What I Have Been Up To

Not a whole lot going on around here right now. The weather has been beautiful!

Friday and Saturday morning I went to several garage sales. I bought this box for $1.



I love the details on the handle.



It's in perfect condition.



Now I just have to figure out what to do with it!

I also bought this chair for $2 to use in my craft room. Here Cocoa demonstrates how to sit in it!



I had just enough material left from my dining room chairs to cover it. I didn't do the best job but it's good enough!



I also bought this bracelet, necklace and earrings for $1.50! I kept the earrings to wear. The bracelet I took apart to use the beads for other things. The necklace I am in the process of making two bracelets out of!



We have been going out to various places to use our metal detector. Found quite a few coins. Some of which look like they have been under ground for a while!





And this pin we found by a swing set at a local park. Someone may be missing this!



This weekend we have plans for another State Park, plus having the kids over for a end of summer barbecue!

We Are Back In Business

We got our metal detector back this week, all repaired and working like new. Plus the weather has cooled somewhat, the humidity is less so today we headed out to here:



Yankee Springs State Recreation Area...in Middleville which is South of Grand Rapids and North of Kalamazoo. It was about a 2-1/2 hour drive for us which is about as far as we want to go without spending a night.

I won't show you too many pictures of the park. They all seem to look alike after a while. This is Gun Lake...very pretty. We walked around with our metal detector and found a quarter, three dimes, twenty pennies and a matchbox car!



We saw this little guy. His name is Dodger and he' s a pit bull puppy, Cutest little thing with the saddest little face! He didn't really act sad though. Good thing, or I may have taken him away from the owners!



Saw this young hawk too just sitting by the side of the road...didn't seem to care that we drove right up and took his picture. I thought maybe he was hurt at first but shortly after I took this he just flew away!



Here is my first ever attempt to load a video. It's just of waves on the lake. Hope it comes through for you guys. If so, I have many more videos to share.

The Brenda Photo Challenge - Dirt

Time for another Brenda Photo Challenge! This one is all about dirt, which definitely has it's place in our worlds!

One of the few places in our houses we don't mind dirt..in a pot waiting for a plant!

Also on a beautiful dirt road.

Not so nice on my car after driving on said dirt road!

Click the link above to get a little more dirty!

Afraid Of The Dark

Today at work we were talking about the different ways people like to sleep. For instance, one co-worker has to have it completely dark and another likes to have a fan running all night.

It reminded me of when I was a child. We were raised in a small bungalow-type house with two bedrooms on the main floor and a large, upstairs attic bedroom. Because I had three brothers and no sister, I got the second bedroom on the main floor all to myself, while all three of my brothers slept upstairs.

At night when I would have to go to bed, my mom would always close the door to my bedroom because being on the main floor she thought the light and noise from the TV would keep me awake. I hated being alone in the room and I was afraid of the dark..so instead of sleeping I would lay awake for hours (it seems) just staring at the rectangle of light coming from around the closed door! I'm sure that if she would have kept the door open just a little I would have relaxed and fallen asleep!

As a result, when my kids were little they were allowed to sleep with the doors open and the hallway light on, or even a light in their rooms on if that was what they needed to feel secure. I never wanted them to be afraid of the dark like I was!

Many years later during some holiday I was telling the above story to family members sitting around the table and my mom was absolutely mortified! She felt so bad! She said, "Why didn't you tell me? I never would have made you sleep in the dark!" I told her I probably did ask her to leave the door open at one time, but she probably said no and I did not argue with her because back then, you never argued with your parents! Then I felt bad that she felt bad!!

I'm not afraid of the dark anymore, but I do sleep best in a room that is softly lit. I just wish I would have had a softly lit room when I was a child, or at the least a sister to be afraid of the dark with!

See ya tomorrow for the Brenda Photo Challenge!

Whew!

It sure doesn't take long after going back to work to feel like I never left, you know? We are so busy and short handed that I will be working this Friday and then next Saturday, too!

This has been an unusually hot and humid summer so far. I am not complaining but this humidity can take a hike! I don't know how you southern buddies of mine can live with this every summer! Plus I haven't had a good hair day a long time!

My car sits in the sun all day in the parking lot. This was the temp inside when I got into it yesterday.



I am so mad at my urologist office. Had a CT scan on Wednesday and they still haven't called me with the results! I even left a message on their "results" line last Friday and they still haven't called me! Today I called to bitch at them and they were closed! Agghhh! If I ever have a serious problem I probably will find another urology office. I'm almost done with these guys anyway. Another 6 months of follow up and that should be it! My blood work all came back good though. My primary doctor, Dr. L is awesome and she gets back with me as soon as she has any test results. Dr. H needs to take a few lessons from her!

Thats it for now! Off to watch some TV before bedtime!!

Vacation Over

Well, that was a pretty quick week like I knew it would be. I got a lot of stuff done and it was nice to have that time off...but believe it or not I am ready to go back to work again. The walls were begining to close in on me! No more weeks off without going away for at least a few of the days!

I'm beat and have to get ready for work tomorrow. I leave you with a very picture-heavy entry!

Yesterday we went to the Matthaei Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor. I can't believe I have never been there all of these years. The inside tropical garden was closed for the day but there was plenty to see on the outside...the place was just gorgeous!

























And they had a really cute kids area.













Have a great week!

Hump Day Sort Of

Well, it's hump day which means nothing to me because I have been on vacation all week!

We did not make any plans to go anywhere which is probably a good thing because it is HOT right now! Maybe if we planned on heading to the UP it would be cooler up there, but Rich is working this week so it's been me on my own!

I had a big list of stuff to do this week and have accomplished about 1/4 of it. I had planned to paint the front door, the garage door (the small one) and the trim around the garage door (the big one) and smaller door (got that?). Well, it's been so hot and humid this week that I have postponed that until the weather cools off a little, or at least the humidity goes away.

I want the paint to dry before Christmas, you know?

So I have been doing a lot of cleaning stuff that I don't usually get around to cleaning like the china cabinet that holds my grandmothers tea set that my dad sent to her from occupied Japan during the Korean war.



And this display cabinet where I keep my collection of mama and baby animal figurines:



Can I just stop here and say what a royal pain in the ass this cabinet is to clean? I mean, it's a beautiful display cabinet and having the doors on the side is good so they don't get in the way of the stuff you are trying to display, but it is so awkward to get into to clean that I only do it once or twice a year!

Anyway, Friday I went for my diabetes check. My A1C count is down again which is great! All that treadmilling is doing me some good!

Today I had a routine screening CT scan as a follow-up for my bladder cancer that I had two years ago. She had to try twice to get the IV in. Plus I have to go back to my doctor on Friday to check my kidney function because the contrast that they use for the scan combined with the diabetes drug that I take can cause kidney failure (I know, wonderful.) So before I can start taking my medication again she has to check my blood. So in conclusion, that's 4 needles in a week! Hey come on, I can whine once in a while can't I?

So after reading through this post it's a little whiney but really, I am in a great mood and plan on thoroughly enjoying the last 4 days of my vacation!


And all Toby wants is for me to let him enjoy the sun in peace!

Macro

I'm obsessed with trying to perfect my shooting Super Macro lately.











The best of about 80000 pictures. I'm getting there.