Buster & Rowdy

My cats, Buster & Rowdy, miss me. Their routine has been upset since we spent a week in Illinois and I've been working a temp job for the past two weeks. I haven't spent any time the past few weeks sitting in my computer chair at home, where the cats take turns sitting on my lap. And I haven't watched much TV in the evenings because I've had too many other things to get caught up on that I haven't been able to do during the daytime since I've been gone or working. Since I haven't worked in two years, Buster & Rowdy have gotten used to having me at home so they can hop on my lap every time I sit down. They take turns sitting on me, but one of them sits and stares at me and the cat on my lap until it is his turn to sit on me. They are very affectionate kitties. Whoever it was that said cats are independent, is not describing my cats. They love having me at home and they stay by my side constantly. Since we returned from Illinois, BOTH cats have been sleeping with us. And this morning when I was in the bathroom putting on my make up, Rowdy got up on the closed toilet seat, knocked the toilet paper off the dispenser (It just slides on.) and proceeded to chew the paper! I wasn't paying any attention to him and I didn't realize what he had done until AFTER I had applied all of my make up! Tonight when I get home from work, I'd better sit down on the couch and pet my kitties for awhile. I think they need some TLC.

Trip to Florida!!!

Yesterday while I was at work, I logged onto the Internet and on the AOL front page, there was an ad for some very low Southwest Airline fares. The low fares are good through tomorrow. Bob and I want to go to Florida to visit friends and family and I would like to go in January for my birthday and when it is good and cold in Dallas. I told Bob that I want to go to Tampa, Lake Placid, Jacksonville, Ft. Lauderdale, Sarasota, and Vero Beach to start. He asked me if I'd ever looked at a map of Florida!! I'm hoping that maybe some of these people will come to where I'll be staying too. I plan to make "my base" at my dad's house in Lake Placid -- in the middle of the state. I am planning to have a lunch with my Sarasota Red Hat group, the Sorority of the Red Hat Sisters and my Florida Navy Moms friends too. Bob and I bought our tickets last night and now I am ready to go! I can't wait!

Eurydice

Last night we went with some friends to a play at SMU. Don & Joyce's son, Donny, played Orpheus in the play, "Eurydice". It was definitely an interesting play. I don't know anything about Greek mythology. The program we received as we went into the theater had no synopses in it, so I didn't know what to expect. The story goes like this.

Eurydice (Εὐρυδίκη, Eurydíkē) (yur-ID-ih-see) in Greek mythology, was an oak nymph or one of the daughters of Apollo (the god of light). She was the wife of Orpheus. Orpheus loved her dearly; on their wedding day, Orpheus played songs filled with happiness as his bride danced through the meadow. One day, a satyr saw and pursued her. Eurydice stepped on a snake and fell to the ground. The venomous snake had bitten her, leaving Eurydice dead. Distraught, Orpheus played and sang so mournfully that all the nymphs and gods wept. In their saddened states, they told him to travel to the Underworld and retrieve her. Orpheus did so, and by his music softened the hearts of Hades and Persephone, his singing so sweet that even the Erinyes wept. In another version, Orpheus played his lyre to put the guardian of Hades, Cerberus, to sleep. It was then granted that Eurydice be allowed to return with him to the world of the living. But the condition was attached that he should walk in front of her and not look back until he had reached the upper world. Nevertheless, Orpheus in his passion for her, and just at the portals of Hades when they had reached daylight and climbed up all through hell together, could not help but turn around to gaze on her face. Eurydice then vanished again from his sight—this time forever.

This is what is written in Wikipedia. The play was well done and Donny did a great job as Orpheus.

Exciting Time in the Neighborhood

We had some excitement this morning in downtown Dallas and Bob and I had ringside seats! The AT&T building next door had a parking garage that they have been tearing down the past few weeks, making room for some heavy equipment. This morning we watched a helicopter as it moved the heavy equipment from the parking lot on the east side of our apartment building to the leveled lot on the south side of our building. If you would like to see more photos, you can go to my Shutterfly album -- share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EbMmLJq3aKKJA

Allergies!

Allergies!! Even though I use Flonase spray in my nose every day and take Allegra every day, I still battle allergies at certain times of the year. I also receive an email every day from pollen.com and I try to watch for the allergens that bother me the most -- oak, for one. I try to stay indoors as much as possible and keep all the windows closed and I STILL get the scratchy throat, sneezing and runny nose. When we were traveling last week, we stopped inTulsa for one night on the way to IL and another night in Tulsa on the way back home. Tulsa is the Allergy Capital of the US! When I lived there, I was miserable most of the time with allergies. Now, even when I drive through Tulsa and stay overnight, I start sneezing and wiping my nose. AhhhhChooooo! Here I go again!

