Checking In

    The summer has gone so fast and the kids are now back in school. My grandson has got to show his horse some, but we had some shows cancelled because of rain and one because of the heat this summer. 
    Grandma got to go on the trip when he showed at the State 4-H Show in Sedalia, Missouri. One of his high-lights was going on an equine tour that took them to Canada. It was the first time he had been that far away from home. Their bus was huge and there were 50 kids plus Chaperons. He brought me home a small bottle of syrup from Canada. 
    The first picture was last weekend at the American Royal in Kansas City. I stayed home from that trip because there weren't any motels or hotels that were in my price range plus it was to close to my last trip.
    I am hoping to go to at least one of his band competitions this fall, but will have to wait and see what happens there. 

 I don't know how he does it, but he can sleep on his horse. Both shows were big classes and if you got a call back you were happy with that even if you placed that was even better.

   My youngest grandson volunteered at Safety town and one of the high lights was working with the little ones. He had to have so many volunteer hours for his rank in Scouts when he went to camp. He was tapped for Mico-Say at camp so now he has to build his costume. He is the third generation to belong to it. My husband and my oldest son was both in it. My oldest son was an Eagle Scout. He was lucky and wasn't at camp when it was triple digit heat. He always goes with his other grandparents for two weeks at the state fair. They take their camper and meet up with friends. Of course he is spoiled. He wasn't ready to come home, but he had to come home for school. They are going tomorrow to pick up golf carts and bring them home. 
 My fingers keep busy plus I have come out of retirement and have a part-time job doing accounting for a homeless shelter. They come and get me, feed me lunch and bring me home, plus I make me a little extra money which I call my mad money. It paid for my trip to Sedalia. 
   My tea kettle  makes me think about the one that I always had on my stove before the microwave. The fingers are staying busy keeping them from getting stiff. It is seems as though we fall apart as we get older or at least that is what I like to say. This is birthday month. My youngest grandson's was the 7th of August. My daughter's was the 13th and mine is the 19th of this month.  
    We have had the Kansas City Chiefs in town for their training camp at our college. It came to an in, but college classes started . Busy time. Take care. 

AWHILE SINCE I HAVE BEEN HERE

 

My grandson is getting ready to go the State 4-H horse show in a couple of weeks. I already have my motel reservation made so that grandma can go and watch all of the kids. I am looking forward to doing that. It has been a while since I have been here in blogland.  I have come out of retirement and working three days a week doing bookwork for a homeless shelter. It opens your eyes to a lot of things. You can only help them if they want to be helped and some just want a hand out and doing nothing to earn it. 

As I am reminded unless they want to change by getting off the drugs and alcohol, there is not much you can do about it. I try to leave work before they start coming in to eat and spend the night. The people that I work for come to pick me up, feed me lunch, and bring me home. It is a way to supplement my income. 

 I decorate my door of my apartment. It was up for the 4th of July and will stay up until Labor day and then we will go to the fall decorations.  I change it with the seasons. As I don't have a place to store my Christmas tree, I just decorated it red, white, and blue and change it with the seasons. 

My St. Pat's tea towel that I made and need to put it in my Etsy shop. I can never seem to get the size right for my pictures. I plan on doing a couple of craft shows come fall that I normally do. It will be a three generation at one because my grandson will go with us. 

My mouse that I have made a complete set of these. You never know what projects I will have going on my hoop and it will travel with me wherever I go. The fingers have to stay busy for sure. I usually have a puzzle laying on my table that I am working on. My niece and her husband gave me a 2000 piece that I don't know when I will start that one. It will require a big space  for sure. 

    We have managed to have two horse shows this summer with all of the rain and we still have standing flood waters in fields. Such a mess and water is still being released up stream from us. They seem to care more about wild life then they do about the people, the crops, and livestock that have been lost that put the meat in the stores. 

     Well I better bring this to a close, but I wanted you to know that I am still alive and well. Take care. 

RAIN GO AWAY

We have had so much rain this year and still have flooding going on with some of the roads closed due to the rain. Mom and dad are taking my grandson, Matt to Columbia to go on his equine tour that will take them into Canada. It will be a learning and exciting trip for him. He will be making new friends because he is the only one from our area going. It doesn't seem possible that he is going to be 15 in October and starting high school in the fall. 

   I have been busy with working part time and embroidering. I have a  custom order that I am working on. I thought I would take a break for a little bit. We have sunshine right at the moment and I don't know how long that will last. The tornados have missed us, but they have been around us. The damage from the flooding and now this is heart breaking. How long it is going to take to repair damage to roads and bridges is anyone's guess? 

   One of my baby quilts that went to a new home. It always makes me feel good to be part of their new baby's life. 

   The 23rd will be my 2 year anniversary of breaking my leg. I don't notice it to bad unless the weather is being stormy and then it hurts. I still have the knee surgery to undergo, but I am putting it off as long as possible. I just know that if I tried to fly I would definitely set security off with all of the metal in my leg. 

   Both Matt and Ethan play band instruments. Matt plays percussions and is going to continue in Band when he starts high school. Ethan plays the tuba and is going to be in the 8th grade this coming year. He is going to have lessons this summer because his music teachers wants him to go to state as a soloist this next year. That is a great honor for him. I went to both of their spring concerts. You could see the improvement from the winter concert to their spring concert.  

  The first horse show got rained out to start the summer season. There will be one about every weekend in June. I really don't know where the time is going as the month is over half gone. It seems as though it is just started and with a blink of the eye. 

