Today is my mom's birthday. We went over and took her to lunch to celebrate, but I forgot my camera.
I also forgot my camera when we went to San Antonio to have lunch.
I also forgot my camera yesterday. Yesterday, Joey (God love him) took me for a drive. We went to Mineral Wells to check out a scrapbook store. That is approximately an hour or an hour and a half from our house. But, Joey is the best and he understands my dilemma. No good scrapbook stores around here!!! For the record, he was rewarded with an ice cream cone at Dairy Queen. These days you have to take a drive to get a DQ because most of the our local DQ's have also closed. Hum...a pattern???
But, I digress. My recommendation...if you want to take random pictures to post on your blog or to keep a picture-a-day scrapbook, then keep your camera with you.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Obsessed!!
You may be wondering, dear reader, where I have been. The truth is...I've been obsessed. With what? With this:
This is something I found in a closet I was cleaning out. And now I realize that organization can backfire. Ha!!! I started on this counted cross-stitch project about ... oh, I don't know ... 15 years ago!!??!! And now that it's been uncovered, I've been obsessed about completing the project. I know. It really doesn't make sense. I'm not even going to attempt to explain it. I'm just going to say that I've spent a fair amount of time in the last 3 weeks working on this. The good news is that I'm almost done!! I'll be sure and post a picture of the finished project.
Would you like to know what's even sadder (is that a word)? This project is one of a four-part "series" of cross-stitch pictures. This will be the 2nd one that I've finished. That leaves 2 more to REALLY complete the project. Sigh.
If only I were so obsessed with catching up my scrapbook!!
This is something I found in a closet I was cleaning out. And now I realize that organization can backfire. Ha!!! I started on this counted cross-stitch project about ... oh, I don't know ... 15 years ago!!??!! And now that it's been uncovered, I've been obsessed about completing the project. I know. It really doesn't make sense. I'm not even going to attempt to explain it. I'm just going to say that I've spent a fair amount of time in the last 3 weeks working on this. The good news is that I'm almost done!! I'll be sure and post a picture of the finished project.
Would you like to know what's even sadder (is that a word)? This project is one of a four-part "series" of cross-stitch pictures. This will be the 2nd one that I've finished. That leaves 2 more to REALLY complete the project. Sigh.
If only I were so obsessed with catching up my scrapbook!!
Monday, January 12, 2009
My Favorite Project
This is my current favorite project:
Earlier this year we started picking out one favorite picture from each of our trips and the result is this collage. I've even stamped the location and the month and year we visited on the mat. So far, we only have through the first half of 2004 on the wall so it's a work in progress. But we picked out a few more over the weekend, so I look for it to be expanding again soon.
Earlier this year we started picking out one favorite picture from each of our trips and the result is this collage. I've even stamped the location and the month and year we visited on the mat. So far, we only have through the first half of 2004 on the wall so it's a work in progress. But we picked out a few more over the weekend, so I look for it to be expanding again soon.
Movies
It hasn't been that long ago that I went through a closet and took all of our old VHS movies to Half Price Books and sold them for approximately $1.00. HA - well, at least they aren't taking up space in my closet anymore and seeing as how we don't even own a working VCR anymore, it was a steal! Before turning them in for our mad money, Joe and I dutifully made a list of our favorites so we could replace them with DVD's (awww, yes, another list!).
But then something strange happened. We no sooner began replacing our VHS tapes with DVD's than I realized the next best thing is already out there - Blu Ray. So why are we buying DVD's? And then, what's after Blu Ray? Obviously there will be something! I came to a conclusion...no more buying movies. I mean - it's not like we watch them over and over and over. I bet we haven't watched any one of those movies more than a couple of times. So as a part of my goal of organization, I went through our movies. Anything that hasn't been opened is going to be returned. Anything we have opened, but won't watch again, is going to Half Price Books. And now if we want to re-watch a movie, it can go back on the Netflix list!
UPDATE: I didn't end up returning any of the unopened movies, but I did take a few to Half Price Books. We haven't bought too many movies, but we did buy a Blu-Ray player and we have received a few movies as gifts. :-)
But then something strange happened. We no sooner began replacing our VHS tapes with DVD's than I realized the next best thing is already out there - Blu Ray. So why are we buying DVD's? And then, what's after Blu Ray? Obviously there will be something! I came to a conclusion...no more buying movies. I mean - it's not like we watch them over and over and over. I bet we haven't watched any one of those movies more than a couple of times. So as a part of my goal of organization, I went through our movies. Anything that hasn't been opened is going to be returned. Anything we have opened, but won't watch again, is going to Half Price Books. And now if we want to re-watch a movie, it can go back on the Netflix list!
UPDATE: I didn't end up returning any of the unopened movies, but I did take a few to Half Price Books. We haven't bought too many movies, but we did buy a Blu-Ray player and we have received a few movies as gifts. :-)
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
The Big One!
You know what the #1 New Year's Resolution made is? Yep - losing weight. Sadly, that's been my resolution every year for more years than I'm willing to admit. I just watched the season premier of the latest Biggest Loser (and it's the BIGGEST Biggest Loser), so while I know it could be worse...well, I know it could be better.
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Jillian (on the Biggest Loser) claims that behind every fat person is some suppressed feeling and that the person is eating to avoid it. For example, some feeling that you're not good enough or you have some repressed childhood memory. Now, I suppose that if I have a repressed memory, I don't know it, but I really don't think so. I think my problem is that losing weight is hard. I have enough friends with weight problems to know that the way I think and how I act is typical. We all complain about our weight. We all claim we're going to try harder. We all start again next week. We all weigh the same or more than we did at this time last year.