Same Kind of Different As Me

Last week when Bob and I were in the car for 12 hours, driving from Dallas to Springfield, IL, I read this book -- "Same Kind of Different As Me". Two of my friends had recommended that I read it. It was a WONDERFUL story about a black homeless man (Denver Moore), a white wealthy man (Ron Hall) and Ron Hall's wife (Deborah Hall), who live in Ft. Worth/Dallas. I won't give away any of the details about the book. Just read it for yourself! It is a very touching story about faith and loving all people for who they are on the inside. Since Bob and I live in downtown Dallas, we see a lot of homeless people. They hang out downtown during the daytime since they have no place else to go. Many of them stay on the streets at night, but some do go to shelters. I have become friends with Bradley and Darryl. They are "Zine" vendors, making their money by selling these newspapers about the homeless issues. Bradley stands on the Starbucks corner across the street from our apartment building. I bought his newspaper now and then when I was walking back and forth from the law office where I temped for 3 months. He was always very pleasant and we exchanged names and then more and more information as the time went on. I meet Bradley for tea at Starbucks every couple of weeks or lunch now and then and we each talk about what is going on in our lives. It's nice to have a friend like Bradley, who has a great sense of humor and keeps me laughing. He says I do the same for him. Darryl sells his newspapers on the corner in the opposite direction from our apartment building -- by the Urban Market & Cafe. Darryl loves to talk and tell you about the Lord. I've learned a lot by chatting with Darryl. I feel very blessed to have these two homeless friends in my life.

Remembering Uncle David

This is a photo of my Aunt Jo and Uncle David. Aunt Jo is my mom's sister and they live in Decatur, IL. My Uncle David had peripheral neuropathy for many years and he was in a wheel chair the past six years of so. He passed away last Sunday evening. Bob and I decided to drive to IL for Uncle David's memorial service that was held on Thursday. He had his body donated to science. It was a very nice service. We all will remember Uncle David and miss his quick wit and ability to make everyone laugh. He liked to play golf, go to the Cubs baseball games and travel with his family. I am so glad that Bob and I were able to drive back to be together with all of the family to remember Uncle David. It was a nice trip.

In Grandma's Button Box

I am calling this necklace In Grandma's Button Box. When my grandma Smith died, there were only two items of hers that I wanted -- her cookbook and her button box. Grandma used to keep buttons that she removed from clothing that family members no longer could wear, in this tin box. There are still pieces of material sewn onto many of the buttons. When my sister and I were little and we would stay at Grandma & Grandpa's house, Cindy and I would sew doll clothes and Grandma would let us use her buttons. I use the buttons for a lot of my craft and sewing projects. Yesterday I was going through the buttons for my Polly Got in the Paints Again necklace. I started thinking about how I could use more of the buttons on another necklace and I came up with this one. Even though they are my grandma's buttons, I will put this necklace on my Etsy website for sale -- www.neeneeandcheechee.etsy.com

Polly Got in the Paints Again

Here is a photo of my newest bead & fiber necklace. My sister bought this book called "1000 Jewelry Inspirations" and when I looked through it last January when I was at her house, I saw a necklace in the book that I decided I HAD to make myself. I bought the same book just to make this necklace. Now I have about 20 pages of jewelry bookmarked I want to try making. It has no instructions, just photos of jewelry to inspire you. This necklace was really fun to make. It is teardrops from pieces of material with buttons and beads glued onto them. In between the teardrops, there are beads, wire spirals and silver diamond shaped charms. It is on a black cord necklace with a silver lobster claw clasp. It will go on my Etsy website for sale -- www.neeneeandcheechee.etsy.com I asked Bob if he was going to dare me to wear it. He said he didn't have to dare me, as he knew I would wear it first chance I get! I can't wait!

Button, Button, Who Has the Button?

