All The Colors Of The Rainbow

I can do some of the most dumbest things you have ever seen. The problem is, I have no idea how I continue to do the same dumb things over and over again. But. I. Do.

Last Sunday I needed to take something back that I could not use that I had purchased at a store, then wanted to stop at Joann's Fabrics to pick up some quilting batting as I had a baby quilt I wanted to get started with the quilting later in the afternoon. As usual, I was in a hurry. I had successfully returned what I needed to return, but that was the end of my errands.

 The above picture is the drivers doors of my car. Nothing looks amiss here at all. Now, the photo below, shows the drivers door open.

Do you happen to notice where the door handle is and the top of the door?? See how it sticks out farther than the door? Well, when you are in a hurry and trying to get things done so you can accomplish what you need to do.....dumb things happen.

That part of the door at the top, that sticks out over the door handle met my head. Yes, I opened the door and slammed my own self in the head. A goose egg popped up, I saw stars and knew my errand running was over. I debated on how I was even going to drive home.

Well, now my eye is every color of the rainbow. In all my 51 years, I have never had a black eye. Ever. And to think, I did this to myself, and rather successfully. It has been a week and it is still the same. Sorta gives me an idea of permanent eye makeup, only thing lacking is the other eye and I'd be set.

Oh, and did I mention, I have hit myself in the head before, just like this, just not as hard to cause all this damage. Some days, I think I should stay in a padded room. I am my own worse enemy!

Lesson here....car doors are weapons of personal destruction!

The Price Of Making A Quilt

Cowgirl Cross Quilt - Finished December 2011

All photos click able to enlarge

Back last summer, someone sent me a email asking me how much is cost to make a quilt.....they were just asking out of curiosity. That email has played over and over in my mind more times than not in 2011 and I am sorry to say, I never answered that email personally. It came at a time when I was really hurt by the actions of others over giving quilts as gifts. Mainly because a homemade gift to them, was not a gift at all but a cop out in regards to buying something for someone. Talk about ignorant fools, a quilt is not a cheap hobby or gift. So, before I knew it 2011 had gotten away from me and that email never got answered.

So, I was going through some files on the computer, and noticed that several quilts I finished in 2011 did not make it here on the blog for whatever reason. I wanted to make sure they were included on the blog for finished in 2011, so as I ramble on about the cost of a quilt, I will show the photos here and call it a day. Please know, that these are not necessarily the quilts sent to unappreciated folks, just the ones that I could not find on the blog. There were several finished in 2011.

First, the price of cotton, quality quilting cotton, I might add has steadily climbed in 2011. Those who are quilters know this, but those that are not have no idea. Some fabrics I paid over $10.50 a yard in many of these quilts I am showing here. I am not sure the yardage needed per quilt. Not only that, I have a little problem, and do not make small quilts. So, the price alone for fabric is rather steep. Backing the quilt top is another matter entirely. For a queen or king quilt it takes about 8 yards or more of fabric, depending how you construct the back. I think you can see it is not cheap. At. All. Most of the backs I made last year for quilts were pieced, so I could try and cut down on the cost of backing fabrics, but even at that, it is not inexpensive.

Wedding gift. Finished Summer 2011

Aside from the fabrics and thread used to make a quilt, time is another factor. One does not sit down and make a quilt in a day or two. Most cases it does not even happen in a week or two but several weeks. From the planning, purchasing fabrics, cutting, piecing and putting it together it takes a lot of time. Lots. Of. Time. Far more time than it would take to walk into a store and purchase something off of a registry and go home and wrap it. However, sometimes, that may not be the best option.