   School is almost over for all of the kids. To keep them occupied and out of mischief is always a challenge. I know my youngest will be going to boy scout camp. I don't know what my middle one will do for sure. I am assuming that he is going to put up hay to earn him some more money this summer. He did that last summer. My oldest is turning 20 this next month. He works for an employer who does remodeling work and really likes doing it. 

   Well I need to get back to my custom order. Take care and stay safe with all of this crazy weather.  

Rain Rain go Away

 The day has been one that you would really loved to just stay home with a good book, embroidering, or working on a picture puzzle. I worked part of the day at my part time job. It wasn't raining when I left, but it was when I came home. Thank goodness my jacket is water proof so I  didn't get that wet. 
  I don't know about you all, but I loved Thomas Kincaid's picture puzzles. The one on the left is one of them that I have worked. Some of them I would love to frame and hang on my wall to decorate my apartment. 

  When I can't sleep, I have been known to work on a puzzle for awhile or read a book. 

  I feel so sorry for those whose homes have flooded and we are getting more rain plus the river is still up.One of our highways is still closed and you can't get from here to Omaha without going around robin as the saying goes. They had said it would be opened by June but with all the rain we are getting I don't think that will happen. It is heart breaking to see all of the damage that has been done because of the flooding.

  Have you ever been around homeless people? It can be a wake up call to make you be thankful that you have a roof over your head and food on your table. Some look like they could really do something even if it meant picking up trash off the streets. I wouldn't want to live like that. At my part time job, I can see them out the window where they stay during the day and come across to the building that I work at where they are fed supper and have a place to sleep. If they lose their privilege by disobeying the rules they are banned and not allowed back in. Some are trying to turn their life around where others aren't.  The bookkeeping is different then what I use to do, but  I am learning. I was told a long time ago if you could do automotive bookkeeping you could do anybody's books. When I work, I try to leave before they start coming in for supper and their night in a warm building and bed. It gives me a little extra money.

  I am going to a fundraiser for there this weekend. It is my first experience of doing something like that. The theme is the 50's with a silent auction and a live auction. They will have music from that era also. I have seen some of the things for the silent auction. There is a couple of the baskets they made up that I wouldn't mind bidding on. Each of them have themes for different colleges, football teams, and gardening just to name a few. 

  My leg has bothered me today but it is just because of the weather; It has been almost two years since I broke it in a car wreck. Take care.

  

My Family

 It has been a while since I have been here in blog land. It has been a period of adjustment for me and I am not sure that I have made it complete yet. It has been almost 2 years since I 

broke my leg and it still hurts at times. I still haven't done my knee replacement. I couldn't really get in the mood for a while after losing my other half plus adjusting to apartment living. 

     My two sons and daughter have been there for mom during it all. They have been very supportive of me. I think what bother me the most was not being able to drive anymore, but considering I totaled two cars within 6 months. The first one I didn't get hurt to bad, but the second one I got my broken leg. Neither were my fault. 

     My three grandsons keep me on my toes. It doesn't seen possible that my oldest will be 20 years old in June. He spent last summer working for a lawn service. He is now working for a company that does remodeling and building cabinets. He likes it so much better. 

     My middle grandson is 14 years old. He is the one that shows his Horse  "Don't scratch my Hot Rod" better known as just Hot Rod. He is getting ready for the summer of showing which starts May 18th which is the first show at our arena. He has one more show in the series that he has 2 reserve high point and  1 high Point which the picture is when he won that high point. His smile couldn't be any bigger then it was when they announced the winner. 

    My youngest, the blond, is 13 years old. He is in boy scouts, tried wrestling, and is doing shot put and discus throwing in track. He tried go-cart racing last summer, but with scout camp and going camping with his other grandparents he will miss to many races so he is not going to do that this year. 

     The horse show on the 28th is held indoors. I haven't gone to that arena and watched. He was surprised when they told him that he had won high point as you can tell by the smile on his face. They have really jelled together .

     I have been embroidering  which I am showing you a pillow case for a child  and my shamrock's tea towel. I didn't get it finished before St. Patrick's. They are both ready to laundry and put in my Etsy shop. I had a friend who pulled me out of retirement to do some bookkeeping to help her. It is a new experience because it is for a 501C3 company. There is a few new challenges including the payroll system that they use. I  never really cared for quick books but that is the program that they are using.  Take care

Welcome February

    Today has been a little trying as it is my hubby's birthday. It will be a year next month since he has passed away. It has been a period of adjustment with the car accident and rehabbing my leg, moving into an apartment and living on my own I like being able to do what I want when I want.
     I am not living in a senior retirement apartment. They are to expensive and above my budget. I have a one bedroom apartment with all of my utilities paid as part of my rent. You don't really know your neighbors and it is a wide age difference that live here. We have college age to seniors. 
    My apartment is on the first floor which I am thankful for if the electricity goes off. Some are polite and friendly others not so much.
   I don't know about you but we have had some bitter cold weather. I still haven't got use to electric heat. My home had gas heat. 

    I still have been working on my embroidery work. It keeps my hands busy and gives me other things to think about. I was able to do two craft fairs this past year for which I am thankful for being able to do it. You never know what tomorrow will bring. You need to be thankful for each day that you are given and enjoy every moment that you can. 
   Spring can't be to soon for me. I want to be able to walk outside and open my window for fresh air. That was one thing I made sure I had for me when I was looking at apartments. I have officially been here for a year now. It has been a very fast year. I am looking forward to spending time with my family. I included two of my latest tea towels.  Have a great day.