Celebration come on

At the hospital Pamela was treated to her own special day for her birthday. Glad her co-workers made her feel special! She even received plenty of flowers from family members.
The Kasinger Clan from Missouri called and sang to her.
Life is good. Yeah I know the daughter got another year older and then I did too. The birthdays just keep getting better and better. I'm blessed with great family, friends and co-workers and it makes me smile.
A couple of Thursdays ago I came to work and found my cubicle all decorated up and breakfast food galore on the table just waiting to be devoured.
My boss had donuts, tacos, fruit and kolaches waiting. It was so yummy and for dessert she had ice cream with sprinkles and syrup.

The girls made it difficult to get in. Well unless you plan on doing the limbo.
I have the greatest co-workers
That Friday I took off and spent the day with my daughter. We took the day to go shopping at Kendra Scott. For your birthday they'll give you 50% off a piece of jewelry of your choice. Pamela got a pair of earrings and I got a blue lapis necklace. Our plan was to run over to City Center and make our purchase then head back to our side of side to our favorite tea room the Whistle Stop in Tomball but we were both really hungry and made snap decision to eat at the Yard House there in City Centre before going to Kendra Scott. If you've never been there to eat you ought to try it sometime. 
After lunch and our Kendra Scott fix we went to buy some snacks for the next day's event at Painting with a Twist in the Woodlands.

Didn't want to have a birthday party but wanted to do something and what better way...Have a painting party where Pam and I could invite friends to join us if they like for a couple of hours of painting with a twist(wine) and laughter. We decided to have it at the Painting with a Twist in the Woodlands so it would be easier for my Mom to attend. And to be nice Pamela let me pick the painting since it was actually my birthday the day of the painting event.

So here's what I picked. That looks easy right? NOT Yikes!! After we got there I realized I may have screwed up and picked a rather hard one to paint but it looks so cool. Now if you've never been this is not a paint by number type thing nor were there any lines drawn on the canvas for us to just fill in and blend. Oh no! We had to pretend we knew what we were doing. LOL

 Our teacher was Jenny and she did a great job of teaching us how to almost duplicate the picture to the left. I said almost. Some were better at it than others. Of course the wine might of helped some of us think we were Picasso's. Here's some of the pictures frome the day.

Pamela and her friend Heather

Michelle (god child) and Pamela

Michelle, Gigi (the mom) and Joanie 

Me, My mom Ev and Pamela

The work Gang Cassie, Donna, Ashley, Me, Samara and Nancy

The Fab Four - Sheryl, Kathy, Gigi, Me
Phi Mu Sorority Sisters

Samara and Pamela

Kristina and Pamela

Kristina  Me and her momma Annette

Kathy   Barbara  and Me

                The Whole Painting with a Twist Gang.
 Had so much fun. Can't thank these girls enough for coming out and sharing this day with us. And I guess I should have put "No Gifts" .
 Silly girls gotta love them. There seems to be a common theme among those gifts. LOL What are they trying to say??  mmmm
After it was over Pamela and I drove my Mom home and then we we to pick David up so we could go out for our birthday dinner.
While sitting at the restaurant my phone rings and it Emily and Jerri Lynn singing Happy Birthday. They sing good. David took us to Carrabba's Italian Grill for drinks and yummy dinner. We got a pitcher of yummy Blackberry sangria. Sooo Good.

My little sister made sure the restaurant knew it was my birthday so our waiter made sure we got a huge complimentary piece of tiramisu. We were so full when we left there. I thought we'd pop.

One more piece of the celebration doesn't happen until April and that's when Pamela and I go on our 3rd annual Mom n Daughter trip to the Hill Country.

Until next Blog....Here’s to hoping all of your birthday wishes will come true once you blow out those candles. Everyone deserves happiness in the world. Thanks for letting me share our with you and helping me and Pamela celebrate.

My Technology can do anything

Well our technology team is very talented... My Boss Kim the one in brown went home and cut the wood, grabbed several hammers and some nails and we built a couple of pallets in no time. LOL Our service tech/delivery guy needed some pallets to pick up technology equipment at the schools but distribution didn't have any available so hey we got skills. 
I kept all my fingers out of the way but I did help build the first pallet. I can hit a nail square on the head. mmmm so maybe David can trust me to help at the Mini Mansion at the Rockin K.
 No nail guns! I really wanted to try one of those. LOL  You always see the gals on those House crasher shows or flipper shows getting to use them. Maybe next time Kim will bring the big toys to play with. 
And some of us have a little more talent that others...... 
I saved this from my birthday from last year 
when the girls kinda taped off  the entrance to my 
cubical.  Someone thought it a perfect excuse to limbo.  
All I needed was music.

The other day I opened my email and it said you won! I won?! Really? Brooke @ Silly Mama Quilt Blog had a scrap give away and I won. YAY!  Thank you Thank you. 

I very seldom ever win something so this was cool. If you get a chance go check out her blog. She's always making something cute and colorful. Fun stuff.

