Oh look... It’s September!

I've been scarce for the past month and so once again I say sorry... I’ve been a little busy lately. I have been reading some other blogs but just couldn’t find the time to even leave a comment.

The short list of reasons includes:

Life

Nothing big... just life.

So it is now September.

While the calendar tells me that it is still summer, the feeling of the atmosphere outside has turned.

The sun is lower in the sky and the air is crisper.

This past weekend was Labor Day weekend and I believe it is a completely appropriate name because hubby and I spent much of the weekend laboring. Hubby worked on our balcony/deck (a big project that he has been working on for quite a while now) and I worked on cleaning and organizing the house.

While sweeping the floors and scrubbing toilets I got a little misty. The urine streaks were enough to draw tears, but that was not the entire picture. I pondered as to what it was that made me so emotional.

Part of it is that I do not do well with change. Change is good, yes, but it always causes issues for me. Whether the change is good or bad I consistently have a hard time with it all. I get a little angry, a little weepy, a little out of sorts.

Why the drama over the changing of the seasons? They are completely and utterly out of my control. Nothing I say or do will cause it to stop, to stay, to reverse itself.

Summer, in all of her glory, is fading. Fast.

Back in May I posted about how excited I was for summer to begin and how summer is my favorite season. I just don’t want it to end yet. I have unfinished projects to do still yet. Like paint my upstairs. I planned to do this back in May…WHERE does time go???

Come on summer…hold on a little bit longer.

Oh well… I will get to see my Jenna at the end of this month. Woo Hoo!!

Hmmm...I do enjoy cool nights, the fireplace and pumpkin pie… pumpkin pie especially.



Okay...Bring on FALL! I'm ready!

I'm Back!

Wow… I can’t believe how long it’s been since I have posted anything! It has almost been A MONTH!

I have been on a hiatus I guess. That is what the more popular blogs call it when they haven’t posted in a while when they are actually missed. Thank you Utah Grammie! At least I have one person that misses me.



I have been so busy lately I just haven’t had time to update. I went to see my little Jenna and got to watch her for a whole week while my son and daughter-in-law were at work. That was sooo much fun. I LOVED it! I also got to spend some time with my mom and sisters. My best friend from Jr. High School… (yes, I said Jr. High School) drove back to the Mile High City with me. My BFF was coming to see her daughter that has just moved to the area. We had a blast on our 11 hour road trip! The day flew by.

As I have stated in a previous post… I don’t watch much tv but this week has been different. With the exception of an occasional show on the Food Network or HGTV this week I am all about the Olympics in the evenings. How about you?

Oh yea, I'm a Phelps fan. (Isn't everyone?!) I mean, is this kid amazing, or what? And he seems so nice. His mom looks nice too. She looks so proud! And she should be.

Another favorite for me is beach volleyball. Oh yes people, volleyball. And for me, with the volleyball event, it's not just the volleyball game, it's the fact that it's in the sand and I love those cool little benches to take-a-break-and-have-a-sip-of-water areas they provide for the players and Ohhh …our US girls really ROCK!!

It’s funny …I'm not an athletic person by any stretch of the imagination, and I never have been. I played volleyball high school. (Let me clarify…in PE) I hated playing it because it hurt my hands and wrists but it’s been so much fun to watch. There is something different about the Olympics. Maybe it's the fact that it's all about the world's best young athletes, still mainly unknown, giving their all out there. Or the ceremony of the award presentation and the fact that yes, if you are talented enough and work hard enough you can do it. Except that I am wondering about the honesty of the Chinese government and the age of the China gold medalist girl gymnast.

I have always loved watching the girl’s gymnastics but I haven’t had much of a chance to watch them since they have been coming on late here in MST.

Another observation from my cozy recliner in the living room is tattoos. Have you noticed how many of these young athletes are sporting the Olympic rings tattood somewhere on them?! The shoulder seems to be the most common location. While I am from an age group that are not necessarily fans of body art, these look kind of cool and I can understand the symbolism of it all. I said Kind Of!

Well that is what I’ve been up to…I hope I still have some blogger friends out there!

Off to the Frontier!

I have lived in the Mile High City area for 10 years now but hubby and I haven't ever been to the Cheyenne Frontier Days events so this weekend we will giving it a whirl...

