Happy Birthday Bonti.

Today is my sister's birthday. Mary Yvonne, but we know her as Bonti.
When Corey was learning to talk, he had a hard time pronouncing Aunt Yvonne, Bonti would always come out. So, the name stuck. When I was young, we called her Sissy.
She is my big sister, only by a few years, six to be exact.
She has always been my close friend, mother-at-one-point-in-time, and my buddy. We have such fun together. We can just look at each other and start laughing. Oh the memories I have of us just cracking up over crazy stuff.

She is an animal lover. I don't think I can count how many critters she has had. She is so good with them too.
She is a wife, mother of two sons, grandmother of 10 or 11, I lost count, and a great grandmother of one.
She is the best sister anyone could ever want.
We love you Bonti.

"Happy Birthday" Jeffery

Jeffery's birthday was yesterday. I tried to get this posted the same day, but time did not permit me too. I won't spoil it and tell how old he is. All I can say is he is a lot younger than I am.

Jeffery came into our lives 18 years ago. He is our favorite son-in-law. We only have one. If I had to choose a son for our daughter, and could choose one out of a million guys, I know I would have chose him. He is such a great guy. We have so much fun together.
I know that if we ever needed anything, and I mean anything, he would be there for us.

You are such a blessing to this family. You consummate this family.

You become more special to us with each year that passes by. You know that you are Tom's bestfriend.
Words can't describe how much we really love you.
Love,
Your Favorite Mother-in-law

Flummoxed-Vexed-Nettled.......

This is absolutely rediculous. I can't post a picture or a page element. So frustrating too.Okay, just found a help website. Apparently it is a blog problem, not an individual computer problem. Whew....I was getting vexed.
Did I happen to mention that I have jury duty this Wednesday? Yea, on top of everythign else, I have to go. I called everyday last week and they just had you call the next day. Well, Friday I totally forgot to call and remembered around noon. Quickly made the call and...low-and-behold, I was suppose to appear at 12:30. Yea right, I was going to make that one.
So, got up this morning, thankful that I haven't been arrested, and made the call. I actually spoke to a very pleasant woman. She just said that I could pick which day I wanted to come in, either this Wed. or Thurs. Hmmmm, major decision there, how about sometime next year? NOT...

A Year of Crockpotting.

Those of you who need new, easy ideas for cooking, look no further than here. This lady appeared on the Rachel Ray show. She just happens to be a blogger. There are 365 recipes to look at. So, take a minute and check out her blog. There are vegetarian recipes too!

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/


Sorry, I can't figure out how to get a direct link, so your going to have to copy and paste her blog address. Or, you can just scroll down a little bit and click on her link titled "Crockpotting", under my "Favorite Web Sites".

Tell Me the "Tooth"!

Unbelievable. I have been so excited about Ryan and Shelly getting here. They got in this morning at 5:00 AM. I could hardly sleep last night. I woke up around 3:00 to use the restroom. I called them and they were just two hours away. I finally got myself back to sleep. Well, they finally rolled in and I got out of bed. It felt like my left lower jaw was a little swollen. I went into the bathroom to take a peek, sure enough, it was a little puffy. No pain tho. I lost a filling, in the back, about six months ago, some of the tooth fell off too. It didn't' bother me so I just ignored it. No pain, don't mess with it. I went on about my short visit with the kids, they were tired and wanted to go to bed. I went back to bed too.
Got up around 8 o'clock to get myself ready for work. I figured that I might as well go to work since they would be sleeping all morning. When I got to work I thought I should call an oral surgeon because I figured I would be loosing the tooth and I didn't want to go through the weekend with a toothache.
Was able to get in to see the dentist this morning and he took an xray. He said that there is definitely an abscess but felt that the tooth is savable. He suggested I go to a GD and see if they can do a root canal. Now that sounds real exciting. I think I would rather have the tooth pulled.
Remember my post a few weeks ago when Tom and I slept out in the back yard? Remember the penny I found under the mattress and my first thought was the tooth fairy new something I didn't? She was trying to warn me, I think!

Wanted....New Family?

Yesterday was my 35th. year anniversary and no one remembered, not even my dear sweet husband. Tom and I, last week, talked about taking the day off and going somewhere. Well, we both ended up working, but I thought we would maybe go to lunch or dinner. You would think after that long it would be embedded in his brain.
I waited all day long, he even called me around lunch time, didn't mention a word. I thought for sure one of my kids would remember, NOT.

