Any excuse to hold that baby will do

What lengths will I go to for a visit with Jackson?  You won't believe it.  I don't even believe it.  But I'm willing to cook.
There, I've said it.  It's a miracle.  Saturday night after 8pm I arrived with homemade vegetable soup & crackers, homemade chicken casserole & way too much rice, a lemon pie, and Chex party mix...trying to cover all my bases.  They didn't run me off.  Instead she woke up the baby and brought him out for me to play with, which I did with a huge beaming smile on my face the entire time.
How many diapers did I change?  4
How many times did I change his clothes?  3
Do I know how to put on those tiny little diapers?  Clearly not.
I'm holding him, telling him how fabulous he is, and I feel this warm, wet spot on my leg.  It's not his fault I'm a moron.  My daughter-in-law thinks I was playing dolls, changing him into all these little gowns, but I swear, they were wet.
The only time he fretted was when I tried pulling this little rubber ducky gown over his head.  I bought it and thought it was too sweet for words right up until that moment.  So I fished around in the drawer and found lots of them with little snaps diagonally down from his chin to his arm.  Ask me if I know what I'm shopping for next time and the answer will be yes!!
Is it just me or does his fuzzy little head look like he might have my red hair?

And So It Goes...

Tidbits from a blonde...

Now that I'm driving that big SUV I've gone crazy at the grocery store twice.  We're talking $150 worth of groceries in one trip, which I've never done.  So we're unloading them all and it's pointed out to me that my new freezer is full...we're talking capacity full...and that I've got to start cooking some of the stuff I've already got in there.

Sounds like a plan.  So 2 nights ago I pulled out some of Mother's frozen vegetables from her very own garden...peas, corn, butterbeans, etc.  Then I cooked chicken, diced potatoes, chopped onions, poured it all in my new digital slow cooker and set it to cook for hours and hours.  The end result is a ton of homemade vegetable soup.  Have I mentioned I don't eat vegetables?  Which means I sure don't eat vegetable soup.  So now instead of 3 small quart-size bags of vegetables I've got to find room for 6 very big plastic containers of soup!  Didn't think that one through very well, did I?

Have I mentioned that we've never met a dish we don't like?  We've got quite the collection of dinner plates, dessert plates, bowls of every shape & size.  As we add to our collection we begin to avoid sets at all costs...always keeping them on the bottom of the pile on a high enough shelf that I couldn't reach them even if I were tempted.  So the last time my mother came to visit we sent tons of dessert plates home with her, intended for the local thrift store, though we suspect they never made it that far.  And now I don't have enough of those small plates for bread on the table or pie for dessert.  Sounds like time for a shopping trip!

Remember last year when we bought those 2 fabulous dishwashers?  This week both were full of clean dishes and we were back to the same old problem...no one wanted to empty them.  So as I'm running dish water in the sink I realize that I'd rather empty them than wash a dish by hand...so I emptied them both.  I think I've reached a point...a not-so-attractive point.  I won't say lazy or spoiled or diva, but we're all thinking it.

Last night I made 4 batches of Chex Party Mix.  I have another 3 batches measured out to go in the oven tonight.  You guessed it...my mother and step-father are coming tomorrow for a late night of dominos.  (According to the dictionary I can spell that with or without an e; both look wrong.)

Tonight I'm making chicken casserole.  Had to do something with all that chicken I cooked the other night that didn't go in the soup.  Me, cooking, ...more than once in a week.  Make a note of the date and time; it may never happen again.  Or better yet...me in the kitchen every night this week!!!  And not just passing through for crushed ice or coffee.  It's a miracle!

In the last week I've read 3 books.  Probably the last Jesse Stone book Robert B. Parker ever wrote, one by John Grisham, and I already can't remember the third.  Last night I began not one, but 2 new ones.  Another John Grisham and one I read about in the paper called The Postmistress.  I'll let you know how that goes...I'm thinking one will win out over the other. 