Back of wedding gift quilt

Once the quilt top is finished, it has to be quilted. Now, along with the quilting you also need to buy batting for the inside of the quilt. On the average for the size quilts I make, the batting runs about $35.00. At this point, some  quilters have the option of quilting the quilt themselves, or sending it to the long arm quilter to do the quilting. Since I make large quilts, I have been sending them out to have them quilting. The quilt below not only was a large quilt in which I used expensive fabrics, but the quilting alone cost me $175.00. I could not believe it cost me so much, and after the expense of over $165.00 for the fabrics, that made this one expensive gift. Once the quilt has been quilted, it has to be bound. I don't consider the cost extra for binding as it was purchased with the fabrics ahead of time, but I can say, it is a lot of time involved in getting that binding on. And believe it or not, this is on the low end of what quilting can cost a quilter if they don't have the expensive equipment to do it themselves. Long-arm quilting machines cost more than the price of a new car. Trust me. That is true in every sense of the word.

House warming gift summer 2011

For me, it really is about giving a gift that might mean something to someone. The time involved, not to mention the hours spent on creating something beautiful and then to just give it away is often not an easy thing to do. Especially when it is not regarded as a real gift in the first place. It has caused me to rethink who and what I gift to anyone in the future. I want my works of art ( if I can be so bold as to say that ) to be received and treasured. It is a piece of me. Something tangible to serve as a reminder of the love I had for that person as I made it with them in mind. Something to outlast my days here on earth and to serve as a memory and treasured.

Back of house warming gift quilt

This summer I bit the bullet and tried something on my own. I tried machine quilting on my own with the smallest quilt I have ever made. I was able to maneuver this one through my machine and finished it start to finish on my own. I felt like I had accomplished so much.

 Hugs and Well Wishes Quilt - finished summer 2011

This child's quilt and small doll quilt was made and sent to a little girl in Dubai undergoing treatment for Leukemia. At four years old, that is a scary thing to face and I wanted her to have something bright and cheery to take with her to the hospital.

Back of Well Wishes quilt

 I was most proud of this little quilt as it was the first quilt I had actually quilted myself and it was bittersweet sending it off to such a far away land. I know the child's parents appreciated this gift and that is what matters most to me. If you have a moment, say a prayer for her continued healing in 2012.

Doll quilt to match well wishes quilt - with duckie

Below is the last finish for 2011. It was a Christmas gift for a friend of my son's. They were over the moon with this quilt. It was a special one to me as well, as my son gave me an idea of what he wanted and that was it. No pattern. Just out of my head onto fabric came the design. My year finished off on a high note as the appreciation for this gift overshadowed any under-appreciation on others throughout the year. For me, that is what it is all about.

Cowgirl Cross Quilt Finished December 2011

So....in closing, I found that in talking to other quilters, I am not the only one that experiences these types of hurt feelings. One lady said she will never make another thing for any one in her family. I thought how sad is that??? But I can certainly see why she would say that. I don't know if it is a sign of the times or the fact that some can not put a price on this type of gift therefore it is not something of value in their eyes. It boggles my mind.

And to the person who emailed me that question that I have neglected to answer after all this time. Let me say, I am sorry. I guess honestly there are lots of variables in the actual price of each quilt, but they are certainly not something these days that are inexpensive to make.

I'd like you to know, when I sketched out a plan for quilts I want to make in 2012. I have added a special quilt that will be coming to you. The fabrics have all been purchased, I just need to find a pattern I like to go with the special fabrics I have purchased to use in a quilt just for you and your sweet husband! I know without a doubt you will love what I purchased....as you see....we have the same loves on many levels, no matter how short or tall! 

Choose Joy Quilt - gifted to Sara's mother finished October 2011

Nothing like starting off the new year with a rant.....which really was not supposed to be a rant, but I guess that is where it led! It's OK. for me, I got it off my chest and feel rather good about it!! Funny, how in the three years I have been quilting, I have only kept one finished quilt for myself. I have mad many, but only kept one! I might make myself a couple this year!!  Now, on to quilting in 2012 and for gifting them to special people who know the value of a gift from the heart.

Consumer Alert - Pricing at Walmart

Most folks that know me personally have heard me say I don't prefer shopping at Walmart at all. I do however for the sake of convenience stop in about 3 times a month for something quick I might need but usually it is only for one or two things. I don't do my regular grocery shopping there at all ~ ever. 


