Here I Am!!!

Murphy and my friend's daughter playing dress up! He is sooo good with kids, he didn't even fuss about it :)

That was a long ole' break. Well, like many of you, I have been trying to find the time to do things and write, and visit you all.( Okay; I HAVE been visiting also called "lurking"!LOL) The past month I have been really Spring cleaning in anticipation of my friend from Indiana's visit. I mean REALLY cleaning!!! I needed to do this, but I had NO motivation or energy until this came up!!!

We went through the end of commuter college together. We both were never able to attend college as kids, so we attended a college for, basically,adults. That is where we met. And for some reason, we became very close friends. We both went through a lot in order to finish college. She was suddenly thrust into the role of single mom to two boys when her husband ran off to do his own thing, which consisted of dealing drugs and mainly getting into trouble with his gang. This all culminated in his arrest trying to cross back into Michigan from Canada where he had gone to secure more marijuana I believe.

She was lucky to have the support of her mom and sister. And then we met and we kind of helped each other. I was married at the time, rather unhappily, and had two kids as well so I guess we bonded over that. Both of us had married very early and became responsible people wayyyy earlier than our peers. We are probably seven years apart in age, but not very noticeable to us.

We began to do things that we had NEVER done before; like go out to bars and listen to music/dance. We both experienced some wild times like we had never done before in our lives; we were always homemakers and stay at home moms. I think we were really, in the beginning , seduced by the glitter of the night scene. I love music and going out to dance, but my husband did not, so we never went out to anything. My friend, was always afraid of going out so she just stayed at home too. But together we were never afraid to try anything.

We often hung out with others from school or from her neighborhood. We only did this on Friday and Saturday nights. Yes, we drank, silly amounts of alcohol at times. Neither of us had ever done this so we were just nuts! I was an addictions counselor so I know alcohol abuse when I see it and when I do it!!! LOL! Eventually, we graduated, but we kept having fun. I got a job prior to graduation and so could not be out all the time. My marriage broke up prior to graduation for so many reasons and for the first time in my life, I had my own home and was a single mom too. And, it was okay. Not easy, but okay.

I had met someone at school that I was deeply in love with and admired. That relationship and working eventually lead to a loss of contact with my friend. You know how life gets in the way sometimes of being with people you love? We still talked on the phone, and we went out from time to time, but I grew away from that "fun". I have to also say that I am the child of an alcoholic who died from the disease of alcoholism when I was just eighteen (my mother). She drank for nine years straight and it killed her. So I am acutely aware of the risks inherent in abuse of chemicals. And now being educated as an addictions counselor adds to that wealth of knowledge!

Eventually I left the U.S. with the subject of my admiration. At one time, my friend came there to visit. She is that kind of friend; she will go to the ends of the Earth for you! She brought her youngest son, whom I always had a soft spot for. He was a little guy then. We had a nice visit and then she returned home. After that we talked on the phone a lot. And she was the person who called to let me know that my son had died; she was trying to get me to call my daughter for the news, but eventually she told me. She was the one who stood by me through all the bad times ; the funeral and wake; and then somehow, I lost track of her. I know that I was depressed for a long time and did not want to be around people for any length of time. It was as though I had changed; that was what I felt.

Each time, from the moment I received the news, I left the house I felt lost. I felt like I could NOT understand why the world kept going on while my world was devastated. I often felt overwhelmed by life, the grocery store was so overstimulating that I didn't like to go there alone.Add to it that I was in a country I never lived in before with no friends nearby, and you can see why I was dis-engaging from life.

I still talked to her, not about my grief, because; it is strange how people react to this loss of mine. I know they don't know what to say or how to act. I get that, I really do. I have been there myself. But eventually I just lost touch with my old world.

When we moved to Michigan, where I also knew absolutely no one, I let her know where I was and we touched base briefly. That is when I lost the connection. I moved again to the country here in Michigan and could not find her. Time has gone by so quickly.

Well one night I was on Facebook and MySpace and thought of her older son and he loved computers. I figured that if anyone would be on the Internet, it would be him! I had sent messages to people with her name to no avail. But I found a young man with his name and even though the picture was very unfamiliar,it had been over eight years since I last saw him at my son's funeral, I sent him a message.

He responded and my friend and I were reconnected! And so she made plans to come here. When I was in Indiana in December, I drove around her town trying to find a sign of her. I later found out that her mom had passed away last year and that she had a little girl that was now 6! Of all things!! She did come here these past three days and we were able to go out for a brief tour of my area; she is a urban girl and I am a country girl. She was amazed at the space and the quiet here. I wish we had more time, but she says this summer they will come back. I hope they do. And I will go there too.

