a special surprise for me; Grace and her boyfriend, Joe, were coming for a visit.  Grace, my oldest daughter, lives in Valparaiso, so I don't get to see her often.  


Usually, my birthdays are rather low key, and since I'm hooked on fishing, I tend to spend the day out on the water.  So, in order to keep me home for Gracie's arrival, Glenn told me of the surprise, with the condition that I act surprised.  



Have you ever accidentally called one of your children the name of another child?  Jean and I are having a conversation about coincidentally wearing stripes, and by mistake, I mention Grace instead of Gladys.  Immediately, I correct my slip of the tongue.  My giggle-box husband overhears all this and cannot contain himself.  Thus, the secret spilled to Jean as well.
 
 
Grace and Joe arrived early in the afternoon.  We all gave them our super surprised look, (as if someone just dropped handfuls of snakes on our laps). 


Earlier in the day, I had a quiet morning and tied some beaded bugs.  



I made some beaded blood worms too. 



I like the way the light shines through these, so I tried something new.  Instead of tying these beads on the hook, I just used a dab of superglue to hold em on.  Looking forward to testing out how they hold up.


I put together a bunch of beaded flying ants too.  These are fun to tie and I'm making similar ones out of dubbing for the Tie-a-thon next month (part of Healing Waters mission to collect flies for cancer victims).



 Here is a completed flying ant:
   
I got all kinds of wild and tied up white flying ants too.  For the dubbing/hackle section, I used a feather cluster and achieved similar results. 
 

Oh, Guess What?! The day before yesterday, we got a new tub liner installed. 


Gary and Pat from Midwest Luxury Baths did all the work.  I asked them if they wanted to be on my blog and they said SURE!  You see, this way they can let the owner know they got em some free advertising and then ask for a raise! :)  You guys are welcome, btw.


The other highlight of the past two days, is I got my truck washed!  The kids are thrilled by the car-wash.


Sophie doesn't think much of it.


 Dustball is 16 years old; that's just a baby compared to 42.


Sophie is 5 years old.  She is definitely still a baby.


Age doesn't bother me in the least.  It is what it is, ya know.  I mean, I like being 42.  I like being a mom, wife, daughter, business partner, fishing buddy, teammate, running partner, and whoever I am to anybody.  Life is good, I intend to feel that way if I turn, 52, 65, 78, and 105 too.  Be humbly proud of those years.  


Actually, I'm rather impressed with myself that I lived dangerously through the years.  The days of racing through the woods on a dirt-bike and seeing how fast we could make poor Bunny, our horse, run while holding on to her back were just a few examples.  I hardly ever wore a helmet, (unless someone made me wear it), even when I knew I was about to try something that would most likely kill me.  :)  Sure, I have few teeth that are missing and a few that are cemented in-- who doesn't!

Us Girls:



Have a Great Day!

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Beauty Routine Revealed and My Truck Works!

It's cold again here.  Yesterday, my family and I were all relaxing on the back porch, enjoying the 60 degree weather, when all of the sudden, we all get Winter Weather Advisory Alerts on our phones. 

 

The kids and I do "Beauty Night" every so often.  I usually give haircuts to whoever the lucky kiddo is that night, and we do our nails.  P. S. If you're a guy, you may wanna skip to the bottom of this post, before the beauty talk gets to be too much for ya.  ;)


Jean picked out this nail color for me, and wearing it makes me feel a bit like Sparkle Barbie. :)


Recently, I was asked about my beauty routine and skin care products I use.  My answer may have been a disappointment as I revealed the answers of Noxzema and warm water.  Yup, nothing fancy, friends.  In fact, I only tend to use Noxzema on days that I actually bother to put on make-up.  Other than that, good ole warm water does the trick.


As for make-up, I have two important reasons why I sometimes wear it.  First, sunscreen is important for me.  I am naturally as white as a ghost, thus I burn easily without it.  Secondly, make-up makes me feel more confident.  On days when I intend to be out in the sun, or have a public speaking event, chances are, I'll be wearing make-up.  This is what I look like with only foundation (and wet hair):


So, obviously, I can't go out scarring folk's, looking all ghostly like that, unless it's Halloween.  To help protect my lips from chapping in the windy weather, I favor good ole Medicated Chapstick.  It actually makes my lips tingle when I first apply it.  For those of you with more modern taste, Eos are a popular lip treatment too.  That's actually what my kiddo's use.  I don't usually do lipstick as it has a tendency to apply itself to my front teeth-- yuck.


Next, let's talk about eye's.  I dislike wearing a bunch of eye makeup.  That's just me.  My eye's have a tendency to feel tired enough all own their own without a bunch of makeup weighing em down.  With that being said, I do like a little color to compliment my natural eye color.  Does anybody know what my eye color actually is?  I'll say it's aquamarine, my birthstone color. (My Birthday is Tomorrow--Yay!)  Sometimes my eye;s look emerald green and other times they are blue as can be.  That's just the way they are and I have never, ever, wore contacts.


Blush is the only other type of makeup I regularly wear.  Sheesh, it looks like I need to be buying some new cosmetics.  Light Heather is the name of this particular shade.  Sometimes I go with a light peach though; just depends on my mood.  Or when I'm really living on the edge, I'll apply both shades.  :)  Seriously-- did you see how pale I naturally am this time of year?


Well, that's it for the makeup.  Let's talk about hair, shall we?  For as long as I can remember, I've used Herbal Essence shampoo.  It smells sooo pretty!!  However, after awhile of using the same shampoo (whatever it is that you use) it can be beneficial to change things up.  Different shampoos cleanse differently.  Plus, shampoo in and of itself isn't as important as thoroughly rinsing and applying conditioner.  Sometimes, I use homemade all natural ingredients to condition my hair.  Usually, I use the store bought stuff which coats my hair with a layer of protective wax. 


I have naturally curly hair and without the protective wax, plus a bit of hair gel, I look like I just stuck my finger in a light socket.  That is to say, I'd have a major frizz afro, if it wasn't for hair products.


Most days, I don't fuss with my hair much.  Usually, I like it best out of my way, either in a ponytail or a bun.   So, there ya have it! 


Now, I really should throw a little something in here for the guys.  Let's talk about trucks.  Specifically, my Chevy Trailblazer.  Awhile back, I was driving down the road and happened to glance at my speedometer, which read zero!!  Actually, the entire panel was not registering any info.  This was new for me, so I pulled in to the local Autozone figuring it was a blown fuse.  The folk's at Autozone couldn't help me, so I went back to the house and looked up the trouble on my computer.


Lemme tell ya, You Tube is a great resource for fixing stuff.  It turned out the panel comes out, not all that easy, but it was doable.  My specialty happens to be taking stuff apart.  The tricky part was to do it without breaking anything.  :) I took the unit all apart and cleaned it up the best I could.  From what I can deduce the problem was caused from corrosion, (it's a 2004). 



After putting it all back together again, calibrating the gadgets, and crossing my fingers, it worked!!!
I was one happy girl!

Nope, I didn't cut my hair off, it's just up in a clippie.   I am soo looking forward to the days of not wearing Under-armor and a wool sweater to keep warm.


Come ON, Spring!!