AND THIS IS WHY

Last month not once but THREE times when I ran into the store for bell peppers and onions when I mysteriously ran out at home, found this at the checkout. If you do the grocery shopping, you know the cost of GREEN bell peppers, and you know the cost of the pretty ORANGE, RED, and YELLOW ones too. The green ones are considerably less always.

Is it a new way to get a few more cents out of the unsuspecting consumer?? I don't know, but you can bet I won't forget them on my next grocery shopping outing at my local grocery store.

When all your pennies count....it pays to pay attention especially during the hurry and rushed season upon us....and shame on Walmart I say! I'd have acknowledged it being a mistake once...but three times in one month is a little eye raising for me! Just thought you'd want to know.

** I did call it to the managers attention the very first time it happened and he said he would take care of it....after the third time in the same month....I guess he forgot.

Don't Forget to Turn Back Your Clocks: Wisdom According To Maxine

I don't know about you, but I would prefer the time to stay the same all the time, and day lights savings time would be nice for me. But that is just me.

I think Maxine has the right idea about this one! Oh, to be able to just turn the dial and be able to dial back to when you were 20 or heck, how about even 30!

And this is how I feel all winter long!!!! Maxine hit it right on the head for me!!!

Today we set out clocks back one hour, so we can come home in the dark....man, I hate the sound of that!!! And while you are at the task of setting your clocks back, be sure to check the batteries in your smoke alarms, and replace if need be.

Take Me Back Tuesday: Behaving Badly Confession

It is no secret if you read my blog on a regular basis that I have for many years had a love for being thrifty and thrifty shopping. Now, along with that wonderful hobby of mine, many a story often follows from the outings.

It is a running joke between my husband and my son that he fully expects to get a call one day that I have had a free ride to the local jail due to inappropriate behavior on my part in the stores. My behavior at times may very well have been inappropriate but in my honest opinion....it was warranted.

NOTE: You may not want to read any further if you are afraid of being crushed at the fact that I am not always as sweet as I seem.... ahem.....I am going to show you my not so nice at times side today, but if you have the faith to check back tomorrow, you will see there was a reason for the confession of bad behavior today.

Without fail on several occasions, there seems to always be someone who follows me in these thrift stores as I shop and just seems to wait for me to put whatever treasure I have in my buggy back on the shelf. Always. Once, I had a milk glass punch bowl and cups in my buggy and for the longest time, I did not notice a lady who stalked me throughout the whole store. Finally, she asked me if I was going to purchase the set or what??? I looked at her and said yes I was and asked her what exactly she meant by the or what??? She informed me I had wasted a good part of the last hour of her time because she was waiting in the store for me to put the punch bowl set back on the shelf because she wanted it. Seriously, the "or what" made me so mad that day....I was at fault for taking up her time....this has happened so many times, that I really did not let this work me up too much that day...but there have been many times before.....

Once about 6 years ago, I was at half price day at Goodwill....and I was going through the racks of t-shirts to find some I could sell on ebay, which at that time was a pretty profitable business for me. I had a buggy full of stuff this one day, and the store was packed. I kid you not, there was a lady behind me and every time I put a shirt in my buggy and turned back to the rack, she took the shirts out of my buggy and put them in hers. When I caught her, I called her out on it rather quickly....and proceeded to take my shirts out of her buggy.... which you can imagine caused a small ruckus. About the time this was going on, one of the managers came rushing towards us like the store was on fire. He started waving his hands in the air saying, "Ladies...please..Ladies...there are plenty of things here for everyone...please....please....." I guess the poor guy thought there was going to be a knock down drag out right there on the store floor over some used t-shirts and he was a nervous wreck....that only fueled my anger that we had upset him....no that the lady who upset me, upset him....get the picture???? The sad thing was, I did not know her story, maybe she needed the clothes, maybe she just liked what I chose, maybe I should not have been so upset with her. But upset I was.......the nerve of that lady was all I could say to myself.

I could tell you stories all day that are very similar to these. It happens all the time, someone will grab what ever I have in my buggy and question me about it or just seem to almost want to take it from me right then and there. I know that should not upset me, but I don't really like it when this happens and it is all the time. Maybe if this happened only once in a while I would not get my hackles up so, but like I said, it is more that just once in a while that this occurs.

