Houston, We're Ready for Launch

Nothing that dramatic *wink* but Meg is feeling much, much better so I've rescheduled our trip to Illinois. She and I will be flying out tomorrow to meet my parents and extended family, leaving Randy here to hold down the fort.

Of course that cute Betsey Johnson bag is Meg's.  I found it at TJ Maxx this afternoon and she's in love.  (It matches her Betsey Johnson mini barrel bag that she got in June.)  And while may look like I'm taking way too much I want you all to know that the blue carry on bag contains my KING size pillow, in addition to all of my clothes and toiletries.  I have learned that I can not/do not/will not enjoy my nights away from home without it.

So wish us luck that everything goes smoothly tomorrow.  I catch ya all next weekend.

Putting Scraps to Good Use

Our trip to Illinois has been postponed.  Poor Meg just wasn't well enough to make it but my parents arrived safe and sound and will be there until Friday. If she is feeling well enough by tomorrow night, we hope to fly out to meet them on Monday.  (She did seem a bit better last night so we are hopeful.)

Since I had no other plans, I spent yesterday in JulieWorld.  I started off with this card. Meg really loves it.  I like it, but don't love it.  

As I was cleaning up afterward I decided to challenge myself to use my miscellaneous scraps.  I use a couple of pantry bins to stash away any scraps I have leftover from my projects.  This is what I gave myself to work with....

Every so often I make up some card bases in advance.  This is my current supply.

Using just what I have here (plus a few enamel dots, one lone "you" stamp and some thread) this is what I created yesterday.

At this point I decided to purge a good portion of my remaining scraps but I'm feel pretty darned good about putting them to good use.  

Too Much Web MD

Last night Meg texted me from her bedroom saying she "needed Dad."  (I know....why not just text Dad, right?  *sigh*)  Not wanting to wake up Randy I went to check on her.  She proceeds to tell me that her left side is hurting. When I dismissed it, she said, in all seriousness, "But I can feel my spleen enlarging."

I need to cut off her internet access.

It's Very, Very Quiet Around Here

It's been really quiet around here.  Unfortunately that's because Baby Girl has been sick.  She started running a temp on July 5th (99.5-100.5) that lasted over a week.  She felt better for a couple of days and then presented with a sort throat, swollen glands and some sinus congestion.  It's pretty much been a "pajama July" for her.  :-(

A trip to the clinic yesterday ruled out strep and mono, both of which are good news, but it means there's not a lot that can be done.  Unfortunately we have a trip scheduled for Friday which is now in jeopardy.  (Yes Mom, I've been hiding this little tidbit from you.)  Randy put her on salt water gargles yesterday and it seems to be working.  She was up at 5:00 AM feeling better and asking for breakfast. I'm hopeful that she will be well enough to go.

So, beyond photographing Meg in her multitude of pajamas and sweats, there hasn't been a lot of "blog fodder" lately.  (A term used by my dear friend Catherine.)  Hopefully that changes really soon.

Miscellaneous Ramblings

Total randomness today...


---  A photo of The House of Refuge taken by Meg last evening.  This beach is one of our favorite spots.

---  One of my favorite online shopping stores, Simon Says Stamp, is having a contest on Instagram to find Simon (their Boston Terrier mascot) a BFF.  Duh, there is no pet cuter than our Jasmine so I had to enter.  

With thousands of entries I'm not holding my breath that she will actually win but I do hope it's a dog that looks similar to her.  The winning pet will get a stamp made in their image.





---  I'm halfway to my 2015 reading goal this year.  I received this in my inbox from Goodreads.

_______________________________________________________________

Hi JulieP,

The year is halfway over—let's give your 2015 Reading Challenge a boost!

You've read 20 of 40 books. (50% complete)

6,573 Pages Read

328 Avg. Pages Per Book

3.20 Average Rating

_________________________________________________________________

I've fallen short by three books the past two years so I'm really hoping to make my 40 this year.






---  And last, but certainly not least, is a photo of Fin Man.

Made ya smile, didn't it?  :-)

Purple Mountains Majesty

As part of Meg's recent room re-do, we had her closet doors covered in two coats of black chalkboard paint.  It was soon obvious that the doors would benefit from a third coat of paint and it took me until last week to finally get around it doing it.  I walked in a few days later to see her christening the new look.

Keep in mind that she was sick all week, hence the fabulous attire and hair do. (She is feeling much better as of yesterday.)

Cool, huh?  What I wouldn't give for a cool mountain breeze right now.  :-)

Brewmaster in Training

My nephew decided to spend a few days with my parents immediately following our family trip to the Keys.  As we were chatting via text one evening he sent me "some pics for your blog."  And heck, yeah, these are totally blogworthy!

You may remember this post where I mentioned that he was our first Noodle Apprentice, carrying on the family tradition of homemade chicken and noodles. I think he and Grandpa have made several batches since then so our family has high expectations from this young man.  Well apparently he is now a Brewmaster in Training having spent one afternoon learning the fine art of craft brewing.

I would be remiss if I didn't include this Official Disclaimer....NO ALCOHOL WAS CONSUMED during the making of this beer.  It was strictly a bonding experience and scientific endeavor on the part of my nephew.  :-)

So now to the photos....

