(not so) Special K(at)

So earlier this morning, I'm sitting in the living room, and I hear something hit the floor in the kitchen. I look up and over towards the counter....no one is there. So I get up to see what it could have been. 

This is what I see when I get there:

Now no one is in the room, so I immediately start taking inventory of the animals. 

Zeus is still on the couch, apparently too busy watching tv to have done it.

Cosmo is too fat to jump that high, and has not yet gotten out of bed today.

I start looking for my other cat, Diego. I don't see him wandering around anywhere, so I go to look in his favorite sleeping spot...under my dresser. Since I was too lazy to get down on my knees to see if he was there...I just kind of held the camera down and snapped a photo. I look at the photo....nothing.

(no idea what kind of junk that is under there...I'll deal with that later)

It's not until I walk back into the living room, that I see him.

Laying under my coffee table, giving me a dirty look.

He apparently hightailed it out of the kitchen after knocking down the Special K and tried to act as if he hadn't done anything wrong.

I'll be watching him.

So now I can go sweep up the mess and .....heeeeeeeyyyy....wait a minute.....

Oh YAY.......COUPONS!!!!

And how was YOUR morning??  :)

As Cute As a Button

I remember when I was little, maybe 4 or 5, my mom was very sick and had to go out of town quite a bit for doctor's visits. While she and my dad were gone for sometimes 2 or 3 days at a time, I would stay with my grandma in her little apartment that was above a dry cleaners.

Grandma never had many toys for us grandkids to play with when we visited. I would bring a doll with me, and maybe my coloring books and crayons, but mostly she would occupy me with things that she had around her apartment.

She would let me stand on the step stool by her big sink while she was busy cooking, and wash the few little plastic play dishes that she kept in her cupboard. I remember her letting me use her very fancy dish towel to carefully wipe each little plastic plate and cup dry. 

When it was time for ironing clothes, she would set up her ironing board in her dining room. She had a teal plastic bottle with a metal sprinkler top that she would fill with water, and she would lay each item on the board, then let me sprinkle the clothes, and roll up each thing and stack it in a basket. When everything was sprinkled and rolled, she would then start unrolling each thing and take such care ironing out each wrinkle.

Whether she was baking bread, or making pasties or some kind of baked good, she always had a little job for me to help with. She helped me to carefully level out a cup of flour, or let me stir something with her big wooden spoon. She let me cover the bowl of bread dough that sat rising on one of her big metal radiators. I remember going over to peek many times under the flour sack dish towel to see how big it was getting.

These simple little household chores were the reason I loved to go to grandmas. I felt so grownup being able to help her with these tasks. She always knew how to make it seem like fun instead of work.

When all the 'busy work' was done, it was time for Grandma to sit and rest...to take a nap or watch her 'programs' on tv. It was then that I would dig out my favorite thing to play with.......her sewing basket.

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I would haul it over to her dining room table, climb up on a chair an open it up to discover all that it held. Brightly colored spools of thread, zippers, needles of all sizes and a fabric measuring tape were among the treasures it held. But most important of all......were the buttons. 



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Inside that sewing basket were many tiny glass jars and plastic pill bottles filled with all kinds of buttons. Ones that looked like pearls, some with little clear glass stones that looked like diamonds, ones of every color of the rainbow, all different sizes. Silver and gold ones. Some were strung together on white thread.


I would spend what felt like hours looking at those buttons. I would sort them into piles of different colors, I would sort them by size, stack them, count them. I remember some that were shaped like tiny rosebuds.


My grandma used to have a saying...whenever she saw something she liked, she would say, "That's as cute as a button." Those buttons were cute. And they were beautiful. It was as if she were allowing me to play with the most precious of gems.


I often wonder what happened to grandma's sewing basket after she died. I'd like to hope that a family member still has it tucked away somewhere.....still holding those buttons that I loved so much.


Linking to:


Five Days...5 Ways ~ Feature Friday Free For All
Serenity Now ~ Weekend Bloggy Reading
Sew Many Ways ~ Sew Darn Crafty Party-Week 56

Friday Favorites

Happy (late) Friday!

I don't know where the day goes sometimes. I woke up at 6 with my husband to have coffee with him and see him off to work, and before I knew it, it was time to start supper for when he came home.

I got a little housecleaning done, but mostly just relaxed around the house re-cooperating from the terrible cold I've had for the past 4 days.

I am getting so tired of this winter weather. Not the cold so much as the day after day of overcast skies. It's so depressing to me...I miss the sunshine. I can't wait for spring! Since spring makes me think of grass sprouting up, and new leaves showing themselves....here are some of my favorite green things I've came across on Pinterest lately.