I like to shop in peace, I like the thrill of the find and I like it uninterrupted. Likewise, I have always given other shoppers the same respect. I have lots of times walked into a store and knew right away I was just a few minutes too late....someone had some really grand treasures already in their buggy and I missed out. My heart would sink a little for the fact I missed a great item, but that was it. Likewise, I would never think to ask them if they were going to put them back on the shelf because quiet frankly, my thinking is they would have never picked them up in the first place if they did not want them. So, I just forget it and go on. I don't stalk. I don't stare. I don't try to take what is in their buggy. I am not saying that I might consider doing any of these things, but I know how that type of thing drives me crazy so out of respect for fellow shoppers, I do not do it.

These are a couple of extreme happenings in a long line of crazy occurrences though out the years. On a lighter note, there have been some very wonderful conversations started up over an item at a thrift store or Goodwill with someone who just wants to talk, not take. Those conversations are usually very informative on an item, or a conversation will often be about a memory of something similar that was special. And although conversations like these have always been enjoyed, I can sadly admit today, before my friends here on my blog,  I have never once even considered giving up what was in my buggy. Not once. Shameful, I know.

This Take Me Back Tuesday, is really a two part post. The follow up will be up tomorrow. I am sure you are wondering why I would share this not so nice side of myself today. Actually, I am thinking it not a good idea to hit publish after all. I mean, it is crazy to tell your friends you have been so selfish at times that it caused a scene in a store that upset the workers. That when you had every opportunity to do a random act of kindness, you chose not to do it. That deep down you have felt guilty over your actions but push that guilt aside. I have been all of these things and more. It took a single moment in time this last week to bring all of the nasty attitudes to the surface once again and the lesson was so simple, it was shameful. And in case you are wondering, it did not involve that phone call to my husband.

Yes, I really enjoy my treasure hunting....but at the same time, I know I would have enjoyed offering a random act of kindness to many of these individuals who only saw my not so nice side. Shameful. Next...you will see just how shameful it has been compared to a random act of kindness from a stranger with a much kinder heart than mine......I hope you come back for the rest of the story. If you followed this to the end, well, thank you for stopping by for this Take Me Back Tuesday. You may have noticed that there are no pictures, because frankly, I could not even think of any to go with this post......and that is a first for me.

Facebook Made Me Cry..............

I very seldom write about my deep feelings on things....I mean, I do a lot of rambling..but never on a serious subject. I guess because I keep most of my thoughts and feelings to myself...things that are personal. But I decided I wanted to write about something that has really stirred up a bunch of emotions this past week for me.


The cause of all of this??.....Facebook......now I am sure most of you will think I am really silly, and I am sure I am being silly...but I had no idea when I signed up for Facebook what emotions it would stir up....long forgotten things.....things I had hid away rather well for nearly 30 years.

The first day, I had a flood of friend request, request from people I had not seen or heard from in years....YEARS. I was a little taken back. It did not take long for my best friend in High School to send a friend request and a note about long time...no see.... I did not respond for a few days...why? I have no idea....I really have no idea.

Well, she sent another request for a friend add, nothing from me. I think now, all of these years when she was not in my life, I told myself that was fine with me. I figured she knew where I lived, my address and I never heard from her. I knew she remarried and I did not know where she was or even her last name....(my excuse is lame I know) I felt like shame on me and shame on her for letting so much time pass between us, and in an instant here we were, and I felt like a deer in the headlights. I know I was really taking this facebook thing all out of proportion. I let old hurts cause this to be more than what it really was I think.

Well, this morning, I added her, she sent a long message, I sat and replied...and then just cried my eyes out.... I sent another message after the first one that said, "You know, I have missed you all of these years....really missed you" and I then logged off and cried some more, I do not have the courage right now to read the response if there is one.

