Ten Days of Mayhem

My search for a new house has finally come to an end.

How long and arduous a task it has been.

When I began my search almost a year ago I thought that by Fall I would have been in my new house and almost a year after starting this full time endeavor, it has finally happened. I've purchased my house and I am now packing up almost sixteen years of my life, and preparing to move it across town to our new house.

Wow, what a challenge lays ahead as the packing begins in earnest. My goal is to have moved in by the end of the month. Ten days from today. Please say a little prayer for me as I put on my big girl undies and begin this journey. This is no small task, but with the help of family and friends, I am hopeful that it will be as uneventful as possible.

We shall ignore GP's pleas to "Stop packing my things!" and his daily mantra of "I'm not moving" and pray for him to come around and love this wonderful new house that I will work diligently at transforming into a home where wonderful new memories will be made. Pictures to follow soon!

Remembering Mama Billa

This morning my beloved grandma, Mama Billa as we all called her, passed away in her sleep. She had been in the hospital for a week now and I started mourning her loss then. We all knew it was inevitable, and there was nothing to be done, therefore the goal was to make her parting as painless as possible. Although it really doesn't make it less sad, the fact that she died peacefully in her sleep is of some comfort to me and those who loved her.

My grandma was no wallflower. Married at 14, she was the mother of 15 children. She was the matriarch of her family. Growing up I can remember her at the head of the table leading the rosary. I remember her sitting in a chair braiding tobacco while all the children deveined it. My grandfather was a farmer, and all his children worked the farm until they left the house. None of that, "I'm not doing that!" If you lived there, you worked... you sat at the table, you had a bowl of beans to shell, you sat on the porch, there were peanuts to shell... busy hands are happy hands... work,work,work. Funny the things that one remembers. When my grandfather died many, many years ago, she kept her family in check. She was a small little woman, under five feet tall, and when she spoke we stopped and listened. She was sweet, caring and soooooo loved by all. She lived in her home, assisted by her daughters until last week, she was 92 years young.

I will always love her, and miss her.

Life Changes In An Instant

Pepperdog on 02/28/2012.

Some days are harder to face than others... our beautiful Pepperdog suffered a ruptured aortic valve yesterday (just 24 hours after this pic was taken), and I chose to euthanize her rather than put her through open heart surgery. She was 12 and in her golden years. She was half deaf, half blind and had developed a thyroid problem; then her little heart just decided it had had enough so it gave way, just enough so we could say goodbye. What a hard day it was. I thought today would be easier, but it hasn't been. I miss her.

I'm so sad...

We Have A Winner!

The ever so crafty Terry Giet has won the Girls in the Garden pattern bundle. My most sincere thanks to all who joined in the fun, and to Traci Marvel of Bigfork Bay Cotton Co. who so generously donated the patterns for the giveaway. You can see all of BBCC's patterns on their website, HERE. For those who did not win but would love a copy of any of Pat Sloan's Girls in the Garden patterns , you can find them there. =)

It's A Giveway!

Happy New Year! I hope your new year is off to a great start. Mine started slow but I'm picking up speed as it goes along. It's so hard for me to slip out of holiday mode... I think I might still have a sugar high from all those darn cookies and Fruit Cake. I still have the tree up, mind you. GP has decided we shall keep it up until MARCH! Hello! Oh yeah, and the lights are still on...all the time! I asked him if we can at least turn off the lights and he said he liked it with the lights on so ON they shall remain, until March...or until we move, whichever comes first. LOL. His reason for keeping the tree up was simple, "I like it!" and since I like it too, I don't see a problem. Well, unless you're trying to get creative. I think my brain has been on a crafting hiatus for too long and finding my mojo has been a challenge.

I know I am not alone in my quest to find my mojo and when Traci from Bigfork Bay Cotton Co called to ask if I wanted to join her Girls's in the Garden Giveaway I was delighted. She sent me the entire collection to give away. Thanks Traci!

There are four pattern, one for each season and the winner takes all. Can't beat that.

These are designed by Pat Sloan and they are fast, fun and easy weekend projects. You can make up any of these in a weekend, even if you're a beginner. Really.

Again, winner takes all four.

To enter the giveaway leave a comment and tell me if you have a garden, and if you do, what you plant in it. Dreaming of warm days spent in the garden always make my heart happy, maybe it will make your heart happy too! Winner will be selected randomly from among those who post a comment. Please do not leave your comment on FB only entries here on Blogger will be counted. Thanks for joining in the fun!

Retail Value for the set is $50, and they ship free to the lucky winner. If you're having a hard time be sure to close the Networked Blog tab at the top right of the page (when arriving from Facebook). That should do the trick.

This giveaway is closed! No more comments are being accepted.

If You Believe in Santa

It's that time of year again. Can you believe it? Seems like just yesterday when GP taught us who trumps Mom and Dad in the gift giving category (Santa2010).. and although this year his list is so short it's just barely a list at all, and he is very much aware that he is too old to make Santa's list, he is still concerned about a few things... which he chose to discuss with "HIM"

I was not allowed to eavesdrop but when I asked, GP told me that he was "just asking about the naughty children" and I asked him if he told Santa he was naughty this year. He gave me the "Are you nuts?!" look... and said, "I was a little naughty in the past, but not anymore!" ... and as if to reiterate how "IN" he was with Santa he told me, "And, I'm not too old for Santa's list. I am young at heart!". OMG! If that is not straight out of Santa's mouth, I don't know what is, LOL! That was hilarious. But the truth is that I think Santa's reassurances just confirmed what he already knew...

If you believe in Santa he will always bring you presents...

no matter what your parents say!

Searching for Home

I've been house hunting for months and with the arrival of Fall I feel my hopes and dreams dissipate. The reality that I will probably remain in this house another Winter brings a feeling of disappointment that is hard to explain.

Once I decided that I would in fact leave my house. I shut down my nesting feeling and tried not to pour my heart into this house so I would be open to love another. Only someone who spends most of their life inside their house would understand this... If you leave your house for ten hours a day, you probably don't get this. If you spend 20 hours a day in one space, you have to love it, or you'll be miserable. Right now, I am miserable.

I want to paint, I want to redo my wallpaper, I want new lamps. I want to call the landscaper... I want to fix my house... but if I fix my house, I will never leave. I know I won't. So I am living in a house that is in disrepair and every day that passes without finding a new house makes me feel more depressed. This is no way to live. This is like putting your life on hold.

You know the old saying, "life is what happens while you are making plans????" My life is going on in this house while I search and search for my next one. I am living in a mess of a house until my house shows up. That just makes no sense to me, and it breaks my spirit.

I have a house to live in but I have no home. I feel that I am in fact "Home"-less.. and Winter will be here soon, and suddenly I feel like I can't breathe.

A house is just a house until you put your heart into it and make it a Home. I have my heart in my hand and I need a place to put it. Who knew my little love shack was so hard to measure up to? I did... maybe that's why I've never tried to move before.