In Honor of Graduation Season

A little trip down memory lane. Year is 1989 and it's all about big hair. I tried my best to work it with that horrible cap thing on. Picture taken in front of the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, VA. I got the watch as a graduation gift from my parents and I'm wearing my godsister's class ring on pointer. We thought that would be cool to do; to trade each other's class rings on grad day. I simply cannot believe that was almost 20 years ago. It still seems like just yesterday!

Finally, I Got to Scrapbook

I did a couple of pages last weekend of Tim's birthday in 2007 which aren't even pictured and then one of the state fair animals which is! Today I finally got to sit down in the mid afternoon and work on some more! I busted out three more layouts from the state fair last year, nothing fancy but I did manage to scrap 17 pictures in total! I know, the one of my award winning layout, ha ha, is pretty rinky dink but I liked the paper and wanted to somehow fit all that memorabilia stuff on it! As usual, pretty lame journaling that didn't even tell half the story but some is better than none I guess!

The Birthday Goods

So I finally have gotten most of the birthday presents cleared off the living room floor and decided to take some pictures of the "vintage goods"! There's Mr. Kelly's Car Wash in the back which actually works! The two little cars run through it, you can fill it with water and the sponge rollers will roll it clean! Two more Mr. Potato Heads for the ever growing colletion, a little Printers Set for the scrapbook room, lots of Dennison price tags (poor Tim, I said I might like one or two...fortunately he got outbid on the other half of them! But the good news is that some will most certainly end up in my Etsy shop in the near future!), several Santa Claus Land pieces- love the old mini postcards, neat vintage christmas tape still in the original boxes, etc! All in all, FUN STUFF! Now, trying to figure out where to put it will be not so fun! I need my shelf hanger back, up and in business!

I've Been Tagged!

I recently won this adorable handmade purse at Indigo Blue and it came to me all the way from England! How fun! That is one talented lady!

And tonight she tagged me! So here goes!

Rules first..
I need to answer 6 questions. I then tag 6 people and post their names here, then go to their blog and comment to tell them that they have been tagged and to visit here to find out the rules. I must then let the person who tagged me know when I have posted my answers.

What was I doing 10 years ago?

Hard to believe but I had just moved from VA to IN and opened my very own shop with a friend! It was called The Purple Strawberry and specialized in antiques and collectibles- a bit of old and new! We had just opened at the end of April 1998!

5 things that are on my to do list for today?

Go to Kohl's and buy some pants that are comfy! Since my gallbladder surgery I can't stand pants digging into my stomach! I scored and found some army green casual pants and the best pair of black cotton capris (along the lines of workout wear but totally cute with sandals and a shirt!) And, best of all, I had gift certificates from Christmas to use!

List one or two things in my Etsy shop! grandmothersattic.etsy.com

Bring home pizza for a late lunch/early supper since I had to work tonight.

Work at the Bed & Breakfast for a wedding reception.

Watch The Big Chill with Tim!

Snacks I enjoy

Popcorn, chocolate, cheese and crackers!

Things I would do if I was a billionaire

Retire! Invest my money somewhere safe. Buy a black Mercedes sedan. Take my African safari. Share.

Places I have lived

Newport News, VA
Fredericksburg, VA
Akron, OH
Madison, IN
Southern IN

6 people that I want to know more about

Hmmmm that's hard!

trish

scrappy jessi

nora

raechelle

heather

lolly

Oh Honey, Me Too!

Gosh, these old 1940s Good Housekeeping magazine ads have ALL the answers for us women! I'd better start hunting down a vintage Spirella corset and see if that will solve my back problems! Looks like I will then be able to "breeze through a day's work feeling like my old bright self"! (Click on the ad to read the itty bitty print!)

Better Late Than Never

I just found these pictures on a flash card that I don't use very much. These are some treasures I found at the Bardstown antique show we go to in the spring as well as a show we went to in Lexington awhile back. Lots of pretty vintage greeting cards, little vintage birthday buttons, cute animal game pieces, sheet music purchased a loooong time ago at a local sale (I have hundreds of pieces to someday get up on Etsy! Many have cute illustrations like the ones pictured, however, these 3 are keepers! I just love Willie Waffle! Tim went around singing the song which was ridiculously cute and rhyming!) Anyway, thought I would share some pretties before deleting the pictures! I need that flash card for a Father's Day project!