She now has a guy in her life and a house of her own. She works in sales and is happy with that. She still does the party thing, but appears able to handle it. But no matter what I will always be her friend as she will always be mine.

Part of me wishes that I could do as she wants and move back there, but the other half loves my home and the quiet. Who knows what the future will bring? I know it was nice to be able to see her and to also see the changes in myself. We graduated in 1997; and I know more about myself now than I did then.

I have made many friends here in Michigan, and have learned a lot of new things. I have made a lot of friends on this blog too. So no matter where I end up I will always have my blog with me to record the new events without losing the old.

I do have some other neat things to share; I went to GW yesterday and yes, I agree that they are pricing things WAYYYY too high! I know it is for charity, but you are going to price some folks right out of the market and then there will be NO money to give out at all. I did get a few things;

All for $11.00!!! The framed picture was brand new from Kmart and still had the sales tag; $12.99; I got it for $2.99; I figured even if I get tired of the picture, it's a great frame! The blue thing I will paint and the burgundy box too; it was from JoAnn's and still had it's price on it; it was like $15.99 or something; I paid $2.99. Everything else was under a dollar; some were the color of the day and were half off; so they were like 30 or 40 cents! You just have to be aware of prices just like anywhere.

I also went to Cadillac a couple of weeks ago as Pam from basketsandprims suggested. That is one great place, the whole town and a big GW; we then went to Traverse City as I had never been there either; and woooo! We had some fun. I found the cutest quilt shop; the Quilt-N-Bee! The owner is a cute girl who is so much like me it's scary!!! But she is so lovable!!! She and her mom own the shop and it is fab!!! And I did not take any pics there cuz I am a moron!!! I will next time, cuz I am going back there! She suggested Red's Barbecue for dinner and it was GOOOOOD!

We also went to the D.O.G. bakery!!!! Daisy and Oscar's Gourmet Dog Bakery! We bought the most beautiful hand made dog treats ever!

A bag of Shamrock cookies and a bag of Michigan shaped cookies made from cherries! If you go to Traverse City go to D.O.G. Bakery. We also went to Cherry Republic!!! WOOO! I got a whole BIG bag of dark chocolate dried Michigan cherries! Nummy!!! And we got some cherry wine, some hard cherry cider andddd they let you taste things before you buy them. They also had samples of mulled cherry wine, so good on a cold winter day. So aromatic in your home too!!

Well I guess I better go on now and get the pups their dinner!!!! I'll be back soon with more antics and goodies!!!

New Things To Share

I did get to the class on rug hooking. I am still not sure that it is "my thing" but I did finally last night finish the hooking on the project. I will tell you that I have a deeper respect for those who do rug hooking. It is much harder than it appears. I am probably going to continue doing it as it is beautiful. I will most likely do it for myself or as a gift (okay it would have to be a REALLY REALLY special friend to get this as a gift !LOL!)

I did not buy the more expensive hook, which I may do if I do another project. The other thing I found difficult was trying to hold onto the hoop and the wool and the hook. Well there are tabletop/laptop hoops, I may have to save up and get me one of those; the teacher showed us hers and it seemed to be much easier.

It is a bit of an expensive hobby as the wool and supplies are a bit more than cotton for quilts. But there are ways around that; wool can be harvested from old items; such as from the TS.

I was shocked that the base material with the patterns drawn on were so HIGH! Apparently it is a bit of difficulty to trace the patterns on; but the teacher showed us a shortcut. The pattern I liked that was drawn on, a prim angel, was like $70.00 WITHOUT any wool! Yow!

But it was nice to get out; the class was small and we were able to stay as long as we liked. The class was at the quilt shop the Hen House. The teacher is the owner Nancy. She is great and offered to provide ongoing help for everyone. All in all it was a nice opportunity to meet new people and learn something new.I would recommend trying it; the teacher said if you have no shops in your area try the videos and you can order supplies. I'm sure she would be glad to UPS you whatever you need. You can email me or leave a comment if you would like her contact info.

After class, I decided to go to a shop another blogger recommended. The Old Granary in Quincy,MI. It was so prim! I loved it.(She has a picturetrail of her home!) I bought that book by Judy Condon; Of Hearth and Home; mainly because another blogger said it had instructions on how to make shutters.(and that is another WHOLE blog post!)

There were many nice items there; some were a little higher than I can afford, but folks were in the shop buying lots of things! I am hoping to go back again soon. I did not know that my card on my camera was full or I would have pictures!

I have been working on the rug; DONE!!! I will post a photo soon! I have also been sewing up some gingys and grungy-ing some piggies!

The gingys before their grungification; LOL!

The piggies Step One!


