Fashion Friday/Pink Saturday

Welcome to a Fashion Friday and Pink Saturday combination! A couple weeks ago Deb at Deb's Country Kisses began hosting Fashion Friday. Since I have a lot of pink clothing, I decided to combine it with Pink Saturday which is hosted by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound. Also, this Monday I'll be participating in Blue Monday hosted by Sally at Smiling Sally.

Edited to add: For the most hilarious Pink Saturday post I have ever seen, you should really check out The Stone Rabbit. Oh my gosh, I laughed so hard I nearly peed myself! She has the funniest Pink Saturday posts!

This is one of my favorite pink dress blouses for work. I forgot to take a pic of the cream colored linen skirt with pink roses that I wear with it! Bought it at Cato's.

Here is my absolute favorite dress shirt. I had my eye on it at CJ Banks, but I can't afford their stuff full price, so as soon as I saw it on the clearance rack, I snatched it up! The pink shell was on clearance at Fashion Bug for $6.
Here is some detail. I love these flowers! I wear this with olive dress slacks.
Here is another CJ Banks item. I might actually have paid full price because I liked it so much. I love the embroidery! The pink shell is another one from Fashion Bug.
See the pretty detail? This is what sold me on the jacket. I like to wear this with a pink tank and white pants.

Here is a deeper pink shirt that I got at a deep discount store. I bought the scarf at a craft fair. I love to wear this with jeans.
More cute detail.
So what do I wear with pink clothing? Pink jewelry, of course! The earrings in the first pic are my favorite and I wear them all the time.

I found the brooch at a rummage sale for $4.

My daughter has heard about Fashion Friday and Pink Saturday and wanted to get in on the fun! Here she is in her new pink shirt, vogueing for the camera. She is wearing pink glitter flip flops.

I remember back in the day when she was a pretty little pink baby! Here she is in a sweet little pink dress against a background of pink roses. I think she's around 6 months old in this picture. I'm 22 here. What a spring chicken!
I guess there was another time in my life that I liked pink! This is my senior pic at age 17. Was I ever that young? lol
What a blast from the past!

I have a lot more pink clothes, but this post would go on forever if I showed them all. I tried to model a couple of these outfits, but when I asked my sons to play photographer, one was asleep, and the other couldn't be bothered while playing Minesweeper. Oh well, at least my daughter got to model!

Have a great weekend!

Take me to the river! And I'm on the right track.

It has been a while since I've shown pictures of the river. Keep in mind that I don't get to see the river like this because I would have to go down a very steep riverbank, and I am just not limber enough to do that. It's a steep incline of about 25 feet down there! The last few feet are especially steep. Someday I hope to have stairs...with railings. These are pictures my youngest son took. These first two are from last fall.


The water is so calm, it looks like glass! So beautiful.

These next pics were taken last week.

While Jared was visiting his father in Texas, his best friend moved back to the area from North Carolina. Nick is the sweetest kid. Unfortunately, his mother moves constantly, and he has probably lost count of all the school districts he has lived in. I think that they last went to school together in 7th or 8th grade, but their friendship has endured.

Nick is the one above in black. He used to be an innocent little red head with short hair. I was a little surprised to see him with long hair dyed black, dressed all in black with chains. Definitely an Emo look. It hasn't changed the boy inside who is still a sweetheart. Don't be misled by appearances!

Below is my oldest boy Sean with Nick, and they are coming up the riverbank. Even Jared couldn't keep the camera straight on that steep riverbank!

I tried to get a pic of Sean coming up, but he tried to outrun the camera. Ha, caught him just as he reached the top!
Nick kept hiding his face. He took off his hoodie and unzipped his pants into shorts for cooler attire. Our little Emo fashionisto! I'm not sure why there is this solitary fencepost in my yard near the shed, but there it stands. Someday I hope to put a bird bath or cool plant on it. For the present though, Jared and Nick decided that it would be fun to jump on and stand on. Nick made it!
So did Jared! They literally jumped up onto it. I would no doubt have ripped a muscle or broken a bone trying this. Jared tried to get away from me when I took this pic, so it ended up being blurry. I thought it looked hilarious though because it looks like he has a pecker nose. Sorry.

Anyhow, I finally got to go walking around the track again today. Its day 4 of walking and its going well. It gets easier each time. Isn't this a nice stadium?
Nice seating area. Much bigger than the one in my hometown!
Someone told me that they wanted to see the blue track, so here it is! I walk to and from the stadium, then do three laps, so this should total a mile.
It was a perfect day for walking. I love the trees near the stadium. It's so quiet out there and you can hear the birds singing, and just look at the blue sky and little wisps of clouds!
I feel pretty blessed to be so near such a great place to walk.