Did you ever play the game when you were a kid -- Button, Button, Who Has the Button? The kids sit in a circle and one person in the center has a button in her/his hand. Each person in the circle has their hands together to receive the button if deposited into their hand. The person in the middle goes around to each person in the circle and pretends to drop the button in someone's hand and she/he does deposit it in one person's hand. After the person in the middle has gone around to each person, everyone guesses who has the button. This is the name I gave to my newest necklace. I saw this button at JoAnn Fabric's last week and I fell in love with it, but I couldn't think of one thing to do with it, so I didn't buy it. When I got into the car and drove away, my mind was swirling with ideas on how I could use this button. I thought about it day and night for the past week. Yesterday I had the car, so I drove to JoAnn's and bought the button. As soon as I got home, I put this necklace together. I am planning to make other bead and fiber jewelry and I started another one this morning. I know this is a bit "different". I do plan to put it on my website for sale.

Fair Day!!

We finally had a day without rain in Dallas and it was Seniors Day at the TX State Fair, so Bob and I took this opportunity to go. I told Bob that it was FUN to get carded at the age of 60! We walked through quite a few of the buildings just to get cooled off. It was 88 degrees with about 200% humidity! We walked through the Food & Fiber Pavilion, although there wasn't much going on after 6 p.m. And we walked through the car show twice. We sat and watched the pig races too. The best part of going to the TX State Fair for me is to eat my yearly corn dog and ride the Ferris Wheel. And I didn't get mustard on my shirt this year!

Driving in Dallas Can Be Challenging

Driving in Dallas can sometimes be quite challenging. At times, it was challenging to drive in other places that I've lived too. Tulsa was the best place to drive, as all the streets go north, south, east or west in one mile increments. In Sarasota, you have the OLD people who don't know how to drive or where they are going. In Dallas, you get into lanes that just all of a sudden become "exits only" or as in my case, I just don't know where they end up. Today when I was running my errands, I was on Spring Valley Rd. and I wanted to go to Forest & Preston Rd. I could have just headed west on Spring Valley to Preston, then south on Preston to get to where I was headed. But no, I decided it was FASTER to go on I-75 expressway and get off on the Forest exit. Little did I know that you have to get off on the "Coit/Forest" exit and when you get off, it is one way headed north on Coit, when I read a sign that said "Forest" with an arrow pointing the way I was headed -- north on Coit! Now, this was very confusing to me. Where in the world was Forest? I ended up back on Spring Valley Rd. and took it to Preston like I should have done before I made my scenic tour of the expressway in Dallas. When I lived in Dallas from 1996 - 2001, I refused to drive on the expressways. I worked only three miles from where we lived on the "M" streets and our church, grocery stores and the major mall was within 5 miles of where we lived, so I didn't have to drive on the expressways. But, now that I'm doing the beading and I have to go to every bead store in Dallas to buy my supplies, I have to drive on the expressways or put up with a million stop lights. Oh, the challenges of driving in Dallas. But, I do love being back here and I wouldn't move anywhere else if you paid me to!

Baking Day!

I decided that today will be Baking Day. It is rainy, cold and yukky outside and a good day to stay inside and bake. I love to bake! Cookies are my favorite, probably because I love to eat them. I pick cookies over pies, cakes and ice cream any day. Especially if they have chocolate in them. YUM! When my boys were little, I always baked cookies and I had them in the house all the time. I don't bake much any more though. Bob and I certainly don't need to eat them. I'm baking today though because I'm getting ready to take food to the church for the Fellowship Hour on Sunday. We have signed up to host it this Sunday. Even when I don't host it, I usually try to take some cookies or something. When I host it, I take an egg dish, a fruit dish and several baked goodies. I'll put these cookies in the freezer and hope they make it until Sunday. I'll hold off until Saturday to make a coffee cake, fruit dish and the egg dish.

First Etsy Order!!!!!!

Making the decision to change from my personal jewelry website to Etsy is a good decision. I made this change on August 23rd. With my personal website, I couldn't get over the hump of selling my jewelry outside of my circle of friends and family. It is a good feeling that my friends and family want to wear my jewelry creations, but I want to expand my business and sell to people I don't know. As every morning, I fix my cup of tea and turn on my computer to read/write my emails, look at my Facebook account and plan my day. This morning when I read my emails, there was an order confirmation from Etsy. I had placed an order on Etsy recently for a pendant and I have several other items earmarked to buy soon. So, at first when I read my email from Etsy, I thought it was about MY order I had placed. Then, it dawned on me that someone bought something from MY Etsy website! I was so excited when I finally figured it out! This is a photo of my FIRST Etsy order outside of my circle of friends and family. On Friday, I made this bracelet that I named "Elegance" and I posted it on Etsy last night. I'll be walking in the rain today to the post office to mail off my first Etsy order. I'm sure I won't even notice the rain.