This is the kind of tears I hate to cry...tears of years lost and can never get back, tears for missing out on the important things in your old friends' life, tears for them missing out on mine, tears for just missing that person, tears for feeling for years you did not matter enough to your friend to maintain a friendship that was once special. I know now, this is what I was afraid of, these feelings coming out of their hiding place, feelings I had locked away for years. Being able to tell yourself all these years it did not matter, and then, all of a sudden, like being hit by a freight train....knowing it did matter.....very much......

It almost feels like someone turned a key, and unlocked what has been missing all this time...it is very scary to me...wondering how to proceed from here. Nothing may change....everything may.....

*Sigh* I needed to say this.....even if it is for myself to reread and then think about it.

~On a lighter note, the one thing Facebook did provide is a feeling of gratefulness.... I saw a picture of an old Boyfriend...Oh, My Gosh...he looked awful! And the first thing out of my mouth was "Thank you, God"....not because of seeing him, but of being glad I did not marry him.....I am thankful God sent my husband....Sorta reminds me of the song by Garth Brooks...."Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers"

Thanks for letting me vent.......and I must say...you guys who are my blogging buddies and now Facebook friends....I am happy to have you on my friends list, you bring so much to my life, you really have no idea!!!

For The Over 30 Crowd!!

THE SPOILED UNDER-30 CROWD!!!
If you are 30 or older you will think this is hilarious!!!!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking Twenty-five miles to school every morning.... Uphill... barefoot... BOTH ways Yadda, yadda, yadda......

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it! But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.

You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a Utopia!
And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!


I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen!
Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take, like, a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents!

Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to tan our hide! Nowhere was safe!


There were no MP3' s or Napsters! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the local record store and shoplift it yourself!


Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and mess it all up! There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished and the tape would come undone. Cause - that's how we rolled, dig?


There was no such things as cell phones. Nothing was so important that it could not wait until you got home to make a actual telephone call. Speaking of telephones, we didn't have fancy technology like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it!
And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either!
When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your coach, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!


We didn't have any fancy Sony PlayStation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen... forever!
And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!


You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! There was no channel surfing! You had to get off your tail and walk over to the TV to change the channel! NO REMOTES!!!


There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little brats!


And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove! Imagine that!

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or before!