I can do this. It helps me so much to know that I have the support of my friends here in blogland! Thank you!

I'm putting on my walking shoes! And new awards!

I finally did it! I strapped on those walking shoes and have started walking! We'll get to that in a minute because first I want to thank two lovely ladies for giving me these awards! The first is from Tara at Days Missed on a Hammock, the I Love Your Blog award! Thank you so much Tara! This means a lot to me!

The next is an award from Deb at Deb's Country Kisses. If anyone has any idea what this says, please share it! I'm pretty sure that it means something very nice like "I give you credit for a great blog" and not something like "Your blog stinks." Deb passed it on to fellow bloggers with the intent of saying she loved our blogs! Thank you, Deb! Please check out their blogs, as I love visiting theirs as well! I know I am supposed to post rules and pass this on to specific bloggers, but I am dead dog tired and have the hiccups, so let me just say that I think you all have terrific blogs and would be pleased to pass this on to all who read mine! I appreciate all the sweet friends who come here to visit.

Yesterday I took those first big steps...I started my walking routine. I put on my new sneakers, and oh my, the felt so good! There is a bounciness in the heal that almost makes me feel as though I could run! Remember when you got a new pair of Keds as a kid and it made you feel like you were Superman? It's kind of that feeling.

I just really wish I had taken my camera yesterday, because my son Sean and I walked to the football stadium and walked around the track. It was a gorgeous day with sunny blue skies and fluffy white clouds. The trees were green and swaying in the slight breeze, and the birds could be heard singing. I can't wait to take a pic of the track as its a powder blue! How cool! Instead, I'm going to show you an overcast, gray, less awesome day.

Here I am, raring to go. I just showed you the shoes, because the view from behind is quite sad ladies. Even the shot of the back of my head is not so hot.

Here I am in my athletic apparel. Ha. Come on Sean! Let's get walking!
Here we are at the end of the lane, looking toward the YMCA on the left, and the stadium on the right in the distance. Just beyond the stadium is the high school. There is superhero Sean in his Green Lantern t-shirt. He is a sweetie to want to come walking with his Mom.
Oh crap, there is a game going on at the stadium! We had to make alternate plans. Ok, let's walk to the end of this road! Can you see the end? Neither can I.
We actually walked to the end, walked up another street, than retraced our steps. I know for sure that I walked a mile yesterday, and am pretty sure that we walked at least that much again today. Oh my, the muscles in my legs were sore today! Luckily, I live in a nice neighborhood and I was looking at all the flower gardens and cute homes as we walked.

After all that, there is just one place I want to be right now! My comfy bed.

If you missed my post on my bedroom, you can find it here.

I'm sure it will take a few more days to walk off the soreness and increase my endurance, but I'm on my way!

Pink Saturday #7: It's official, I'm extra sweet!

It's Saturday and I have more pinkness in store for you! This weekly event is hosted by Bev at How Sweet the Sound. Please click on the link to get to the list of everyone else who is participating!

Well, it's officially confirmed. I'm extra sweet. The test results of my second fasting blood sugar (glycal hemoglobin) has shown that I am indeed diabetic. The week after next I will be meeting with my doctor to learn more about what I need to do to stay healthy, and then a few days later, I'll be meeting with a diabetes educator who can give me even more information.

I already know that one of the best ways to lower my blood sugar level is to exercise. I have not been much of an exerciser for quite some time. I haven't even owned a pair of sneakers for over 10 years. So today I did something that for me is a little bit of a big deal...I went out and bought a pair of Reeboks. Of course, they had to have pink! Cute, aren't they? Some pink detail. They feel so good on my feet!
They're even pink inside! That won't last, ha!
They're even pink on the bottom! That won't last either once I start walking.
I don't even have athletic socks, so went out and got some cute socks that are supposed to help keep my feet dry and healthy. They had pink writing on them. So cute! (I am too easily excited.) Anyhow, I live very close to the local Y, but it's darn expensive. I'm also within a short walking distance of the high school and am hoping that locals are allowed to walk around the track. I might even ask if residents are allowed to walk in the gym during certain hours.
Around the house, I should stop going barefoot. Besides, my toes are cold all the time, even in summer, so I have this pair of pink slippers that I got half price at K-Mart a couple weeks ago even before the dreaded diagnosis.
Another important part of taking care of my feet is to inspect them every day. I am already in the habit of taking good care of them. I use the cheese grater type thingie on my heels at least once or twice a week, and then each morning I put lotion on my feet followed by Gold Bond foot cream. I love this stuff and my heels don't look dry all day! Just pretend that the red is a dark, dark pink for this post. Pink is just red with white added anyhow, right?
Wish me luck! I can use all the prayers you care to offer up. I really want to stay healthy and am determined to make positive changes. I know that I have a lot to learn yet!