Shrinky Dink Halloween Skeleton Necklace

My friend Michelle sent me some instructions over a year ago on how to make Shrinky Dinks from the plastic container that store bought strawberries come in. I tried making a few Shrinky Dinks at the time and I even have one that I wear a lot as a necklace. Every time I wear it, I get a lot of compliments on it. I decided I needed to make more of the Shrinky Dinks and put them on jewelry to sell on my Etsy website. Today is a very cold, rainy day, so it was perfect to be inside and do some craft projects. I was talking to my sister and I told her that I had planned to make some pumpkin Shrinky Dinks to make into a necklace and earrings and she told me that I needed to make some skulls too. She has been making some lapel pins with skull beads. I then got the idea to make an entire skeleton and put him together with jump rings. This Shrinky Dink Halloween skeleton necklace will be for sale on my website -- www.neeneeandcheechee.etsy.com I will have some pumpkin Shrinky Dink jewelry also in a few days.

Best Ever Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

There are not many things that are better than homemade cookies right out of the oven. I just tried a new cookie recipe and they are YUMMY! I'm taking them for the Fellowship Hour at church tomorrow or I'll be putting on more pounds than I'm taking off with my exercising if these cookies remain at home.

Ingredients

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 large egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cooking Directions

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Total: 15 minutes

1. Position two oven racks in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth.

3. Divide the dough into 24 portions, about 1 heaping tablespoon each. Roll each portion between your hands to form a smooth ball. Place the balls of dough on ungreased cookie sheets, spacing them 1 inch apart. You should get about 12 cookies per sheet. Using

a fork, press on the dough in two directions to form a crosshatch pattern.

4. Bake the cookies, rotating the sheets between oven racks and turning them back to front midway, until the cookies are puffed and lightly golden, about 10 minutes. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and let the cookies cool on the sheets. Then remove them with a metal spatula.

Makes about 24 cookies

Pearls Are a Girl's Best Friend

Yesterday I made a pearl charm bracelet. This looks much easier than it was and that was because I decided I needed some beaded beads on it. I blogged on July 7th about making beaded beads. Well, making PEARL beaded beads were not the same as making the other beaded beads and making the pearl ones were NOT easy! I had to buy special "needles" for the project, as my beading needle I already had did not fit through the tiny holes in the pearls. These "needles" came in a package of 12 and I didn't know why there were so many. Usually when you buy needles in a package, they are in different sizes if there is more than one needle. Well, I soon found out that after you draw the Fireline (which is basically fishing wire) through the pearl on the special "needle", the eye collapses somewhat. And the Fireline wire didn't stay in the "needle" even though the eye had collapsed. Needless to say, I went through many "needles" just to make 3 of the beaded beads. The other two beaded beads are for another project. I put the word "needles" in quotes because these special "needles" are some kind of stiff fiber and not the usual metal. And they are very long. I had to cut them down about half in size to be able to use them. This bracelet will be for sale on my website -- www.neeneeandcheechee.etsy.com

Lizards Everywhere!

Today when I was having lunch with my friend Rise who works at Lincoln Plaza, she reminded me of a funny story that I thought I'd write about in my blog. When we lived in Sarasota, there were lizards (geckos) EVERYWHERE! When you walked out the door, they would scurry around left and right into the grass and bushes. They climbed on the house and the windowsills and Buster & Rowdy always tried to catch them -- even when the lizards were outside. If the lizards got into the house, which they often did, the cats sat and waited until they came out from under the dining room hutch, couch or wherever. Sometimes the cats would catch the lizards. If they did, the lizards didn't last very long. Usually the cats would eat them. Sometimes they would eat only half of the lizard and then leave the other half for me to find. One day I came home from work and Buster met me at the garage door and he started meowing at me. I didn't pay any attention to him or follow him and he kept it up until I followed him into the living room. There in the middle of the floor was half a lizard! Just for me! I said, "Nice kitty" and patted him on the head and promptly removed the lizard to outside. Another time on my first day of work at Westfield mall, I was in the conference room for a meeting right after I arrived at work, and I felt something in my shoe. I removed the shoe and tipped it over. Out fell a dead LIZARD!! I'm sure one of the cats left it for me as a present. Nothing says LOVE like a LIZARD in the shoe!!