MONDAY - SO HAPPY!

Yeah! The family photos are on the wall!

Since we moved into our new home almost a year and a half ago, I've saved this hallway for family photos and now my dream has come true, thanks to our wonderful kids!

It doesn't matter where you stand....
I think they look great!

Whether you enter from this end of the hallway....

or this end....

and you can see them from inside the guest room ....

and also you get a peek from inside Bree's room/second guest room!

I love them! I spent ALL night just looking at them and thanking God for my family!

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We're so excited...Bree (aka "B Bear" to us) arrives tomorrow afternoon! Can't wait!

(the hall wall color looks kinda funky in these photos since I took them at night...I think the truest color is shown in the hall photo where you see the build-in bookshelves)

I'M SO HAPPY!

Remember back before Christmas and I mentioned I asked all the children for black and white photos? Well...I finally got them all and I'm so excited. They gave us the large one in the center at Christmas and the others have been coming in a few at a time. Each one is 11 X 14. Our sweet and very talented daughter-in-love, Jan, was the photographer. I spent this afternoon after church putting them in frames and playing with them on the floor trying to decide on how I want to hang them. This looks pretty good to me. What do you think? I'm hoping to get them on the wall tomorrow in our long hallway. (Of course the spacing isn't perfect now, but you get the idea.)

See why I KNOW I'm a lucky girl?! 4 children, 2 daughter-in-loves, 1 son-in-love, 1 boyfriend and 9 grandchildren. They all love each other. They're all healthy. They're all mine! Well, actually mine and George's ;-)

Thank you family for the gift of these photos. We love them! We love you!

SATURDAY THIS AND THAT

I woke up this morning thinking "Coffee...I need coffee!...Starbucks here I come!
I just know there's a cup with my name on it!"

Sometimes a Starbucks sugar free vanilla latte' just sounds better than coffee at home. George said that sounded good to him too, so off we went with Miss Daisy in the golf cart. It was such a pretty day that we sat outside and lingered over our cups and then took an extra long ride, which of course Miss Daisy loved.

After we did a few chores around the house, we took off on our bikes and rode up to the village for some yummy barbecue for lunch. And then we rode some more.

Then I filled all the bird feeders and finished planting all the flowers I picked up the other day at Lowe's. I'm surprised my back wasn't killing me after all I planted yesterday. There's something wonderful about having your hands in the dirt though. But getting 3 huge ant bites wasn't fun!

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All in all, it felt like I spent the day just playing. And I guess I kinda did although I accomplished a few of the things on my "to do" list. It was just nice to spent this gorgeous day with George and Miss Daisy and be outside.

I've still got lots I want to do before Bree, Mom and Sherry come. I feel like this past week I've been in a rat race trying to catch up which I guess we never really do if we're honest. No matter how hard we run, there's always something we need to do. If you're like me...there's always more laundry to do, the dishwasher always need to be unloaded, more trips to the grocery, more new blogs to read :-), more beds to make, etc. We can never totally "catch up". It's just that sometimes it's overwhelming.

According to Wikipedia, rat race is a term used for an endless, self-defeating or pointless pursuit. It is just like a rat trying to escape whilst running around a maze or in a wheel. The only challenge that I see in a rat race is that even if you win the race, you are still a rat! LOL

1 Corinthians 9:24 NIV ~ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

So for me, having a little fun along the way will help keep me sane as I work on my "to do" list.
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FRIDAY - THIS AND THAT

Slowly, but surely, I'm getting things done. My "to do" list is shrinking. Kinda/sorta :-)
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Oh girls! You wouldn't believe how heavenly these new shoes are that I bought a few days ago in Pensacola! And cute too. You can change out the ribbon by just threading it through 2 holes on the top. I plan to shop for some polka dotted ribbon and maybe some different striped ribbon. And the best part...they were only $28.00! They can be washed on the top shelf of the dishwasher - that sounds kinda disgusting to me...but you can. I bought them in licorice (as shown above) and Beth bought some in chocolate brown, but there's lots of other colors too. Go here for the website.

Hmmmmm....I think I just did a free commercial for them?!

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Check out this great post my son had on his blog.

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I had a great day. Tennis. Worked in the yard planting new flowers. Had friends over for dinner. Life is good!

Off to bed. This "kat" is so tired tonight!

"JUST THE FACTS, MA'AM"

Okay, this is going sound like I'm complaining and I'm not...really I'm not. I'm just stating the facts.

Remember when Jack Webbs' character on Dragnet, Joe Friday, would say "Just the facts, Ma'am". Gosh, I loved that show.

Anyhoo, I'm NOT complaining, just stating the facts y'all.

Ever since we got home from our trip, I feel overwhelmed with "stuff" I need to catch up on. I don't want to get out of the bed, but the darn alarm clock won't leave me alone.


And when I look in the mirror, I kinda have a tired/dazed/confused/stressed look like this.

And it doesn't help that I feel like this! We ate so much on the trip and you know from my last two posts that I'm still doing it. I can't seem to get back on track with my diet.