Here's to positive lifestyle changes!

Wonders of the World

Rebecca Ramsey of the blog Wonders Never Cease is hosting a Wonders of the World Wednesday! If you have not visited Rebecca's website, you really must as she has a different spin on anything she finds in any way wondrous!

She is also the author of a book called "French by Heart," a story of her years spent in France. Anyhow, being brave and intrepid, Rebecca has invited us to share anything that we find "wonderful, whether weird, wacky, beautiful or breathtaking, heartwarming or hilarious." We were even allowed to venture into the realm of "bitter or twisted" if we woke up with our panties in a knot. First I am going to post some things in the outside world that I found wondrous, before moving on to something that truly made me wonder...something found in my own house. It may fall under under the category of twisted, weird, and hilarious.


Edited to add: None of these pictures are mine until you reach the one of the crazy boy with the gun. I borrowed them all from Google Images!

Here are some wonders I have actually beheld: the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France! It really is breathtaking when you first see it! It's even more beautiful at night, and if you can view the City of Lights at nighttime from high on the tower, it is truly a stunning and memorable sight. I was able to do this in 1999.
While in Paris, I also got to go to the Louvre and see the Mona Lisa. It's actually not a very big painting at all, but it was so cool to see something that is so well known!
Back a little closer to home at the Toledo Zoo in Ohio, I actually got to see the great pandas! This was really a treat! That was about 20 years ago.
When I was a teenage, I got to see this horticultural wonder in Tombstone, Arizona: the world's largest rosebush.
On South Bass Island (Put-in-Bay) in Lake Erie, there is a crystal cave, actually like a large geode. It's really pretty cool.

I consider oceans to be pretty breathtaking too. I have been lucky enough to see both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. I'm simply drawn to their beauty and can't get enough.
Then there are some wonders that I haven't actually got to see, but would like to some day. Here is the Grand Canyon in all its majesty.
And how I would love to travel to Japan to see Mount Fiji! I really wish I could just see Japan, but more like it was in the old days.
This brings me to a wonder in my own home...the kind of thing that makes me wonder. Let me introduce the key players (villains) in this saga. The first is son Sean and his little plastic pellet gun.
The next two villains are son Jared, and family dog Jake, also known as Sir Poops-a-Lot, or the turd mongrel.

One night I was innocently heading toward my bedroom door, the door on the left. The door on the right is son Sean's bedroom door. I had already opened the door when I happened to see something above me on the ceiling. Oh merciful heavens! My heart skipped a beat. In the last two houses I had lived in before this one, I had experienced bats! Now this was brown, on the ceiling, and just about the right size for a bat with his wings folded. (Unfolded, the damn things look like condors flying through the house.)

But no, this was not a bat. This was something far more sinister and unexpected.

This was dog poop. Oh yes. I shall heretofore probably be known not as the woman with big hooters, but as "the woman who showed you poop." Well, last I knew, Jakey was not able to climb walls and ceilings (Spider Pig, Spider Pig!). I called my son out of his bedroom and asked him how in the Sam Hill (the real words were not so genteel) dog poop got on the ceiling. Ok, here is the story: Jake had an "accident" in the upper hallway (real blame goes to lazy boys who did not walk the dog while mom was at work). Sean decided to pop out of his bedroom with the plastic gun and shoot little plastic pellets at Jared. In his rush to get away, Jared stepped in pooh (EWWWW!), and to get even with his big brother, decided to kick the pooh off of his foot at his brother. Sean ducked and stayed clean. No one thought to figure out where the poop....
...went. Well it went here. (And yes, I went there!) Ugh! I promptly called Sean over to clean it up before it fell on me. Don't you feel dirty now?

Ok, after that I feel the urge to show you something pretty, more in the true nature of my blog. Here is a pretty hibiscus.

And here is a pretty chair that I refurbished with pretty paint and pretty fabric.
There, I feel pretty much better now...


...as better as I am going to feel with an incontinent dog and two rowdy boys!