Bye for Now...

I have had an unexpected family illness. To have blogging friends you must invest time and I don't appear to have that right now. I'll try to visit some of you. Not sure when I'll post... Have a happy Thanksgiving.

Hi All, Happy Fall!

According to the calendar it's Fall, but around here it still feels like Summer. I can't believe it, but I have my first set of parent conferences this week. Gosh time flies when I'm having fun. I've started to decorate for fall and have taken many pictures. I'll post soon. Have you done your decorating yet? Before we know it...Thanksgiving will be here and we'll be talking about Christmas. How do you manage your time? Please share. I work, want to craft and blog. HOW? If you haven't purchased it yet, the new Martha Stewart magazine is great. Good Martha, Bad Martha. A girl can't have too many magazines. I'm getting the scrapbook bug again too. I'm thinking about joining Jenni Bowlin monthly club. She's very talented and I love her style. Have a great week and I'll get some pictures posted soon.

Wowzers, Great blog!

I don't do this very often, but I just stumbled upon a great blog. I love mosaic art. I havn't done much, but think it is so pretty. Well this blog is a real feast for the eyes. Please check it out. MosiacCottage

Hi, Everyone... Or is Anyone Out There?

Well, my computer woes are fixed. I think... I'm back to school and really tired. I could have posted last week, but just did not have the energy. It's really tiring the first few weeks back. Yes, I know, I had a long time off, but sometimes I think that makes it more difficult. I really get out of the routine of being away from home. Plus, the kids aren't use to school nor each other and it's just exhausting. I have three new students right now and they've been a challenge as they are each year. I have to get familiar with their unique needs, challenges, skills and deficiets.

Yikes, hubby and I had a scare today. My stepson is 25, deaf and mentally handicapped. He was taking a nap before breakfast. (He really enjoys napping when he's home with us, nothing unusual.) He came to breakfast and started to eat with nothing of note. All of a sudden I noticed he stopped eating which is not normal for him. He eats like a barbarian. Seriously, he does. I looked up and his lips were blue, well we don't have anything blue to drink... He looked pale, now going on deathly pale..." Honey does Jr. look right to you? Look at his lips." Dear hubby gets up and feels Jr. and he's cold... Now Jr. is looking like he's going to pass out... No choking, no seizure, no history of anything like this! "Call 911", hubby does. Hubby is on the phone and I'm trying to get Jr. in the living room to lie down. The paramedics get to our home very quickly and by the time they get here he's doing a little better and starting to sign to us. They check all the basics, everytings fine. Now he wants to get and eat breakfast. They leave.

The paramedics think he must have cut off his oxygen while he was napping on the couch... came upstairs, lost more oxygen, started to eat fast and lost more, because he does not eat he inhales food in great volumes. After that event, he was fine all day. He was his typical, jolly, stuborn self. Thank god... It was really scarey girls, if I do say so. I've never seen any one alive so blue and pale. He was beyond pale.

Sorry this isn't my typical post, but it's been along time and I just don't have my groove back yet. I will. I hope all is well in blog land and I've missed you all. Hugs, Trudi

Poor sick computer...

Well, I think it's fixed and then it's not. Now I am having trouble getting on the internet and staying on. I hope it's the poor weather we are having in the mid-west. Lots of storms and humid, hot weather. I'm really not sure at this point. We've had someone working on it for a total of 5 hours now. I just feel so helpless when I can't fix something or find out how to get it fixed. Hopefully I'll be in full swing again soon. Yikes... I want to get my classroom blog up and running. School starts for the kiddos on Wed. August 15th. Bye for now. Trudi

Hi All

Yikes, I'm in blog block. I need to get photos taken, I need to scan and I'm just feeling lazing. I'm so sorry. I really appreciate your comments and visits and want you to know I check in everyday. You guys are great. All the best for now. I also need to start working on Cafe Cl*ss. I start back really soon and want the blog up and running. Question, does anyone know where I might buy a cute shell chandelier? Something quite simple for my beach cottage bedroom. I'd prefer to use candles. Just wondering.

My Mom's Coming!

Last week dear hubby and my mom surprised me big time. My mom lives in NC and we only see each other once a year if we are lucky. I didn't think we would see each other until next April. She called last week and broke the news to me. Hubby and mom had been planning this trip for the last three months! They were going to totally surprise me, but mom was dying to tell me. Hubby was thankful to tell me too, because as you all know I've had the house torn apart reorganizing. Well, tomorrow I go to the airport and pick her up in the morning! It will be the first time she has been to our new home, and we've been here for three years! I'm so excited.

I may not post much for the next few days while she's here. We are going to see her old HS friends, have a big cookout, boat, see my classroom, shop and who knows... It's just a great way to end my summer.

Two and half weeks and I start back to school... *sigh*

My Massive Re-Organization, the Final Finish

I've written about cleaning and painting the laundry room for some time. It's also a large storage area for us. We moved into our small ranch three years ago with two house holds of item and many treasures that I inherited from my grandparents. I had a very trying ten years. To say the least, my 30s were not the easiest. Some great things happend, my husband, reunited with my mother, my dogs, and my current teaching position. But along with that there was a lot of sarrow and pain. Consequently, I had a very difficult time making a home. On the surface it was decorated well enough, but behind the scenes, my emotions and my home were in diarray. I've know for three years, that things needed to change, but it took a lot of energy to do it. This summer was the time for me. I had read a really good book about clutter and the stress it can cause... I was living proof. I hated doing laudry, but never had a pretty place to do it, that's now much improved. I love creating and crafts, but my craft room looked like a rumage sale. I would make small gains and then quit. I can now say with great pride that things are in much more control. Things have a place and a place for the things. It's such a good feeling. Pictures to come...We had the carpets shampooed Sat. in the family room, so I have some finishing touches to complete. I hightly recommend this book: It was a great source of insight and help to me.