New Goodies!!!!

The crock for $6.00!

The benches $10.00

My new candle lamp!!!!$10.00!!!

I also was able to get to the flea market south of here in Lapeer,MI. My farmer's market friend has a booth; it is only open on Sundays so finally I was able to go and see her. It was so nice to see her again and I found other vendors who are also at the farmer's market. In addition I was able to find my other fave seller who owned a prim store until the economy swallowed it. She made the scale lamp; it was $10.00!!! I also bought the stack of lil benches for $10.00 from her! AND a cutting board($2.00!) that I forgot to take a photo of! Darn!

The yellow bowl; it is very heavy; sorry about the flash! It is a beautiful yellow!

The wee lil crock!!!It is more grey than it shows!

The snowmen and the bobbins

Little vintage hopper!!! I just love him!!!!

Now the crock comes from a place my friend from the flea market told me about; a consignment shop in Fenton,Mi. The crock was $6.00, I also got a cast iron mold; snowmen,($5.00) a vintage hopping bunny($3.00!!) and old bobbins($4.00 for all). I found a beautiful old yellow bowl($12.00)and a little stoneware crock with blue decoration around the outside($2.00!!!). I am in love with this store; they have furniture and housewares as well as other odds and ends. It is a bit of a drive, but not too bad.

I am trying to get my dopey back to cooperate with all my grandiose plans; but it keeps acting out!!! And I have NO common sense and keep pushing myself to do more and more , so I keep making it hurt more. I have also been making Dogster pages for the babies, so check them out! They are so much fun to do; I'm sure your furbabies will love one too!

An Award and a New Blog Friend

I received an award from my friend Meg at Lucchese to Louis Vuitton; now I am not an award free blog; I just kinda do 'em my own way! So anyone who reads this probably has a fabulous blog too, so please feel free to take and display this on your blog. I am all about doing things your own way! Thanks Meg,you rule! Go visit Meg, she is a hoot and you will love her blog too!

For my second item; I have been looking at the hooked rugs for a long time. Now I would love to have a whole house full of them, but sometimes they are pretty pricey! Yikes. Well I have been getting Create and Decorate for a long time and they always have hooked rug patterns, as do many of the quilting books I have bought. So I decided to look into this a couple of years ago, but there is no one in this area that teaches these classes. I have found a shop that I talked about before :The Hen House in Charlotte. This is a couple of hours from me, but the owner is having a class at the end of the month I am hoping I can go.

Well in that light, I began looking at rug blogs and found some places that are great for rug hookers. On one of the boards I have met a very sweet lady named Sunnie; isn't that a great name? She looks like she has a very sunny disposition! She has a blog Old Crow Farm. I don't have any pictures to share as I didn't have time to contact her for permission to use her photos, but please visit; I believe that she also sells her work and she has some beautiful work displayed on her blog and on the board Rug Hooking Daily. There is also another board called The Welcome Mat that is also for rug hooking. Please visit, you all will love it whether you hook,want to hook or just love the rugs for your home.

Have fun visiting these folks, I think you will love them as much as I do.

Murphy says thank you for all the wonderful comments you all left for him and he appreciates all of you! He sends a big bulldoggie hug to each and every one of you!

The Wisdom of Murphy

This is my baby Murphy. He possesses great wisdom and great love. He is my 'baby-baby" my Schmoo, my Catty-Wampus, my Yella-Fella and the keeper of my heart. He is such a kind and loving fella even though early in life he had many struggles with his health. Even now, we must be careful with him. But all in all, he is filled with love. He is my sweet angel.

Well there is much more to my Murphy than good looks and a big heart! He is such a smart lil guy. Murphy has the wisdom of the world.

Case in point; we were watching tv one evening recently and the Weight Watcher commercial came on. You know the one with the orange monster ( he puts me in mind of Gossamer on Bugs Bunny!) Well, Murphy saw this commercial, took a look at me and began to raise holy hell at the tv; "woo,woo,woo,Murph,Murph,Murph" he says. He fussed until the commercial went off.

We were howling. I said that apparently Murphy is telling us just what he thinks about dieting and WW! LOL; In speaking with the Murph, I asked him why didn't he like this commercial?

This is what he said;" Well, Mom, I love you just as you are, and we don't need no stinkin' diets 'round here! Besides, you know how crabby you get on those things, then you will want me to join you and be miserable too; hey, there is a reason the first three letters of diet are DIE!!!" He is right about that!!!