If only I could float around by a heart all day...

Via

This is just the cutest doorstop...

Via

I love spring/summer mornings when I wake up to birds singing in the trees...

Via

I bet this smells sooo good...

Via

Buttons of all shapes, sizes and colors...there's so much you can do with them. I love these green ones.

Via

ADORABLE fabric....for a throw pillow maybe?

Via

So many shades of green. Would love to have a set of dishes in a deep green some day.

Via

I have an old desk that would look so great in this shade of green.

Via

This is just like something out of a fairytale...

Via

Such organization....love the pops of green, and that MIXER!

Via

So those are some of my favorites for this Friday.

If you want to see the rest of my Green with Envy board, or any of my other boards...click HERE, and follow me if you would like.

I am very new to blogging, and have been trying to learn by reading and looking at other people's blogs, but it is a little overwhelming so if I have done something that is bad etiquette or against the rules regarding linking the photos to their original source, please do not hesitate to let me know.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! :) 

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25 Random Things About Me

Shaunna over at Perfectly Imperfect is having a link party for 25 random things and I thought it would be fun to participate!

1. I've never been to any other states except for Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois.

2. I love Guinea pigs.

3. I love to take a walk when there's a snow storm or blizzard.

4. I'm scared of thunder and lightning.

5. I don't drive.

6. I wish I could sew.

7. Most of the things that I've never done in my life was because I was afraid.

8. I would love to design a beautiful garden in my backyard with stone paths, trees, flower gardens, bird baths, benches and a brick patio right in the center of it.

9. I think red hair is attractive, on both males and females.

10. I love green.

11. I'm so happy that my daughter is living with us, and I can enjoy my 4-month old grandson.

12. Packing up the car and just driving around the country stopping at all the interesting places and staying at bed and breakfasts would be my idea of a perfect vacation.

13. I cry when someone sings our national anthem.

14. If I ever won the lottery, I wouldn't buy a big fancy new house...I would fix up our cute little 3-bedroom mobile home. I would have a new garage built for my husband, have a giant deck put on, remodel the kitchen, paint, have new wood floors, have the yard landscaped....because while some people might not think it's much...I absolutely LOVE it here.

15. Autumn is my favorite season.

16. I'm left-handed.

17. I have tried many times to teach myself to knit, but I just can't get the hang of it.

18. I have always wanted a tattoo, but could never decide on anything that I wanted on my body for the rest of my life.

19. I make AWESOME crepes!

20. I love doing laundry, I hate doing dishes.

21. I love to get up before everyone else and just sit and have a cup of coffee and read or go online.

22. My favorite tv show is The Office. I dvr the shows and watch the repeats constantly.

23. I love rummage sales and secondhand stores.

24. I drink too much coffee.

25. I want to plant a small vegetable garden this summer.

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Marriage, sickness, job changes & new life

So many things are happening at once. Since Ray's mom has been diagnosed with cancer, she has gone downhill so fast. They say it could be days, but she keeps hanging on...I pray that we will have her around for a long time yet, and they will be without much pain.

Emily and the baby are doing fine. She is due September 30th, and that day is approaching fast.

Ray and I were married on July 9th at his mother's house. It was important that his mother was with us, so the wedding was actually mostly planned by his sisters and family in one day. I bought myself, Emily and Olivia clothes to wear, and everything else was all done for us. It was a very small, simple ceremony, and I wouldn't have changed a thing. They even bought us a beautiful cake and made me a bouquet. It was an amazing day.

Ray has mentioned many times that he would like me to quit my job and stay home. So yesterday was my last day at work. I love knowing that I can be home now to take care of the house and Ray and the kids. I really prefer to be at home instead of working, and it feels good.

Now that I can be home to take care of everything, I am sitting her looking around and realize that I need to get this house in order. So I have made a list of things to do today, and when I finish typing this, I'll get started. I WILL NOT procrastinate!!!

Laundry and The Decemberists

Slept in a little later than I would have liked this morning. It's 21 degrees out, but unless I can think of something I need to get at the store, I probably won't be leaving the house today, as a mountian of laundry is calling me....if only I can get up the courage to attempt to climb to the top. LOL! Will also try to sneak a bit of crocheting in, as I am very close to finishing the baby blanket I'm working on. Listening to a bit of music this morning, and as of today.....this is my favorite song. I do so long for summer to finally get here. This is June Hymn, by The Decemberists.