Me, Samara and Ashley

 Last Friday was Rodeo day and us girls were dressed and ready. All we needed was the horse.  

  Ahh Cassie missed our picture taking session but got in on the boot photo.  Left Mine Top Ashley Right Cassie and Bottom Cassie.
I love my boots and wear them on jean Friday's ever so often and so does Samara. They're so dang comfy.

So I haven't been to the Rockin K in since before December with all that's been going on with my Dad, my Mom and other activities. David has supposedly been dealing with a guy that he hired to put in a small septic system for the mini mansion since before December. The guy many put in about 2 hours of work maybe from the sounds of things and since then he has made excuse after excuse for not showing up or calling. David has called, texted, and emailed I don't know how many times but nothing. Recently he came home and picked up the home phone that we never use and called from it and the guy answered. Ahhh ha! More excuses but promised he'd call David the next morning with a way to resolve the problem. David waited 3 days and nothing. Now the guy said he wanted to be all finished by December 31st which would have been great but didn't happen. David had paid a nice down payment via Mastercard so he called Mastercard asking if there was anything they could do and they said Yes.  David made one more attempt to contact the guy but got no response so at the time we were told not to communicate with the guy anymore. At this time Mastercard has taken the charge off our account and any interest charges and has charge the guy back. I figure the guy will be calling us at any time. Two weeks and nothing so far. So yesterday I go up to the farm with David for the first time in Months and get a surprise.  There's no septic but there is a deck and the starting for the covering for a cover plus an extension off the back of the mini mansion.  David has been up there doing all the work by himself.  The guy wasn't doing a septic but was supposed to be building the deck and cover plus the extension on the back that would be the new bathroom and closet for the mini mansion. I can't believe it. 
Now I see why David has been coming home from the farm bent over with his back killing him. He's been lifting all the boards in place, nailing, digging holes all by himself. It is too cool and it's not even finished. Check it out!

We got the post set for the stair rails yesterday and the header boards the rest the way across the front.
David just hates it wasn't finished before I saw it but it's okay. I love it. We'll get it done a little at a time.

This back extension was to be for a closet and bath. Now he's thinking he may extend it further out. It will all come together in time. He has the vision.  

Lilley was enjoying the deck. 

Then I am enjoying it too in my purple plaid flannel shirt. LOL I've never worn flannel. I had posted on facebook that I am my Dad's kid. His favorite color was purple and he was known to wear a flannel shirt or two in the cooler months. It was really windy which made it rather cool when the sun wasn't out.  I did grab my camera and snap a few pictures of some wild flowers that had popped up. Only I didn't have my glasses and the wind was blowing so most didn't turn out the way 

I wanted so I'll bore you with the ones that did. And maybe a few pictures of Lilley.

Lilley took time to smell the flowers. You can see by her fur how hard the wind was blowing.

Today is her 6th Birthday. Happy Birthday Baby. This is a week of Birthday's for the Kennedy Girls.

 While walking around I found a deer antler. Kinda cool well at least to me.

 Is it time to go home now? LOL Yes Lilley it's about time. You haven't got to nap like you do when we're at home. Too many noises and too much activity to just lay down for long.

 It'll birthday time by next post and we know I do enjoy my birthday. I try not to think about the number just the fact it's another day I get to enjoy breathing and laughing.

Until next blog post...Smile: if you can't lift the corners, let the middle sag."

Unknown

Can it Really Be 29 years already?

We've loved you from Day one. From the tip of your nose to the tip of your toes.

You've been Daddy's little racing buddy before you could even walk.

You've been a little stinker at times.

 You continue to be your Dad's side kick and pride and joy. Along with being his lunch buddy on those Monday's when you're in town.

You have grown into a beautiful young lady inside and out

We're so proud of all that you have accomplished. 

You're not only my daughter now

You're my travel buddy and friend.

 HAPPY 29TH BIRTHDAY PAMELA! WE LOVE YOU

................A daughter is the happy memories of the past, the joyful moments of the present, and the hope and promise of the future. 

Let's talk

Well it began like any other morning.. well actually it was a good morning. I felt good, I was ready for work, had breakfast, had my purse, phone, keys, and a much needed jacket.  Gave Miss Lilley her morning treat and got my hand shake, set the alarm and I'm out the door. Whoa! So is Lilley. She decided she needed one last potty break. Okay no problem. I turn off the alarm, put my belongings down on the end table, turned around shut the door and we walked out to the grass. Good Girl Lilley.  I look at the clock on the garage wall and it's 6:34am so I'm still good on time. I grab the door knob and push on the door as I turned the knob and bumped into the door. To my surprise it doesn't open. Huh?!! What!! I try again two more times. Okay you've got to be kidding me it's cold as shit outside and I've locked myself outside with no keys or phone. Oh CRAP!! Now what? I mean I just stand there like I expected the door to just pop open. I know David's gonna kill me and the spare key is in my wallet that is in the house and we've never given one to a neighbor since we've moved here. Great. 
Had I had my phone that morning you might have seen a picture something like this...........
Next problem.... Who's up at this time of morning or still home so I can go use a phone to even call David and oh man can I remember my Boss's phone number to let her know my dilemma. I usually let my boss and two of the girls I work with know when I'm running late or not coming in but that's hard to do if I don't know phone numbers by heart. Thank goodness I remembered my boss's office number. So I remember my neighbor two doors down is always up at this time of morning so I take off but as I'm walking I notice there's no light on in the usual windows and it dawns on me "Oh Man they're in Japan!" CRAP CRAP CRAP.  Okay next neighbor I see lights at the end of the cul-de-sac so I head that way but got no answer.