Sweet Gifts and Giveaways

My sweet new friend in California sent me a package full of goodies not too long ago...full of scrapbooking items, ephemera, beautiful embossed buttons, adorable old playing cards, the most beautiful ivory and black trims, handmade fabric yo yos and pink trim she made herself! What an awesome gift to come home to one day! So sweet! Another sweet friend gave me two handmade tags that she lovingly crafted! The egg actually opens to reveal a rabbit in his top hat and what's not to love about the adorable tag with wallpaper and such a cute rabbit on it? Then I recently won my first ATC (artist trading card) from Honey Girl Studio and it was more beautiful in person! I have been on a winning streak starting with a huge scrapbook tote packed full at a crop I went to, a set of cat's eye rubber stamps at the same crop, a great big tote bag from From the Fence Post and a handmade little purse from Blue Indigo in ENGLAND! (Side note: I need to learn how to put hyperlinks in my text!) Anyway, it's been super fun with all these goodies coming my way!

We Can All Dream Can't We?

Oh, wow, I had this very same dream! Looks like all I have to do is find a vintage Certified Performance Gas Range and I'll never have to cook or eat out again! Who knew it could be so easy? Click on the picture to read all the fun wording! I want that house where all the "dreary work is done by magic"!

Tim Update

Well, we ended up going to the Orthopedic doctor today, however, a different one entirely from the one we were to see tomorrow! We got to Tim's f/u appointment this morning with his primary care doctor and found out while there that the Ortho didn't fall under the Workman's Comp network. They managed to get Tim into a different practice this afternoon so we changed his other MRIs originally scheduled for this afternoon to tomorrow instead. So, with a quick detour back home to pick up xray, cat scan and MRI films (why, oh, why didn't I go ahead and put them in the car instead of by the door to take out tomorrow?!) we headed across town to the other dr.

End result: No surgery required which is great news! However, he's looking at a total healing time of 8 weeks so 6 more to go! No weight bearing on it for at least another month until he has another f/u and more xrays to check the progress. The doctor also indicated that he's hopeful that arthritis won't set in down the road because it's a small fracture. That is also good news!

We then went on to Floyd Memorial Hospital for Tim to have another chest xray as his ribs were still hurting and his doctor this morning felt they should be checked again.

Tim was pretty worn out and hurting from the long day so he came home and immediately fell asleep.

Okay, so 6 more weeks at least of our new routine! Tim lays in bed reading, watching movies and cutting up old children's encyclopedias for me to sell on Etsy. I do everything else and work. WAH! Oh, and our $900 worth of airline tickets to VA for Father's Day are history. The nurse suggested I call the airline and see if his medical condition would allow a no change fee but I have my doubts with no insurance on them. So, in the long run we can pay the change fee of $75 or $100 each and apply them to future travel. WAH! That hurts! Plus we were looking forward to our 7 and 10 day respective trip!

Accidents happen!

There's a Drill in My Near Future

Well, in the middle of everything else going on, I have had a toothache since Sunday. I finally decided to investigate further and with a little pulling and stretching I can see a spot on my very back upper molar and it looks suspiciously like a cavity! After three days of pain, I called my dentist figuring it was around the time I needed to go for a cleaning anyway and they could see what was going on with my tooth. Come to find out that I have somehow completely forgotten to even go to the dentist for 2 1/2 years!!!!!! The last visit they show for me was 12/13/05! Appalling! I ALWAYS have gone for my cleanings although I will confess that in order to save some money, I just went once a year instead of twice. But being that they never found anything anymore I figured I was coming out ahead.

Well, I think I've got big time problems and today I noticed two spots on two lower teeth too.

Ugh.

So, Thursday morning I will be dashing over to Louisville to the dentist which probably will involve lots of drilling and mouth stretching and pain and then the severe headache I get from my mouth being artificially stretched open for an hour plus; all before I come back home to get Tim for his appointment with the Orthopedic doctor back in Louisville in the afternoon!

Calgon take me away!

Birthday Sunday

We celebrated my birthday and Mother's Day yesterday! Dad made his famous london broil on the grill even though it was rainy and windy out! We moved the party to our upstairs living room so that Tim wouldn't have to come downstairs. This year we donned our blinged out bubba teeth although we still couldn't get mom to wear them! I got two super yummy vintage 'tater heads and a Mr. Kelly's Car Wash which had been on my wish list for years! Some great vintage Christmas store stock, scrapbooking stuff, vintage sewing/buttons, a sweet little vintage children's play make up kit, and a watch to name a few things! Fun! Can't wait to play with my new toys!

Diggin' In Dirt, YUK!

I came home today with $24 worth of free plants from a local nursery! Four free day lillies. I received a coupon in the mail recently for my birthday! And then my mom got one for being new to the area (never mind that she's lived here almost a year now!) So, off I went to get my free goods and then I had to get them planted before they died. I absolutely hate digging in dirt, unearthing worms and planting flowers or plants. I think I found at least 4 1/2 worms. Yep, I said 1/2. Ick!