Point number two; Mr Murphy has long been against peanut butter! Yes, I know, some doggies love PB, but Murph will smell things before he eats them and he will usually turn up his nose to PB! I bought these Paul Newman PB treats for dogs; Niles loves them as do the girls. Murphy has only been known to eat the PB once in a blue moon, and I think that was because he had a cold and didn't smell it. So now when all the news about poison PB comes out, he looks at me and says, "I told you so" Yes, my Murphy, you were right about everything!

I know it is hard for some folks that do not have a Murphy to get such good advice, so he says that he will offer consultations for the cost of a mere plain flavor MilkBone to those of you who have need for his services, He says "You can reach me here through my mom" He also says he is thinking about getting his own blog! Yikes!

Just Had To Share This With You All

I found this over at Cat Nap Inn Primitives; I just had to share it with you all. I sooo agree!! And I have always said I am in shape because ROUND is a shape! LOL!


Q: Doctor, I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life; is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.
Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain...Good!
Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!! .... Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: Are you crazy? HELLO Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It's the bestfeel good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.

Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?
A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape!Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have hadabout food and diets.

AND.....For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health.It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.
1. The Japanese eat very little fatand suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fatand suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
4. The Italians drink a lot of red wineand suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lotsof sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacksthan Americans.
CONCLUSION; Eat and drink what you like.Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Late in Posting and a New Find for our Furry Friends

I forgot to tell y'all; I won Diane's December Giveaway(Where the Foxgloves Grow) AND I FORGOT TO POST IT HERE!!!!! Well I am so sorry Diane. I love the wee lil' dress and it is so super special to me because it is from Scotland. Woo-Hoo; I cannot tell y'all how much I love to listen to the men from Scotland talk; well it just makes me go woo-woo;0 Here is a picture of the lovely dress; and she sent me a beautiful card as well. I will cherish this dress always!! Thank you again Diane. ( I had to use Diane's photo from the giveaway as mine just won't flip right today!)

Look at this tshirt on this handsome doggie; nope he's not mine, but he sure is handsome!!

Hey y'all; I just found this really cool site called Furry Twang Dog Tees; they are a riot; shoot I would wear 'em if they made them in my size! Check these out; I think Miss Shanda would LOVE this one;" I Like my Tea Sweet" This handsome guy's says "I'm Not Fat I'm Big Boned" Hey, me too; that is the shirt for me!!! LOL! Check out the site, you will love it!!! Its what ALL the best country/Southern dogs will be wearing this season!!!

I'm BAAAAACK!!!

(AND THAT IS WHAT I THINK ABOUT EXERCISE AND DIETING!!!LOL)

Well it has been a bit of time since I last posted, but rest assured I have been lurking on y'all's blogs! I have been working on some things here; I have made some stuffed bears, and a pink raggedy ann breast cancer awareness doll. I also have been working through some personal things too which will most probably be an ongoing issue throughout the new year.

I will try to be better about posting ; this is my only New Year's resolution. I have decided to post a blog rule; after reading many blogs and feeling guilty because I have often neglected awards and tags; I am just going to say that I LOVE that you all send me these things and I know it takes time to do so. I also love to send things out, but I am trying hard to balance crafting,blogging and the general life things.

I also hate to miss someone when giving out an award, so I guess I will say that I will accept things as they come in, but I may not always be able to get to them, and the ones I do, I will just post for anyone who reads my blog to take. I think that it is nice that so many people are so thoughtful and I don't want to offend anyone.

Well here is my Raggedy Ann I told you about; she is from a free pattern I found on CS; I made her as a Christmas gift for my daughter's McDonald's store owner Johanne; they do a lot of fund raisers during the year for breast cancer awareness and research in addition to other charities, so my daughter thought that she would really appreciate this doll. (Chrissie recently told me that Johanne loves the doll and often plays with her in her office; arranging the doll's hair to suit her (Johanne's) mood. How funny and great is that!) I hand painted her legs because I could not find any pink striped fabric that I liked; I also used a doily for her collar. She was quick to make and turned out so nicely.

I have been out to a few prim stores recently; Blackbird Primitives in Marshall,MI and the Wren in the Willow in Goodrich,MI. They are both nice stores; I did not get any photos,but I did talk to the owner of the Wren in the Willow and I will be going back and taking photos of the store and her sweet greyhound,Toby! I love it when there are doggies in the store; I think I will also pay a visit to my two favorite ladies in Saginaw and show you their beautiful shop and their two doggies. I am also planning a giveaway; but that is for later!!!

It has snowed here again last night and some today; but the cold is just getting bitter; they keep predicting 9! And for my Canadian friends; that is 9 Fahrenheit~~~which sucks!

So as usual I am in with my doggies; but it is SUNNY!!! At least that is a good thing; the grey days suck the life right out of me!!!!

Hope you are warm where you are!!! See you soon!