Clear the Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston

Karen Kingston also has a web site that appears to be really helpful. Please check it out and tell me what you think. http://spaceclearing.com/html/books/books/clear-your-clutter-with-feng-shui.html
Please note: I do not follow Feng Shui, and this book was still very meaningful! It's an easy quick read.

My Blogging Thoughts

Well I'm at my 71st post and I'm feeling a little sad... I've had quite a few visitors and some really great people make comments. I mean really great people. I've tried to include your link on my sidebar, and if I haven't let me know. Here's the root of my sadness. I try to visit blogs and make comments. Most are quite simple, usually with spelling typos because I am in a rush. However I make the effort. I know summer time is a slower time for blogging, but I just want to hear from you, PLEASE. Blogging should be fun for everyone, and I've made a lot of comments on a few blogs, great blogs, my favorites, and I've never heard from them on mine. I may have a different twist then some of those blogs, but we can't all be the same, or it would get boring. Correct? Wow, I'm having a pitty party, but this has been such a motivational tool for me to get things done, be more greative and reach out. I just want more...doesn't everyone at some time? Maybe more validation, I don't know. Yikes, so sorry but had to write this. (I need to stop comparing my comment count to other's, right? So what if they have 20-30 per post... I've made some great blogging friends.) All my best, Trudi

Just being real.

Happy First Day of Summer!

Well it's the longest day of the year. Hubby and I celebrated in style. We went to the Farmer's Market, hung out in the backyard, grilled steak, ate strawberry shortcake and went for a long bike ride. It was a great day.

We are back from Little Nashville, IN with the three monst- oops, no, I mean CUTE dogs. It was very trying on the first day. The second day went better, but Alison was very homesick and I was sick for her to be home... We had a good time, but we will not be taking them in the future. You can bet on that! LOL. They had to go everywhere with us, because they would not be quiet in the hotel room. They went shopping in Nashville and they went with us Antique shopping. That was quite a sight, two of them in the stroller and one in a shopping cart. Photos to come, as dear hubby did not pack the digital. I know I couldn't believe it either... What's a wife to do?

We purchased so great thing and I'll get those pics. ASAP.

P.S. The picture at the top of this post is an old post card I scanned. Please help yourself to the image if you wish.

Happy Memorial Day

Here's a few photo's that my hubby and I have taken this weekend. May we all remember our Armed Service men and women and our loved one's on this day. This was taken in our back yard on Sunday. We feel very fortunate, we live in the city, but our home backs up to a small row of trees, so we have a lot of wildlife.

PS, I can't believe it but my name was drawn

for two Cottage Give Aways. Thanks a million.

Another picture for my header...

I can't put in words how well Amy at One blue Egg has captured the spirit of my blog. I'm truly speechless. It touches me to my soul. I have a new book from Sommer Set Life, and the ladies that blog talk about cups of coffee while visiting a blog, to paraphrase poorly they compare blogs to cafes. (You feel like you sit, connect, and visit with an old friend, even if you are miles away.) Yikes, if you've seen the book you know what I mean. That has happened here. May sound corny but so true. I could go on and on, but I won't. Let's just say I'm so very very pleased. Back to the photo:
Maybe it will need to be cropped I'm not sure... The photo is taken in Tarpan Springs FL.

New Header, My Beautiful Grandmother

I'm having One Blue Egg work on a new banner for me. I'd love this photo of my grandmother in it along with the post card below, I think she is just beautiful. She raised me from the time I was 7, she was my best friend, strongest supporter and so very intelligent. Enough for now, or I will cry. She passed away very suddenly when I was 30 right after I got my Masters in teaching...

I love Reading Blogs

Let's face it, unless you are writing a blog for your personal family and/or friends, you want VISITORS, commenter's, and most importantly New Friends across this wide world. I am trying to add links to the blogs that I visit often, and my new blogging friends that are kind enough to leave comments. If you would like your blog listed let me know. I find it very easy to ignore this component of the blog, because it's not very fun to add sites. (If there is an easy way, I'm not aware of it and would love a tip.) Also, I try to write back to you all. If I don't, I sincerely apologize. Sometimes I get a little confused or pressed for time because I work full time. Not complaining, it's just the facts.
Also, hint, hint... if you have a blog and like my little piece of the web, please add my link. As we all know, that's how we all got started, by surfing through blog land. It's just so fun to know someone likes what you are sharing, and I so love visiting all of you. It's been great fun. Tootles, Trudi M.

This is not me...LOL, but a postcard I got thrifting the other day. Love the colors.

Sick

I've been sick with a sinus thing. Yuck. As you read down these postings you will discover I can't stand my nose to be stuffed up. Hate it! Well it's going on 6 days now and I hope I am on the up swing. Wish me luck. I'm not feeling very creative right now. Have planted a lot of flowers will post pic. later. Tootles.