I NEED A PERSONAL SECRETARY!!!!

Oh Wait!

I HAVE 

a personal secretary.

And she's a pretty one!

But she didn't look like this 

when I got her.

No indeedy!

She was battered and banged

and beyond just refinishing because 

of deep gouges and holes that

needed to be filled.

Here are some closeups of how she looked.

She was already undressed before

I remembered to take pictures!

Inside she was NOT PRETTY either.

 The inside is much prettier now

with Valspar's blue haze paint.

The drawers needed some serious sanding.

The hardware was not salvageable.

It had rusted through in some spots.

But-Oh Baby-

She's got pretty hardware now!

I love this piece and decided to keep it 

SO-I gave my daughter

my other secretary that I bought 

when she was a baby.

And now this one is 

MINE ALL MINE!

Yep--I made that sweet little 

secretary over.

Now HERE is ANOTHER secretary

I would like to make over.

I see she has the BLUE going on already-

maybe I can just add a coat of white paint?

Thoughts?

ps.  Just so you know I am working

like a crazy woman to get my 

junk wonderful stuff together for my 

Etsy shop---

which I hope to open this weekend!

(fingers crossed)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MINDY ROSE

Mindy Rose!

My wild Irish Rose.

Oh!  How my dad would

have loved you.

You look so much like

his side of the family.

You were born 10/12/77

just a few minutes after midnight.

Your dad kept urging me to 

HURRY UP AND HAVE THE BABY

so that you could be born on

your Uncle Paul's birthday.

I was NOT good at being

told what to do then.

I'm still not very good at it-shhhh.

We weren't much at picture taking back then.

We had a Polaroid camera~

everyone did and

we were no exception.

It took quick pictures

but they were BAD.

And film was expensive

and we were oh-so-poor

when you were tiny.

Your sister, TPot, thought you

were her own personal pet.

And you were so good-natured

that you let her feed you

whenever she felt like it.

Sometimes she fed you 

Hershey's cocoa right out of the can.

You were her best audience..

Always a step behind her

because you were only

a year younger.

If she sat in the leaves

you sat in the leaves~

You loved your birthday parties

at Happy Joe's Pizza Place

and rode the carousel whether

it was turning or not.

You would stay on

until we pried your fingers

from the horse.

And Oh! How you loved

being a bride.

I lost count of how many Halloweens

that you dressed as a bride.

YOU were ALWAYS a bride

and your brother was ALWAYS

a rabbit.

And, then, one day I turned around

and you were a young woman.

A young woman 

with a passion for singing

and a passion for the Lord.

You made a missions trip to China..

and saw a different side of life..

You came home

older and wiser.

You were beautiful when

you were in high school-

And your hair...Oh! Your hair..

Complete strangers would come up to

you and ask you where you got

your perm..

Your answer was always the same.

~From God~

And, finally, you didn't need to

dress as a bride for Halloween anymore.

No indeedy!

You would dress as a bride 

for your wedding

which was held outdoors.

Your Dad performed

the ceremony and.

it was a dream wedding

to a man that loves you.

Three years later you had BigBoyE

And when Big BoyE was 2-1/2 

his brother, Charles-In-Charge

joined him.

And -then you were blessed with

our sweet little

Baby Bright Eyes.

Now you have moved 

to another state-but close

enough where we can get

there in a day's travel.

Happy, Happy Birthday

Mindy Rose!

I won't be celebrating with you this year,

as you know,

but I will be there in spirit.

I will celebrate with you just a

few days late this year.

Love you to the moon and back!

SEE you soon!;>)

But you can just call me MOM!

Lulu's Homecoming & John's Upcoming Procedure Today

I can hardly believe that our sweet

LULU

is 14 years old.

She is in a brand new school this year

and there are no classmates from her

old school that attend there.

NEW Lutheran

is a Christian based school.

Although we are not Lutheran,

our two daughters graduated from there.

It was a wonderful school and so accepting

of kids from all different backgrounds.

It was such a great school that my daughter

wanted her daughter, Lulu,

to have the same wonderful experience 

she had there.

Lulu is just a bit shy so we were beyond thrilled

when she was voted on to 

HOMECOMING COURT!

Here she is with Mr.Z, 

right after they found out they were 

the freshmen voted on to court.

I don't know which one is cuter!

Here she is all gussied up 

and standing with her Papa.

He felt well enough to spend the 

early evening watching the presentation.

She and her best friend, Miss A,

posed sweetly for us.

Ouch!!!Wonder if those poles running through

their heads bothered them? 

Love the guy in the background

smiling away!

A bit later they had pictures taken by a

professional photographer.

I got a picture or two in while

they were posing...

It just made me smile to see Lulu & Mr. Z

standing together.

I think this is  her first boy/girl picture.
(well-the 2nd if you count the one on the field)

Parents/grandparents had to leave before 

the dance (unless you were a chaperon)

but we snuck one picture in before we

slunk out.

Anyone go to Catholic School Dances?

DO NOT MOVE YOUR HANDS

ONCE YOU HAVE PLACED 

THEM ON HER WAIST.

It was a wonderful night

but the next day it was back to

BUSINESS AS USUAL.

Lulu is a GREAT volleyball player!

She is the setter and a good server.

That wonderful picture was taken by 

Naomi.

Naomi used to be the girls' nanny 

when mom and dad were both working.

Umm....Hello....

That "kid" you used to take care of

is bigger than you are now.

Piling your hair up does NOT make you taller!

So--there you have it.

A FUN time for everyone.

Well ALMOST EVERYONE!

SOMEBODY just wanted to go home

and watch MICKEY MOUSE!

She's gonna kill me

Cheer up, Princess!

Your day will come-

Once again you will be 

QUEEN OF THE WORLD!!

You will always be 

Queen of the World in MY eyes!

