Vacation day 1 & 2

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Joe and I are having a great time on our vacation. We left DFW on Sunday and spent Sunday night visiting with my sister in Little Rock and her family. We were overnight guest of Tara, Josh and Roxie Anne. We had a wonderful meal. My BIL grilled steak and sausage in a cold blowing wind. It was delicious. For dessert we had "Not Yo Mamma's Banana Pudding" from Paula Deen's recipe. Oh, it was good. We went to Tara's house and shared scrapbook pages we have done and watched Tara scrap her anniversary trip. It was such a nice visit.

We headed for Nashville on Monday. We made a side trip to Archivers Scrapbook Store in Memphis. It was my first visit to Archivers. I think the Scrapbook Pad store was larger, but Archivers had every brand out there. They did not have the Fiskars scallop border punch however. I told the sales clerk that we desperately needed one in the DFW area. So, if in the next corporate meeting they ask her opinion on where to open the next store, at least I put our name out there!

The Gaylord Opryland hotel is fabulous! It is like Disneyworld. The inside is filled with a river, fountain shows, lights and restaurants. We have a nice room on the outside. The interior rooms were a lot more expensive. It is so nice and HUGE! I am trying to get my bearings before the convention starts.

We toured Hermitage which is Andrew Jackson's home. It has been preserved very well. The dogwoods and red bud trees were in bloom and they are just beautiful. We took a wagon ride around the property. We saw an enormous coyote who just stood his ground and stared at the two wagon horses. They were looking at him too. I was a little nervous they were take off in a run , but we moved on the coyote just kept on staring at us.

Tomorrow we are going to take a grey line tour of the downtown museums. The bus will pick us up at the hotel. We are taking the afternoon tour, so that we can sleep late! I love being on vacation.

I posted some photos. The foliage is just beautiful. The second picture is the view out our hotel window. The ones after that are at Hermitage.

Having a great time!

Scrap Etc Bound!

I am all packed and have 90% of the homework and I am ready to go to the Scrap Etc event in Nashville. My husband and I are leaving today for a little vacation time before the event starts. I am looking forward to this so much.

I have never packed enough clothes for an entire week. That was a big deal and then of course all the necessary scrapping materials.

My sweet neighbor is doing the doggy duty while we are away. George just loves her.

I am sooooo excited!

Going home

Today, in a Japanese pogoda with a patio overlooking the East China Sea, my dog Rudy, wandered through heaven's gates and took up residence in her eternal home. I know that there are dogs in heaven because it could never be the perfect eternal home for God's children if there were no dogs. Joe and I cried and patted and rubbed her as she ascended. She is sleeping in the sun on the patio of her new home.

Eight months ago Rudy was diagnosed with a chest tumor and the vet gave her two weeks to live. She has been going down, but we have spoiled and loved her everyday we had her. I really wanted to be a cowardly pet owner and let her continue to deteriorate, so that I would not have to make a hard decision. But, someone who is a great animal lover told me that a dog who has enjoyed a good life, deserves a good death. I noticed this week that Rudy had blood in her urine. I knew that it was time.

Rudy had been my very faithful companion. She helped me survive a very bad divorce where all I wanted to do was sleep and never get up. She would put her paws on the side of my bed and poke me until I got up and took her out. When my children moved to another state and I moved to Texas, she helped me cope with agony of missing them and the horrible loneliness. When Joe came into our lives eight years ago, she loved him and I know he loved her. He would make her take a bath, whether she thought she needed one or not. And, she really did need a bath.

Rudy was born the island of Okinawa, Japan on April 15, 1993. She was eleven days shy of her 16th birthday. She came to live with me and my family when she was six weeks old.

Rest in heaven's sunshine, Rudy Pudy.

Easter at Lizzie's with the fabulous Miss Sydney!