Regards,
The Over 30 Crowd

~~~I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. A friend of mine sent this to me in a email, I changed some of the wording so it would not offend anyone...still....I think it is funny and a good representation of how fast things have progressed in just a few short years.

This Post is to Test Your Knowledge...***ANSWER****

OK....Here is the answer to today's challenge question. Do you ever feel like there never is enough time in the day?

Did you know you can take a bag of rice, lay it on the agitator of your washing machine, throw in a load of towels using hot water...and viola....once the washer turns off, perfectly steamed rice...ready for the table.

J-O-K-I-N-G here folks! Can you tell I am feeling a bit silly today?? Might as well laugh at my silly mistakes...this is really what happened......

Normally, you see my sweet Sophie & Dora's picture on my phone, now, you can not even see the screen...because I washed it in the machine with a load of clothes....I hope the rice does the trick....should be dried out if left in a bag of rice unopened on the counter (not the washing machine) for a couple of days....I am crossing my fingers here, as my contract is not up until December....what a mess if I have to get a new phone.

This is a test.............

Please leave your guess in the comment section. I will check back later Friday and give you the answer....I just want to see how many smart folks out there in blog land can guess what this was about.

Now, file this tad bit of information in your head just in case you find your phone floating in the washer one day like I did. I was impressed with all the smart answers.....you guys do know your stuff. Have a great weekend.

See this bag of rice and a regular ole' ziploc bag? Well.....can you guess why I was in need of these two items Thursday evening?? The two of these were quickly transformed to look like this.....



I'll give you a hint......a regular ole' washing machine was involved as well......

Stumped yet?!?!?!? Don't worry too much....I will show you in another photo what it was all about after we play a little guessing game.

This One Is For You.......

"I'm selfish, impatient, and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control, and at times hard to handle.
But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."

~Marilyn Monroe

This is intended for just the right person. If read this today, it is not something that I posted about myself....but for someone else......you will know who you are! Hope it touches your heart today.

Update: From Thursday ~ I wish I was a computer geek!

Of all days to have a problem with blogger and Mr. Linky, it would have to be on Thursdays! I could not access my blog yesterday and kept getting an error message. I assumed something was wrong with my computer and took it to a local shop to get checked out...still don't have the darn thing back yet, but my son was sweet enough to loan me his laptop....boy, it has been a challenge.

Anyway, I discovered from the "known issues" on blogger that I was not the only person having a problem, it seems when using Internet explorer and trying to access some blogs, some people could not get the pages to load...LUCKY ME!! I was in the "not so in" group...and had the problem.

Also, Mr. Linky has some kind of issue too, I had to import the links from yesterday back to the post page this morning...I am so sorry for all the confusion and things not working. That is one thing that just bugs me...even if it was not my fault. I did not know it was not my fault at the time.

Hope everything will be back to normal by the weekend. Have a great Holiday weekend everyone!

"I karate chopped a ninja on your car because I'm a ninja."

Guess What?? Well, you really won't believe it.....but it is true!

"I karate chopped a ninja on your car because I'm a ninja."

I stole this from 47 and Starting over because well, this is fun and cute, and I wanted to share it with you.

Please play along and leave your answer in the comment section.


Pick the month you were born:
January-------I did the Macarena With
February------I loved
March--------I karate chopped
April----------I licked
May----------I jumped on
June----------I smelled
July----------- I kicked
August--------I had lunch with
September----I danced with
October-------I sang to
November-----I yelled at
December-----I ran over

Pick the day (number) you were born on:
1-------a birdbath
2-------a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a snowman
6-------a gangster
7-------my mobile phone
8-------my dog
9-------my best friends' boyfriend
10-------my neighbor
11-------my science teacher
12-------a banana
13-------a fireman
14-------a stuffed animal
15-------a goat
16-------a pickle
17-------Chuck Norris
18-------a spoon
19------ - a smurf
20-------a baseball bat
21-------a ninja
22------- your mom
23-------a noodle
24-------a squirrel
25-------a football player
26-------my sister
27-------my brother
28-------an iPod
29-------a surfer
30-------a homeless guy
31-------a llama

What is the last number of the year you were born:
1--------- In my car
2 --------- On your car
3 ----------- In a hole
4 ----------- Under your bed
5 ----------- in an elevator
6 --------- sliding down a hill
7 --------- Riding a Motorcycle
8---------- at the dinner table
9 -------- In line at the bank
0 -------- in your bathroom

Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:
White---------because I'm cool like that
Black---------because that's how I roll.
Pink-----------because I'm sexy and I do what I want
Red-----------because the voices told me to.
Blue-----------because I'm NOT crazy.
Green---------because I think I need some serious help.
Purple---------because I'm AWESOME!
Gray----------because Big Bird said to and he's my leader.
Yellow--------because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars
Orange--------because my family thinks I'm stupid anyway.
Brown---------because I can.
Other----------because I'm a Ninja!
None----------because I can't control myself!