They were making a porter, a really strong and dark beer.  Not my personal favorite but hey, I'll 'take one for the team' when it comes time to taste testing.

As you will see, my dad has quite the set-up.

Craft brewing is serious business.

In all honesty, I'm actually a wee bit jealous.  I've been wanting to shadow Dad for ages and really need to make time to do it.  Here's a little known fact about me....I have a BS degree in Microbiology from the University of South Florida in Tampa.  My goal upon graduating was to secure a job at the Anheuser Busch brewery which was located just down the street from the university.  Yep, my career aspirations were to "make beer."  ROFL!  Thankfully my personal situation around the time of graduation led me down a much different (and considerably more lucrative) career path but I've never lost the desire to want to make beer.  So Dad...August?  Kolsch?  

Around Here

 ---  Meg has been running a low grade fever since Sunday.  She's a bit stuffed up but no other symptoms of illness.  Needless to say, she hasn't had much fun this week.  (Side Note...she checks her temperature every 15 minutes, I swear, and then follows it up with reports to me.  As much as I try to convince her that 0.1 of a point isn't scientifically significant, she's not buying it.  ACK!)



  ---  I begrudingly went to my dentist for a re-evaluation of my dental situation. I have procrastinated long enough.  Final decision....I need three crowns (two are replacements of ones I have broken) and one filling.  I would rather give birth than have dental work so I'm opting for the pharmaceutical sedation this go around.  I'm hoping to have it done sometime next month.



  --- Also on the health front....I finally paid a visit to my orthopedist for a nagging pain in what I used to refer to as my "good shoulder."  (It's been bothering me since early April.)  An x-ray ruled out arthritis and an MRI is in order.  In the meantime I was administered a shot of cortisone which only served to give me injection site pain with no relief from my original pain.  grrr! While there I also had my left thumb re-evaluated.  Um...there's so much funkiness going on that my dear orthopedist won't touch it.  I'm being referred to a hand specialist for evaluation and treatment options.



  --- A Meal Train was set up for my friend Farah and her family.  I took over my famous Mexican Lasagna on Tuesday and visited with her for a bit.  She's hanging in there but because Bill traveled so much with his job (he was a captain for Delta) the total reality of him being gone hasn't totally sunk in yet.



---  I had given Farah a couple of thank you card sets like the ones I made for my sis earlier this year.  I spent some time this week whipping up a couple more for her.   Here are my most recent designs...

  --- This leads me to today.  I am presently working on buffet cards, table top signs and a few tribute pages for Bill's Celebration of Life tomorrow.  This is what my desk looked like as of last night.  It's time for me to get back in there and finish.

So....that's my week in review.  As much as I like to keep my blog upbeat, not all news can be butterflies, unicorns and rainbows.  (Just keepin' life real folks.)   :-)

Breaking News!

While the state of Florida has recently adopted the Common Core Standards for testing, the science exam for 2014-2015 8th graders was still the FCAT.  (Florida Comprehensive Assessement Test).  FCATs are scored as 1-5 with the score of 1 indicating an "inadequate level of success" and a 5 indicating a "mastery of the most challenging content."

Drumroll please.....


You guessed it.....


This girl scored a 5!  

As someone with a MS degree, you have no idea how incredibly proud of her I am right now.  Unlike her 2nd place county finishing for her 5th grade science fair project, she did this 100% on her own. In fact she did most everything her 8th grade year on her own, which if you know our family personally, you are well aware of what a huge improvement this is.  (Let's just say that the term "homework hell" has been in our vocabulary since kindergarten.)  

Baby Girl, I am so incredibly proud of you!!!!  xoxoxoxoxo



 

My Family in Photos

Our family matriarch and patriarch.  

 

My brother and sister.

My husband and I.

My bro with his wife.

My son with his family.

The cousins.

My progeny and I.

And finally our family in its entirety.

I know I speak for all when I say "thank you" to my brother and his family for making this wonderful weekend possible.

Our Vacation in Photos

Our weekend in the Keys included swimming...

Eating...

Shopping...

Fishing....

And lots of relaxing....

Vacationing is exhausting.  Just ask Fin.

Sunset Key

As I mentioned yesterday, my brother and his wife invited our entire family to their favorite Florida vacation spot, Sunset Key.  It was lovely beyond words.


Sunset Key is a private island resort located just off the coast of Key West and the only way to get there is by boat.  The resort has a ferry that travels back and forth to the mainland every 30 minutes.

This is the view upon your arrival.  (This photo as well as the one above were taken by my sis.)

It looks like a painting, doesn't it?




My bro arranged for us to have three adjacent 2 bedroom cottages for the long weekend.  There were fourteen of us total and it was perfect.

This was the view from our front porches.

And the view from the beach.  That's the city of Key West in the distance.

We spent one evening at Mallory Square in Key West where I took this photo of the sun setting behind "our island."  You can see how Sunset Key got it's name.

These next two photos are ones I snapped from outside the resort's restaurant on our final night there. It was absolutely beautiful.

And finally, the resort by night.

It was a tough weekend.  *wink*