Yee Haw!

I will let you know how it went...

My Dog Beau

Today I am going to introduce you to my dog Beau. I have been inspired by A Cottage in the Making About a week ago Joanne wrote about her “Two Boys” Elton (as in Elton John) and Zeke. Her inspiration came from Nancy, over at My Crafty Little Page.

You see Nancy was hosting DOG DAYS OF SUMMER in which she was asking everyone to post about their dogs and cats and she just knew she had to join in.


Well I too have to join in… even though it’s taken me awhile!


This is Beau when he was 2 month’s old. He was such a cute little puppy. He was the center of attention that is for sure and he still is the center of attention… If he isn’t he will find a way to get your attention. He does love to get things out of the bathroom trash… which isn’t very pleasant. His nightly game is to sneak into the bathroom, grab a used Kleenex and run!


He loves to go on hikes with hubby.


He loves his yard and loves to go on “patrol”. He patrols the yard many times during the day and since we have a doggy door he has been known to take a patrol during the night as well.

Beau is more than a companion. Since hubby travels a lot and the kids are all out of the house I really don’t know what I would do without him. He makes me feel safe and definitely keeps me company.



Smiling for the camera!

Nana's Babygirl SMILES!

Jenna has been smiling for a while now but I finally have pictures to prove it! I finally received a disk of 50 pictures of my little Jenna today. I have been wanting to post updated pictures of her but my son has been BUSY and couldn’t seem to get around to sending me a disk.

Hummm… Imagine that… he has been busy. I wonder why he has been so busy? It’s not like he has a lot of responsibility now or anything.

I also received this article from him in an email today. I thought it was interesting.

By JoNel Aleccia
Health writer
MSNBC

Baby's first smiles give mom's brain a buzz
Tiny grins light up reward centers that lead to quality care, study says

Any mother who's ever felt a jolt of joy at her baby’s first grin knows how intoxicating that can be.

Now, scientists at the Baylor College of Medicine say there’s more to the baby buzz than just a rush of happy feelings. Turns out that seeing your own child smile actually activates the pleasure receptors in the brain typically associated with food, sex — and drug addiction.

“It may be that seeing your own baby’s face is like a ‘natural high,’ said Lane Strathearn, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Baylor and and Texas Children's Hospital who studied the brain reactions of 28 first-time moms.”

“We know similar brain circuits are activated,” he added. “Whether that feels the same as a shot of cocaine, I’m not sure.”

Well I don’t know if it feels like a “shot of cocaine” either but I can tell you… I know from experience that my baby’s smile did make me feel “intoxicating joy”!

I can’t wait to experience seeing my Jenna smile at me while I am there for my next visit!

Happy Fourth of July!

I hope you and your family have a wonderful weekend! My daughter and her boyfriend are here for the weekend as well as my youngest son :-) We will watch the fireworks display from our deck/balcony tonight. Tomorrow we will all go to a movie.

More pictures of today to follow!

Have you seen this program?

I don’t watch much tv at all but I do TiVo a few shows to watch at my convenience like 48 Hours, Dateline and etc.(I like Crime Dramas). I also like some HGTV shows, but my NEW favorite thing to TiVo is … The Shopping Bags. On the Fine Living Network.



The Shopping Bags is a fun and entertaining show that tells you what you need to know before you buy anything. And I do mean ANYTHING! You can get tips and advice from these two cute and clever women who have investigated consumer products and trends for quite awhile now. They both hatched "The Shopping Bags" concept way back in 1999 so I’m not sure if this is a new show on Fine Living or I am just VERY SLOW in finding this show. Like I said… I don’t watch much tv.

It’s really amazing… Hubby and I have Satellite and so we have probably over 200 channels and there are probably a lot of shows that I would like but I have no idea they even exist. I guess that is probably a good thing… I don’t want to be a couch potato!
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My sister and niece are in town this week on a softball tournament. I haven’t even got to see them yet because they are staying in a hotel about 30 minutes from me. I think I'll try to meet up with them this evening after work and go to dinner with them. I am also going to try and go to one of the games maybe tomorrow evening. I haven’t seen my niece play in a very long time… like probably when she was in little league. She is now 18 and will be headed off to college in the fall. I will post a pic of us later in the week.