We enjoyed Easter lunch at my sister Lizzie's house. She is the most gracious hostess. A meal at her house is a wonderful experience. This was potluck, but she has the tables set so pretty, and everything is always perfect. This year we had Liz, Roger, Heather, Sharon (Grammie), Sydney, Inez (Grannie I) and Jeremy, Grannie Jo, Joe, Ryan and me. It was a house filled with family. The menu was ham, green beans, fruit salad, broccoli salad, sweet potato casserole, potato salad, deviled eggs and rolls. For dessert we had carrot cake and Easter cupcakes for Sydney. It was all so declicious. My brother in law, Rog, always been a very helpful spouse. He sliced the ham and is the first one to the dishwasher. He has to the hold the record for clearing a table in the fastest time. Lizzie and Roger are just about the perfect couple too!

Ryan was here this year and he looked very handsome in his black shirt and tie. He is a very good looking young man and we are very proud of him. He is on Spring Break this week.

Grannie I gave Sydney a purple Easter rabbit and an Easter book She got very excited about the egg hunt. Aunt Lizzie hid the eggs upstairs. When they were going upstairs to hunt the eggs, she looked over at her 89 year old Grannie Jo and said "Grannie come too". Grannie Jo, Grammie, Sydney, Heather, and Lizzie all headed up the stairs to watch Sydney find the eggs. Sydney is hands down my most adorable great niece! She reminds me so much of her mother when she was little. She was the highlight of our Easter lunch!

Here are some pictures from Easter.

Happy First Birthday Jordan

We celebrated Jordan's first birthday yesterday. Jordan is our youngest grandchild. Jordan did not enjoy the singing very much. But once he got a bite of that cake, everything was better He is in that phase where he only wants his dad to hold him. I can't wait for that phase to pass. We used to have fun singing silly songs, now the only singing is his crying when I try to hold him. He let me get close to him while he was looking at the mountain of new toys. I was zooming the pull back car and sending it toward him, and that had him entertained for a minute or two and he forgot his dad was not around. Here are some snaps from the party.

Scrapbooking Retreat

I was invited to a scrapbooking retreat this past weekend. The church where I grew up was having the retreat. I have not been a member of this church in over 30 years, but some of my friends still attend. They were very kind to invite me to participate. The retreat was held at the camp where as a kid and teenager I would go to camp for a week every summer. It was always the highlight of my summer. I had a great time. It was cold this weekend and the room had a giant fireplace that we had roaring. The camp was more primitive than I remembered but there were so many great memories there.

I am very blessed to have friends that I have known since I was 5 and grew with at church. We have great memories of our childhood, and teenage years. The first picture is of my friends: Paula, Judy, Terry and me. The second picture is the people who worked very hard and organized the retreat, my friend Debbie and her daughter Kalen. Judy, the sister and aunt, respectively, is in the middle. They did a fantastic job.

My scrapping project from over the weekend was Girlfriend pages. I have photos from over the years and I am having a great time scrapping them. I will post some of them when I finish.

Road Trip to Waco

My DH and I took a little road trip today to Waco. There is a scrapbook store there that I have been looking at online. My DH was born in Waco and he took a little drive down memory lane today. The store was a very nice one. They had a lot of paper brands that I have only seen in magazines. There was an event going on that I am guessing had about 50 people participating in. The best part was that there was a SALE! 25% off everything in the store except adhesive and cardstock. There was a Mardel bookstore in the same shopping center. Jason's deli was in the shopping center as well. I just love Jason's. We had supper there.

On the way home we stopped in the Hillsboro Outlet Mall. We needed to use the bathroom more than shop. They have a Bath and Bodyworks Outlet there. I ran into Liz Claiborne store. The sign said everything was $9.99 or less. I found a rack of $7.99 and was just so excited. My DH stayed in the car and I was trying to hurry. I picked up several things and when I got to the check out, I learned that they were having an additional percentage off! I bought a tweed jacket, (it was actually $14.99), 7 pairs of pants and 3 shirts for $63.00! Some of my pants were only $1.99. The store is closing this December and they do not know how long the additional percentage off will last. If you are in Hillboro, you have to check it out! It was a great bargain shopping day!