About to cry now... Pathetic right (had I had my phone to capture the moment)... Oh and Whitney if you're reading this and wondering why I didn't come to you well I saw you leave but I did head your way later to see if Jeff was up when I noticed another neighbor was up right across the street from us.
So I knocked on their door. The husband answered and I explained my situation. I called David only he wasn't at his desk so I had to leave him a message. It was almost 8:30 before he got back to me. I was gonna go sit on the patio with Lilley and wait but my neighbor's wife said "no you're not it's too cold out there" I knew it would warm up soon enough though.  David called just after 9 to say come on.  He was a little angry but he waited until I went in to get my stuff and left for work. He was my hero for the day whether he felt like it or not.  When I was telling my saga to one of my quilter/co-workers down the hall she goes "Well at least you had your clothes on unlike someone else we know". I had to laugh because I'd forgotten that story. Long and short of that story.... Our friend ran outside in her nightie in the heat of the summer to grab the newspaper and returned to find the door locked. Now she had to run up and down the street in her nightie trying to find help. Keep in mind it's hot, she's sweating, and.....she has no undies on..... oh yes .... true story.... she finally got to use a phone called the locksmith who came out and found the door wasn't really locked it was stuck and the lock needed to be replaced if I remember right and she's still in her nightie the whole time. LOL  At least I had all my clothes on and a jacket.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I know it's only February but I'm so far behind on my quilting projects. I have got to get busy or I won't have anything to show this quarter for progress. One good thing is that I'm back to going to my quilting bee on the 2nd and 4th Monday's of each Month so maybe just maybe I'll get something accomplished.  Time will tell.
Plus
I'm in the final stages of organizing another quilt retreat for March. Can't wait. Several of my usual fabric-a-holics are not joining in the fun because of grand-babies joining the family. Can you imagine such a thing? A grand-baby trumping a quilt retreat I tell ya. LOL. That's okay because I know they'll be here for the next one ready to make lots of baby stuff for that little cutie or cuties.  I have a couple of spaces open so if you're interest contact me soon and I can send you the details. We're going to our favorite location in LaGrange RR Retreats by Margie    

It's my favorite time of year... NOT! Tax time!. I've got to get those done before my daughter kills me. I got a 15 minute lecture the other morning. I told her I'd gladly load it on her computer and she could do her own. She knows she'll get a refund and she wants her money. I know we'll have to pay and for some reason I just hate to do the darn stuff. Oh well I must complete soon before my schedule starts getting crazy with birthdays, quilt retreats and wine I mean Hill Country trip with Pamela.

So Thursday was National Wine Drinking Day did you celebrate it?
I did. I walked two doors down to catch up with my neighbor Deborah who just got home from Japan. She had this vision of me walking down the street with a bottle of wine in my hand. I laughed and said "Nope I brought 2 and they're in the bag".  We only finished off the one bottle.
LAST Friday David took half a day and went to the Rockin K to work on some things and spent the night up there. 
While he was gone I went out to eat with a long time 

friend Joanie who I hadn't seen in over a year. Couldn't believe it had been so long but it had. We hung out for 2 1/2 hours at Willie's Ice House catching up. 
We can't wait that long to get together again.
Then Saturday we headed to Bellville for dinner and music. We ate at the the Little Red Barn for dinner. I'm not sure what I was expecting but I'll give it an okay. Maybe we should have tried the steak since that's always what I've heard was so great. Service was slow but they were really nice. I had chicken fried steak but I meant to say chicken, my error so that didn't help but there was way too much breading for my liking. David had hamburger steak with gravy. He said it was okay. Sorry Little Red Barn I'm not sure I'll come back.
Then we headed on over to Buffalo Creek Winery. Now I'll go back there whenever I can.  If there's not a wedding going on they'll have music. It's a gorgeous setting. Max Stalling's and his band was the entertainment for the night. LOVE Love his music! His lead guitar player Bryce Clark rocks. Had a great evening with our long time friends the Ragan's and the Prudhomme's

My co-worker Ashley invited me to her little girl Aria's 2nd Birthday Party. Wow I haven't been to a little people party in a long time. Long time. We were suppose to be having a baby showing for Ashley 2 years ago but Aria decided to make her grand entrance 6 weeks early.  
And this is how I ended my weekend.

 
         
'Until next post....I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life.'~ Maya Angelou

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Happy Valentine's Day

You don't have to have a partner in crime to have a wonderful Valentine's

You just have to know there are people who care