And my desk and whole house looked like this until.......

My sweet cleaning girls came today. Thank you Lord! At least the house looks and smells wonderful. These wonderful Jamican ladies do a great job. I love their business name ~ Jamica Me Clean. LOL

I've been working on my cluttered desk today. Trying to catch up on mail, e-mails, blogging, etc. in between phone calls, doing laundry, my hair appointment, organizing my calendar,etc. Gradually I'm getting things done. My friend Beth is still here and I want to spend time with her too. Plus...Bree is coming home next week and my Mom and Aunt Sherry are coming too so they can spend some time with Bree. I'm looking forward to seeing them all so that's another reason I'm working so hard to catch up.

Gosh, reading back over this it does sound like I'm complaining. But I'm really not. Actually I feel lucky that my life is full. Plus, I know "this too shall pass".

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What a nice surprise today! I received this special award from my sweet friend Deena at Can I Be Pretty In Pink? Thank you so much Deena! This award is even more special since it came from you!

I want to pass it on to these sweet friends ~

Andi's Everyday Adventures
At Home In Scottsdale
Back Porch Musings
By Faith....Ang Baylis
Can I Be Pretty In Pink?
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Cherry Hill Cottage
Daisy Bouquet
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Eclectic Craziness
Engraved in His Palms
Equus Villa
Family Doin's
Gatherings
Gim'Me Memories
Given Grace
Glasses of Grace
Holding Patterns
I love to dream, live to create, and hope to inspire
Joan's Journeys
Just Livin' Large
Karen's Ramblings
Kari & Kijsa
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Lakewood Manor
Lavender Chick
Living The Life
Lynne's Little Corner Of The World
Meggie's Stuff
Mel's World
Midnight Musings
Momma's Mind Sweep
My Life As Annie
My Little Corner of the World
My Montana Moments
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Oh Fiddle Dee Dee
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Paige's Petals
Penless Writer
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Running From The Little People
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Show Me State of Mind
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Toddler Planet
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Welcome, Please come in
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Whistlestop Cafe Cooking
Who Could Ask For Anything More
With All That I've Been Given
Zaankali's Adventures

IT'S A TRADITION WITH US

Beth is here just until Sunday, so we decided we had to make a trip over to Pensacola. It's just an hour or so away.

You see, we have this tradition.... We love, love, love to go to Duh Home and Garden. You'll see why....

Beth and I both drooled over this bed. And the white linen bedding was to die for!

Out back is wonderful garden items.

And then there's another two story building full of more goodies....

For some reason, I loved this painting. Hmmmmm.....

Lots of wonderfullness everywhere!
Here's a view from the upstairs balcony looking down on the courtyard.

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We always have fun at Duh. The hard part is not wanting everything!

The next stop was a cute shop called Celebrations. I forgot to take photos inside, but here's one out back in one of their gardening niches.

I know, I know...this photo is too dark, but I'm posting it to show how close the mall is to our favorite Mexican restaurant. Since we know we'll have a frozen margarita and shouldn't drive, we park literally between the mall and the restaurant and eat and then shop in the mall for awhile. A good plan, don't you agree?

Especially when the margaritas are this big!!! No, we didn't drink it all! I promise.

And the last part of our tradition - we share a Cinnabon cinnamon roll. Yum!

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It was a fun day. It's so nice to be able to do this with Beth. As with all MS patients, you just never know when they will come out of remission. She's doing so well now, it's hard to believe she's ever sick. But believe me, there are times when I'm afraid I'm losing her. When she's sick, she's very very sick. Sometimes she has trouble walking, talking, extremely painful headaches, trouble with her vision, etc. I won't dwell on that today though. Today was great!

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Thank you God for this day and for Beth and her good heath.

MISS DAISY AND LADIES NIGHT OUT

Several of our friends (Beth and Barbara) have suggested we put bows on Miss Daisy, so everyone will know she's a girl. George said "no"...not just "no", but "N-O"!
Our previous dog, Monty, always wore a bandana and he loved them, so today I purchased a few to see if Miss Daisy would like them too. I brought home this pink one and a black one, both with paw prints on them. Miss Daisy didn't seem to mind wearing it at all. George said this was okay. I think she looks pretty darn cute.
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Kathy, Carol, Jeanette, Lynda, Me and Beth

Tonight a few of us girls decided to do a ladies night out. We went to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Cantina Laredo, and had a great time.

Me with Beth

Some of you might remember when I was so concerned recently about my friend Beth. She's my friend from Nashville who has MS. She's in remission right now and is doing so well. Thank you Lord! She stayed with Miss Daisy while we were in California and will be here until April lst. She's planning to move here in June!

Lynda, Me and Beth........................(Sheila and Tabetha - I love my necklace!)

Kathy, Carol and Jeanette

Me, Lynda, Carol and Jeanette in Fusion Glass after dinner.

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Lord, thank you for good girlfriends, both here in my daily "real life" and those in the "Land of Blog".