I've been busy in the studio.  I'm teaching a workshop at the Summer CHA in Chicago plus 2 mini classes.  I've added Stampfest Orlando to my schedule in June, and my local girls are screaming for classes in the studio.  A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Did I mention my grandson?  Went to see him Sunday night and he slept the entire time I was there.  What's up with that?!?!?!

It's Official: I'm a Grandmother

Baby Jackson arrived yesterday at 11:04am, weighing 6 lb 12 oz, measuring 20", with all his fingers & toes.  He's got my son's nose & mouth, and my father's dimpled chin, just like me and my siblings. 

His nails need to be trimmed but he has yet to cry.  Such a content little fellow, we can hardly believe it.

Better photos will come.  I was too excited last night and didn't want to put him down long enough to worry with cameras.

I don't want to be called Grandma or Granny or MeMa.  My daughter-in-law says there's already a MiMi in the family.  I'm thinking MiMi Linda.  Unless someone can give me a better idea...I'm listening...

Stampaway Update #1

Once again I'll be teaching 3 classes at the Stampaway convention in Cincinnati OH.  My first will be at the host store, Stamp Your Art Out, on Wednesday evening, August 11th .  If you've taken one of my collage classes using real specimen boxes before, you'll be thrilled to hear that this one is almost 3" deep!  Just imagine all the fun you'll have and the dimension you can create.
This is also the first time I've added dimensional pieces of this magnitude. If you're in the area I hope you'll come play with me and all the fun toys I'm packing from Coffee Break Designs, the Tim Holtz Ideaology line, Sizzix, and more!

More sneak peaks to come regarding my other convention classes later this week.

Goodbye Old Friend...Hello There Gorgeous!

It's time to grow up and get practical.  Which is why this weekend I bought myself a more sensible car.  I've been in love with my Toyota Celica since I saw the first ad for this body style.  Couldn't wait for them to hit the dealer's show floor and raced right over to buy one.  Helen and I both bought new cars together.  We went to the Saturn dealership to buy her car and then drove down the road to the Toyota dealership to buy mine. 
That was on February 26, 1996.  Have mercy, can it really have been that long ago???  And my son has been asking for that car since that day, so all those years ago I promised if I ever replaced it, it would be my gift to him.
Yesterday I got the tag for my new car and began emptying the Celica.  Now I'll have the tires rotated and balanced one more time (since it's paid for), and I'll have the alignment done one more time (ahh, the deal I got on that lifetime alignment package!!!) and I'll even vacuum & wash it one last time.  Then it's all his...and I'm thinking I'll hand over the keys this weekend.

Which of course brings us to my new sensible car...my Lexus SUV.  Have mercy, I drove it home Friday night and have fondled and caressed it ever since.  Got the title, insurance & tags business settled yesterday and drove it again last night & this morning.  Bigger vehicle for sure.  Much higher off the ground so I can actually see what's in front of the minivan in front of me now.  Always hated not knowing who the moron was holding up my lane of traffic. 
Bigger engine.  More get up and go.  And of course that means gas guzzler!  Going from 30+ miles to the gallon to just 20 mpg is going to KILL ME.  And paying for premium gas instead of the least expensive is really going to send me over the edge.
So when you see me on the highway gripping that gorgeous wooden steering wheel and puttering along like some little old lady it will be because I'm staring at that huge computer screen displaying my mpg, willing it to improve, knowing it ain't gonna happen.
I'll be easy to spot in parking lots too.  I'm the one circling to find 3 spaces together til I'm accustomed to the turning radius.  Last night at the auto parts store looking for license plate screws I pulled into a space and left 4' behind me.  Seriously.  I looked at that line and I looked at the back bumper 4' away from it and shook my head.  Inside the auto parts store they were trying to sell me one of these cameras for backing up so I asked what about one on the front so I can see if I'm close to the curb...and what about one for each side so I can see how far I am from curbs and painted lines.  And they were just laughing their heads off, but I was dead serious!  At this point I can use all the help I can get.
So steer clear & don't honk your horn and distract me.  Instead send me an email later to say you spotted me, and tell me how easy I was to pick out because of my halted acceleration when pulling away from a stop light.  My worst fear has been realized.  I'm now the moron holding up the lane of traffic!!!