So, after work I decided I would just treat myself to something, what else than a new Hummingbird feeder. On my way home I made a stop at Pet Smart. I had seen the Oasis feeder on Youtube and the birds were swarming around it. Okay, I have to have one of these. I came home and immediately hung it up. Wasn't too long after that a bird was perched on it and sipping some nectar. Ahhh...what a sight.

Still no calls from anyone. Okay, I want a new family. Well, that was yesterday. Today I feel different. I know that we can all get too busy in this life. None of them would ever intentionally forget each other.

Got a text from Ryan late last night. Oh yea, Sean called me early this morning. Corey finally called me after the earth quake they had in LA. He told me that he can't even remember birthdays let alone an anniversary. Let's hope that when he gets married he won't forget his.

You see I had finally mentioned it last night while talking to Kathleen. She was so apologetic and quickly alerted her brothers. When Tom called me, around 8pm, to let me know he was on his way home from work, I said, " Oh yea Happy Anniversary". Well let me just say he is trying very hard to redeem himself. I have a few thoughts as to how. Will let you all know when.

By the way, I don't want a new family. I am so blessed and loved by my husband and kid's. The Lord knew just what I needed in life and He made sure I got it.


Oh yea, I went to Jack-in-the-Box for dinner and then drove to Home Depot and got a couple African Violets. Had to have some flowers for my anniversary.

Priceless Pictures.

Did you ever give it much thought about how or when the camera was invented? FYI, sometime around 1826, the first pinhole camera was invented.
Wonder why...maybe because some people love their picture taken. I am not one of them. Maybe so we can hold on to precious memories or history to learn from. Regardless, I am very thankful it was invented. Anyone remember the Brownie Camera?
For whatever reason the camera was made, all I can say is thank goodness or we wouldn't be able to blog, and what we would we do without blogging?

I like to visit TJ Max whenever I have some extra time. I found this dress on sale and it had a matching dress for a doll. It was the perfect size too. I snatched it up.


This pic is with my camera. I thought I was using my camera while we were there. Kathleen and I have the same camera, I was using hers.


We took a trip up to Lawren's house this weekend. Kathleen wanted to take her husband out on a date. So, Pa Pa and I drove over there. We had a lot of fun with her.
Lawren loves to swing. We spent a lot of time outside playing on her swing. Well, as much time as Grandma could take. It got a little warm for me. I am so looking forward to the Fall.


Lawren loves to be read too. Kathleen and Jeff have done a great job getting her interested in books. From day one, they read to her. When she was a around 5-6 mo. old, you could tell her to turn the page and she would do it immediately.

I was taking a nap with her. As soon as she woke up, she looked at me with her innocent brown eyes and said "Grandma", I answered "Yes", she followed with "n PaPa".
Funny how some children will bond with a family member and be fearful of another.
She is crazy about her PaPa. She never excludes him.

Keiran's New Room

Keiran and his mom and dad recently moved into another house. So, we all agreed that he needed to update his room to his liking. He is definately all boy for he loves anything that has to do with wheels. Airplanes, trains, trucks, firetrucks etc. Well, there really wasn't any question as to what he wanted. Although, I found an adorable woodsy outdoor theme, but he chose the cars. It really is cute too.

I have to tell you that I got a really good deal on the quilt. When we went up to the checkout to purchase it there wasn't a tag on it. The lady called the floor manager over to check on the price. I told her it was marked on the shelf for either $79.99 or $69.99. Well, they wanted to check for themselves. She received a call back and told me it was only $12.99. I told her that it had to be a mistake because it is a quilt. She just shrugged her shoulders and said it was $12.99 and to not say anything. I repeated myself to both ladies that it was a mistake. They rang it up for $12.99. I wasn't going to argue. So we purchased the quilt for that price. After we left the store, I told Sean, we should go buy the other quilt too. But we didn't.
He was so excited to get some of the accessories. The lamp, a car bank, an extra little pillow and decals for the wall. He is all set now....well at least until he becomes a teenager.

Star Gazers.