Now, since I am a ninja and all, be sure to leave your answer in the comment section, or you might be next to receive a chop!

A Cemetery Ghost? : Gone But Not Forgotten

Wordless Wednesday???
Not this week.
I just have too much to say for this Wednesday's post to be wordless! Wordless Wednesday will be back next week.

*** I want to first remind you about my giveaway going on this week. If you have not entered, please click HERE and enter your comment on MONDAY'S post for your chance to win my prize package this week. ***

........Now, Let me tell you what happened over the weekend. Steve and I went driving on Saturday. I wanted to take some pictures to use this week in my posts. After a not so productive afternoon, we were headed home. Steve suggested we stop at a cemetery close to our home. It is the Historic Handley Cemetery located in the heart of Ft. Worth, Texas. It is very small, with lots of old graves, and the sad thing is, it sits right at the base of a power plant now. Sad in my way of thinking.

The cemetery is really small. It has old graves and the last person buried there was in the late 1960's. You can just tell be walking around that these graves are long forgotten by distant relatives, or maybe not forgotten, just never known. I always get a sense of forlorn when I see that no one visits old cemeteries.



As usual, Steve went on his way and walked the whole thing long before I had ever got started. There is really nothing I love to do that rivals walking through an old cemetery. I just love doing that. I find it very interesting. I always am curious about the people, where they lived, their stories, and what their lives were like. In this particular cemetery, most lived very short lives. It makes you stop and think how hard and brutal life must have been just a few short 100 plus years ago.


I had great fun snapping photos at this location. I could not believe I had lived over 20 years near this place and had never stopped to have a look around.


There was one grave in particular which drew my eye. It was situated in the back, under several small shade trees. This particular grave had the most beautiful ornate iron work around it. The iron gate was amazing in itself. I stood several moments before I ever took a single photo. I learned this was the grave of a man named Henry Butler. He was born May 4, 1841 and died March 19, 1880. Very young indeed. As I was reading his headstone, the bottom inscription said "Gone but not forgotten."


I looked around at the despair of the grave and said out loud, "Well, Henry, it looks like you were certainly forgotten, I am sorry for that." Then I started snapping photos. I was concentrating on trying to get the beautiful iron gate and the headstone in the frame of my camera, and in a fleeting instant, I felt something cold touch my right arm......and I am here to tell you, I was not touching anything but my camera. I was not scared, and it was so fleeting I did not think too much of it. But it did happen and it was enough for me to take notice of it.

I soon met up with Steve and we decided to head home. Once we were in the truck I was rattling on about how much fun that was, and I asked him if he felt anything in the cemetery....you know like a presence or something... He just looked over at me like I had sprouted horns and said, "NO." He thinks I am a bit strange at times I am sure.

I was eager to get the photos downloaded onto the computer so that is what I did as soon as I got home. Once the images were on the computer and I was looking over the photos from the cemetery visit; I got chills of a different kind.

When the shots of Henry's grave came on the screen, I sat there frozen. Then I started yelling at Steve to "Come here quick!" "Hurry!" He strolled into the office like he did not have a care in the world, he was not too interested in any of the photos, after all, he had seen it first hand.

Me: "LOOK!"

Steve: "What?"

I could not believe he did not see it.

Me: "Don't you see it?"

Steve: "What?"

Me: "The orb. It's Henry of course!"

Steve: "Henry? Don't you think that might be a sun spot?"

Me: "No. I was totally in the shade. It's Henry!"

Me: "See, here he is, the blue orb on the right side of the photo, the same side I told you I felt a cold feeling when I was taking the photo."

Steve: "They have padded rooms available for folks like you."

He walked out the door shaking his head. I stared back at my photo, smiling because in my mind this was Henry saying hello, and happy someone paid him a visit. I can not help but smile and wonder what Henry would think about his headstone being posted on the Internet some 128 years after his death.
I think he would be honored.....and yes, happy he is not forgotten.

Change is on the way.......

Well, this is it. Tomorrow my job is officially relocated to the downtown Dallas office.
How do I feel about that? I think this picture sums it up nicely.

I have really tried to keep myself busy, trying not to think about this change in my life, which by the way I am facing with much dread. As long as I have tried to not think about this move, I could just pretend it was not going to happen. Ever have a situation like that? I guess, really that is not the best way to approach a tough situation. Because now, as they say, "it's time to face the music." Bummer.

I'm sure it will not be as bad as I picture in my mind it to be. I'm sure I will adjust to the new work schedule, which is opposite from what my body is accustom to. I'm sure I won't mind having days off during the week, and working when my family is home on weekends. I'm sure that I will not mind the fact that I will not hardly ever see my favorite co-workers anymore. I am sure I am just kidding myself.

I am also sure you need to keep me in your thoughts this week. I am sure it is going to be a rough one.
If I seem ungrateful that I still have a job, I am not. I am thankful for the fact that I am still employed....at least until November.

I know in my mind that change can sometimes be a good thing. But for some reason, I can not get my heart to listen to what my mind is telling me. I am sure this will work itself out.