MyHero goes in for his 7 month

after-treatment exam today.

They will scope his throat.

I offered to save him the money

and do the scope at home.

He didn't seem too responsive

to the idea.

He is SUCH a Spoil Sport!

Home Again- Home Again- Jiggety- Jig

It seems all I did for weeks

was work getting the house

ready for sale

so it was fun to get away.

MyHero held down the home fort

while I was gone.

I started out going to 

CARMEL, INDIANA

to watch my grandkids for a few days

so Mimi and her hubby

could go back to Jamaica to celebrate their

10 year anniversary.

It is a CUTE TOWN but 

the monkeys that live there are

even cuter.

CharlesInCharge goes to pre-school 3 days a week.

BrightEyes has one 2 hour session a week.

 Listen, BrightEyes, you are too little to be

showing your legs off!

Put your skirt down!!!!

BigBoy E has homework and does it

as soon as he gets home from first grade.

He loves school -notice he is smiling as he does

his homework!

One day little 

MISS BRIGHT EYES

and I picked up some flowers for her

Mama's homecoming.

She's a happy little soul!

She's even happier since she was

INTRODUCED to

WHIPPED CREAM @ Starbucks.

Mom?  NOT so happy about that!

#Love being a Naughty Nana#

Leaving there I headed back to my 

childhood home in beautiful

BRADFORD COUNTY, PA.

The Susquehanna River runs through the state.

My home would have been on top

of one of the mountains above the valley.

This was the view from our house--

which burned many years ago.

From the church you can see seven counties

(or so they say).

I visited with my dear cousin, Marguerite.

She is 86 and just a riot...seriously...

she could get me in a lot of trouble 

IF I would let her.

Her favorite line is-

"Come on Di-Di"...

that never bodes well for me!

This is Jane (as we always called her) 

and her beautiful great-granddaughter, 

Portia.

Doesn't Cousin Jane just look like trouble

waiting to happen?

I went to the first class reunion I have

ever attended.

It was a two day affair.

I gave a copy of my book to the classmates

that did not already have one.

We did not have a very big class.

I didn't get many pictures there-

I was too busy talking.

So---lots more to share- 

my granddaughter on homecoming court,

a quick trip to the UP to see the leaves,

a pumpkin patch visit with CJK...

BUT

I won't bore you with all that today.

Hopefully--next week I will open

an Etsy shop to dump sell

some old crap wonderful treasures

that you might want to look at.

I have the shop set up BUT

I need to take pictures and get it

ready to go.

I'll be back......but you knew that...

Meanwhile....

you all be good.

I will be practicing for my big night

later this month.

LAST POST ON THE HOUSE (FOR SALE)--DOWNSTAIRS TOUR

I showed you the outside,

the first floor and the upstairs.

Today we are down on the lower level.

As you go down the steps

you see the two little

'hidey holes' where the faieries leave

TREATS FOR THE KIDS.

Older kids on the high one

Little kids on the low one.

(they ring the faierie bell outside the house

before they come in).

At the bottom of the steps

you see a small sitting room off the

master bedroom.

There is indirect lighting in the ceiling.

There is a fireplace in this room also.

That is Georgia Chunk Marble.

You either love it or hate it.

Hubby loves it.

Here you are level with the bay and patio.

Our bedroom is right behind the sitting room.

This is what you see walking in the door.

If you look REAL CLOSE you will see a

BASEBALL BAT

by MyHero's side of the bed

snuggled up to his night stand.

It must be for me because we have a 

security system in place that would

scare the devil away.

Looking back towards the door.

Master bath...

His side....

Toilet room is to the left with a pocket door.

My side...

Hahaha-scale is not included-

It is set at 125 pounds

so I always feel good about myself.

Jetted spa Kohler tub.

Right outside this bathroom

is a rescued claw foot tub 

with hot and cold running water.

This has seen lots of bubble baths 

for kids over the years.

Going down the hall to the right of the bedroom-

The laundry room is on the right-

There is a stained glass piece built in 

between this and the extra bathroom.

At night there is a light that shines on it

to act as a night light for the bathroom.

Yep!  Still got my old Maytags

that work like a charm.

They are going on 20 years old!!!

Only one small repair over the years.

These are bead board cabinets.

To the right of this room is the bathroom

to use if you are outside and

coming in from the bay to take a shower.

You can see the stained glass window on the left.

John's office is at the end of the hall

and for some reason I don't have a picture of that

in my file here.

Sorry--another time...

It is nautical decor.

There is also a full service kitchen 

to serve the movie room.

This was the main kitchen in the old house.

When we rehabbed the house

we just moved the kitchen downstairs

and added new cabinets.

They are beadboard which is hard

to tell in this picture.

Storage room to the left which is

NOT PRETTY-

To the right is the media/movie room.

When you are standing in this room 

you are at eye level with the bay.

This is a sound proof room

with porcelain drywall.

There is a raised stage at the end

that has hosted many 'plays',

and song fests.

The screen comes down behind the curtains.

Facing the other way you will see a

built in serving station with a granite top.

There is a popcorn machine down here

that sits on top of my dad's old oak icebox

that he set up housekeeping with when he was young.

There are more bits and pieces but 

you have seen the highlights.

I am headed to my daughter's house for a few days

and then on to PA for a class reunion 

and to see my dear, wonderful cousins

that I love dearly.

I have told MyHero to 

PLEASE STAY OFF THE TRACTOR

while I am gone.

Last year he drove my son's tractor 

into the bay

and it can't be fixed.....

You might remember this...

BIG GUY

BIG TRACTOR

Last week he thought he might repeat

the fun with MY John Deere!

Skinnier guy...

Littler tractor.....

Hey!  At least he was smart enough

to get off before he rode it all

the way in.

I'd say he is improving!