Okay, you can call me crazy, but, we had a fun time.
Last night, around sundown, Tom and I went out in the backyard to relax and enjoy the cool breeze. We have a had a few consecutive warm days, around low 90's, but it tends to really cool off in the evening, 58-60 degrees. While we were sitting there Tom suggested that we sleep in the back yard. I didn't take him serious, I said "are you serious?" He answered "sure, why not." Sounds good to me. So, we drug out our air bed and some blankets and made a cozy little bed on the patio. Now our patio is not covered, YET, so we were able to just lay there and gaze up at the stars.
It was around 9:30. As soon as we got in bed, a siren went off and the neighbors dog started barking. I looked at Tom and said, "maybe this isn't such a good idea." That is one of the reasons we sleep with a fan going, to drowned out the noise of the night. (dogs, trains, sirens, etc.)But after a few minutes, it was quiet again.
I laid there just looking up at the Big Dipper, trying to find the Little Dipper, which I can never seem to locate. I noticed a plane flying lower than ususal. After about 5 minutes another one flying over. I would let Tom know as each plane flew over. I was amazed at how busy the sky is at night. In less than a half an hour there was at least 7 or 8 planes flying west. Finally, Tom suggested that I close my eyes and go to sleep, which I tried but failed. It must have taken me an hour and a half to get to sleep. I was enjoying the imponderable beauty of it all.
Right before Tom went to sleep, I emphatically told him that if he were to get up and go inside, for any reason, he was to wake me and let me know. I did not want to be left out there alone.
Well, around 3 in the morning, Tom woke me and said that he was going inside. I asked why, he said that he was tired of hearing the trains roll by, we do live close to a train track. He said there is a full moon and it was too bright. I opened my eyes to an illuminated back yard. Looking South was a bright full moon. I could have seen an ant crawling it was so bright. You didn't need a flash light to see where you were going.
So, I grabbed my pillow and headed into the house.

This picture is for my children. Yes, I had my little portable fan out there beside my bed. I cannot sleep without a fan blowing. We thought of everything.

I had remembered years ago when Corey would have his friend Chris over for the night. They would want to sleep out in the back yard, so we would make them a bed on the ground. After a few hours, they would be back in the house because of ants or bugs. So, I drew a chalk line around our mattress with some ant chalk. I didn't want to look like a big ant hill when I got up in the morning.

As soon as I picked up the bedding I noticed a penny that was under the mattress. I thought..."Tooth Fairy"...hmmm, only a penny? Is that all you get for an older tooth that has either been crowned or filled??? I quickly scanned my teeth with my tongue, none missing. Oh well, maybe she knows something I don't???

A while back, I had wanted an iron headboard for my front bedroom. Teena happened onto this one at a yard sale around the corner from my house. I paid a whole $10.00 for it. It was originally gold...not a favorite color of mine...amazing what a little can of spray paint can do. In most cases I think you should look at what something could be, not as it is, even with people.
As soon as I got off of work Friday, I changed into my bathing suit,jumped in the pool, sorry, can't post that picture on my blog, got out the spray paint and started spraying.

The finished project.

6 Words To Sum Up My Life.

Since I read on Natalie's blog, 6 words that summed up her life, I have been trying to think of the same thing. Well, yesterday it came to me...
"Too Soon Old, Too Late Wise."



How many women do you see in this picture?

Tom Left Me....

Yes, Tom left me today. As we were sitting in the back yard yesterday, I decided to call Corey to see when he was coming up for a visit. He reminded me that Tom had told him he would come down there for a few days while he was on disability. Well at the spur of the moment, I got online and checked airline flights. Found one. So, he left today. Corey told me their itinerary. Tonight they go visit Ryan and Shelly, have dinner at Olive Garden and head over to the Golden Spoon. A tasty place that serves the best frozen yogurt. Tomorrow is golf, Tues. Universal Studio's, Wed. golf, and then he flies home.
But, before he left today we took a trip to San Francisco yesterday with the Lewis'. It was cool, 70 degrees.

Bob and Dore Lewis.

Going down Lombard Street, brick road and all. The only brick road in SF. The crookedest street in America with tight hairpin turns.

Now this is a beautiful pic. As you drive down Lombard St., the street is in the shape of an S, you will see lots of gorgeous Hydrangea's around each corner.

At the top of B Ave. looking out at Alcatraz. I have no idea who the couple is walking across the street.
Just a shot of part of the marina in San Fran.