I still need to mulch my new flower bed extension but at least they are planted and I'm done with that!

Tim Update...Not Good News and Meet Bruiser

Well, Tim got the call from the doctor today with the report from yesterday's MRI of his hip. Verdict: He has a small fracture after all! At the hip socket/bone. So, they are referring him to an Orthopaedic doctor and we have an appointment next Thursday afternoon. For now, he is under doctor's orders to stay off of it, use the crutches always and put no weight on it.

So, we are moving the birthday/Mother's Day dinner and party upstairs so my husband can attend. Dad's grilling his famous london broil and I figure with 5 people that can walk, we can get the food upstairs and use tv trays so Tim's not eating up in bed all by himself! We'll also unwrap presents up there and have cake. Hey, that's what a 6 foot scrapbook table is for right?

They didn't let him do the lower back MRI yesterday after all so that is still set for next Wednesday.

Poor guy. He was super bummed today and hey, for that matter, so was I. Not the news we were expecting!

Tim Says I'm Not Nurse Merry Sunshine

Okay, so maybe I'm not but I'm pretty much all he's got so take it or leave it buddy! HA! He keeps saying I'm the whiniest caretaker he's ever had! Well, okay, I'll give him that too maybe....

But, man, taking care of him and this big old house, myself, one whiney kitty that still insists on waking me up starting at 5am and then again and again till I get up and feed her the squishies (her medicine and yummy wet cat food), trying to work and keep up with etsy listings and sales and post office runs, grocery shopping, company coming (Dad arrived last night so I dashed to the airport after work), impending birthday and mother's day dinner/gifts, watering plants, taking out loads of trash, laundry, three meals a day, up and down the giant staircase, wah!!!!!!!!!

And did I mention the 9 gallons of water I had to lug to the basement and then one by one they come back up? And the 12 packs of Mt. Dew that go down, come back up...I've squished more empty cans for recycling in the past week. We have a certified Mt. Dew addict living here!

I'm sure it wouldn't be quite so bad if I wasn't still regaining strength and stamina myself from the gallbladder surgery! I'm just worn out and hurting so much!

Well with the recruit in from VA, I'll have some back up help for a few days at least. Tim goes for MRIs of his hip and lower back today and I'm not sure when we'll get those results but he has a follow up with the doctor next Wed.

Valentine Yummies From Last Weekend's Antiquing

Last weekend, which seems like a very long time ago now, mom and I went to a new antique show/flea market (well, new for us and new territory) and two antique malls in Evansville, IN. It was incredible! Just like shows of the past! Two indoor buildings, several outdoor barns and many vendors just set up outside. I had arranged to meet up with a dealer who had a whole box of goodies for me to sort through and boy was that fun! She and I have the exact same taste! She's got two three car garages full of boxes of stuff she has bought over the years as a dealer! Anyway, she was super fun and I spent an hour and a half in her booth alone! And we plan to meet again! Found lots of goodies for my Etsy shop!

I think one of our biggest finds and best deals were the vintage valentines! I saw a whole plastic tub of them on the way to get something to eat and we ended up buying them all for a price! The ones pictured are just the ones I kept. Mom ended up with a huge pile and I still have another huge pile to sell! There were at least 250-300 valentines and a few greeting cards too!

I also found this sweet Suzy Homemaker Blender in it's original box and just had to have it for my kitchen! I like that it has a cellophane window and you can see it inside the package! Last Monday morning before Tim fell, I spent an hour in the kitchen revamping the top of my cabinets so I could squeeze it in (and dust). It looks really cute!

What It Takes To Get Decorated Sugar Cookies

You know Tim must be feeling pretty pathetic to get semi-homemade sugar cookies out of me! Since he fell Monday, he's been stuck upstairs in bed most of the day and night except to get up and move around the best he can on crutches so he doesn't get a blood clot! So, I ran to the grocery for much needed groceries while Mom was here with him the other day and bought the Pillsbury sugar cookies he loves so much at Christmas and made my homemade icing and decorated them up all pretty for him.

He was pretty surprised and delighted!

I've doled them out so they've lasted longer than if I had just turned over the little container to the Cookie Monster!

We went to his primary care doctor today for follow up from the ER visit and she is ordering an MRI of his left hip and lower back. This will determine if there is any torn or ruptured ligaments or tendons. She said the bruise to the bone is equivalent to a sprain and takes six weeks to heal. They will most likely order physical therapy if no tear, if a tear, he will be referred to an orthopedic doctor for treatment.

Sigh......

Next appt. is the 14th after the MRIs and 1-2 weeks of staying off of it.

Now, what do they order for worn out wives who are completely exhausted and everything that can hurt on them does?