Our destination was at the top of the moutain on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge. I am not sure which mountain is the Headlands, I think it is the one furthest to the left.

Dore, Bob and Tom climbing up to the top of the Headlands.

Looking East you see the Golden Gate Bridge and the city of San Francisco.

Looking out to the south you see China Beach and Lands End. This is the second Lands End Tom and I have seen. The other was last year while in Cabo.

From the top of the Headlands you can look to the west and see the edge of the world, well the west edge, there stands a lighthouse. We drove around around the island intending to hike to the lighthouse but the trail was closed. So, we continued on around the island and came across an old military complex.

Old military barracks. Currently used as a Hostel and Art studio.

This is a visitor center now, but use to be chapel on an military base. I thought it was so cute and so typical of a little chapel. This is located on the west side of the island, only a little land seperates it from the ocean. It was so peaceful there.

On our way home we decided to drive through Sausalito. Bob wanted to check out homes that float. We all agreed that this one was cute. Some of them looked like, well, I would rather sleep in the street than to climb onto some of them.
The 4th. one from the right reminded me of a little hot dog stand.

Our final stop was Claim Jumpers. We stopped there to eat. It was delicisious. For dessert I got, what they call an "I Declair", which is their version of an eclair. I wish I had thought to take a picture of it. It is so big, Bob, Tom and I had a generous piece and we still have half of it left over. I would take a picture but, Tom dropped it while getting out of the car so, I don't think it looks to pretty. Maybe it's a good thing Tom left for a few days????????

Did You Know?

Did you know that the taco's at Jack in the Box are made of soy meat. There is absolutely no animal product in them.
Teena and I had stopped there the other day for a snack. I wanted my usual smoothie and she got a couple of taco's. Well, we got to talking about it and she told me they were soy. I have to say I questioned that one. So, as we pulled up to the window, we asked. Sure enough, they are soy. The best part of it all is they are two for only 99 cents. Gee, I should do a commercial for them.
So, if any of you know something I don't, like they are not soy, please let me know asap because I have been eating them a lot lately, and with my wages...99 cents is a deal...oh don't forget to add tax...total is 1.08.

A Pleasant Surpirse!

Helen Ida and husband Gary stopped by my office, for a few minutes, on their way back from down south. They were down there for a wedding and visiting their little grandchildren.
I think the scowl on her face is from the heat. It was only 107 yesterday. I think it only got to 106 today. As I type, it is 102. The good news it that next week it is suppose to drop down to the mid 90's. One good thing that comes out of all this heat is our pool is not cold. I haven't had the desire to go out in our back yard and check the temp. but I am sure it feels close to bath water.

Happy Birthday Sean Murphy!

Yes, Sean is another year older. He is catching me. Hard to believe that my kid's are getting older. I say they are getting more mature and wiser. How time flies. Seems that just a few years ago he was still small enough to hang on the door. Yes, he use to get hung on the door by his Uncle Gerald. Gerald would pick him up by his shirt and hang him on the door knob.
Sean is a very bright man. He was such a good student too, except he seemed to have trouble with blurting out the answer when the teacher would ask a question. I can remember as far back as second grade. When I had a teachers conference, that would always be the complaint. They would say "Sean is a very bright boy but has trouble raising his hand, he just blurts out the answer." What can I say...he's smart.
His kindergarten teacher thought there was something wrong with him because he scribbled when it was time to color. Sean hated to color is all. No big deal right?
He is a great father, husband, son, brother and Christian. Has a very deep love for the Lord. He does a lot of preaching at his church and neighboring churches.
Sean is the oldest of the three boys. We are so blessed to have him in our family.
He is pictured here with his wife Alana, another Mrs. Murphy.
We had a great time today, eating, swimming and just loving the time together.
I have a few more pics to enter but it is late and I have to work tomorrow.

Two peas in a pod here. Tom and Sean grilled veggies, potatoes and corn for Seans birthday lunch. Alana made a delicious Carrot Cake. So much food, so little time.

Keiran is getting to be such a big boy and a good helper too. He wanted to water all of the plants on the patio for Grandpa. I think he loves anything that has to do with water. He goes swimming even when the water is cold.

While everybody was getting lunch ready, Lawren and her daddy got to hang out by the pool.