I used to tell everyone that I was dieting in hopes that I would be humiliated into sticking to it. Then I switched theories and told no one when I was dieting in an effort to cover up failure if it happened. I've tried to think of it as a "lifestyle change" instead of a diet. The problem with all those theories is they don't matter. It's what you do (or don't do) that matters and I haven't done anything consistently enough to make a difference.
So...here I go again. I hope I can succeed, but I make no promises. I know I would feel better and I would feel better about myself. I know it CAN be done. I guess we'll see!
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Jillian (on the Biggest Loser) claims that behind every fat person is some suppressed feeling and that the person is eating to avoid it. For example, some feeling that you're not good enough or you have some repressed childhood memory. Now, I suppose that if I have a repressed memory, I don't know it, but I really don't think so. I think my problem is that losing weight is hard. I have enough friends with weight problems to know that the way I think and how I act is typical. We all complain about our weight. We all claim we're going to try harder. We all start again next week. We all weigh the same or more than we did at this time last year.
I used to tell everyone that I was dieting in hopes that I would be humiliated into sticking to it. Then I switched theories and told no one when I was dieting in an effort to cover up failure if it happened. I've tried to think of it as a "lifestyle change" instead of a diet. The problem with all those theories is they don't matter. It's what you do (or don't do) that matters and I haven't done anything consistently enough to make a difference.
So...here I go again. I hope I can succeed, but I make no promises. I know I would feel better and I would feel better about myself. I know it CAN be done. I guess we'll see!
Monday, January 5, 2009
C'tesowt'iown Vahik
I'm going to take a few moments to get away from my silly New Year's resolutions. Sadly, today I said goodbye to one of the sweetest men I've ever known - Vahik Khachatourian. Now, I know you must wonder how I could even know someone named Vahik Khachatourian and the answer to that is that I work with his wife, Artemis. I met Artie about 8 or 9 years ago when I went to work on the Canadian Cargo project. When I moved to Coppell to my own apartment, Artie was so excited because she lived in Coppell, too. She and Vic (as I knew him) took me under their wing. They had me over on several occasions for dinner and / or drinks. In those days, Vic worked in the restaurant business and there were several times that I and Artie would visit him while he was at work and have dinner at the restaurant where he was working.
The restaurant business is really tough. They are bought and sold a lot and it's really hard work. Vic would eventually give that up. Even though he loved it dearly, he followed a relative into the car business. In fact, I bought Daisy from Vic on Memorial Day weekend in 2006. It was just a couple of months later that Vic found out he had colon cancer.
Vic fought a hard battle against the disease. He never gave up. When a doctor told him that there was nothing else they could do for him, he would find another doctor. For over 2 years, he battled but in the end, on December 31st, the cancer won.
Vic and Artie are Armenian. I'd never even heard of Armenia before I met them. I thought (until about 15 seconds ago) that Armenia was part of Iran, but Wikipedia indicates that it is actually part of the former Soviet Union that borders Iran. I know that Vic and Artie moved from Armenia to Tehran, so perhaps my confusion began there. Regardless, it has been more than 25 years ago since they immigrated to the U.S. with their daughter, Nina. They lived in Iowa and California before they settled in DFW. I don't remember how they met, but I truly believe that they are one of the happiest couples I've ever known. They absolutely adored each other and it was obvious to anyone who spent any time with them.
On December 18th, Vic and Artie became grandparents for the first time, but Vic never got to meet his granddaughter. He was already in the hospital by the time she was born. I think it is so sad that baby Nyrie will not know her grandfather. But I know that Nina and Artie will make sure that she knows how special her grandfather was and how much he loved her without even the chance to meet her in person.
There will always be a special place in my heart for Vic (and Artie, too). I will remember the wonderful Aremenian dishes he prepared and shared with me. I will remember the glasses of wine and the fun of sitting around and listening to their stories of immigration and their jokes. As mentioned in the eulogy today, it's hard to find words to express how special Vic was (and Artie still is) or even exactly what makes them so. I think you have to have been priveleged enough to be in their lives to truly understand and I will be forever grateful that I was.
Vahik brought light and love to a world in short supply of both. Laughter came as easily and naturally as breath to him. On his lips a joke was always ready (more often than not, a dirty one), and in his eyes an unwavering delight in life and the people who filled it. Vahik knew what the world was made of, and he still loved all of it.
C'tesowt'iown Vahik - Goodbye Vic. You will be missed.
The restaurant business is really tough. They are bought and sold a lot and it's really hard work. Vic would eventually give that up. Even though he loved it dearly, he followed a relative into the car business. In fact, I bought Daisy from Vic on Memorial Day weekend in 2006. It was just a couple of months later that Vic found out he had colon cancer.
Vic fought a hard battle against the disease. He never gave up. When a doctor told him that there was nothing else they could do for him, he would find another doctor. For over 2 years, he battled but in the end, on December 31st, the cancer won.
Vic and Artie are Armenian. I'd never even heard of Armenia before I met them. I thought (until about 15 seconds ago) that Armenia was part of Iran, but Wikipedia indicates that it is actually part of the former Soviet Union that borders Iran. I know that Vic and Artie moved from Armenia to Tehran, so perhaps my confusion began there. Regardless, it has been more than 25 years ago since they immigrated to the U.S. with their daughter, Nina. They lived in Iowa and California before they settled in DFW. I don't remember how they met, but I truly believe that they are one of the happiest couples I've ever known. They absolutely adored each other and it was obvious to anyone who spent any time with them.
On December 18th, Vic and Artie became grandparents for the first time, but Vic never got to meet his granddaughter. He was already in the hospital by the time she was born. I think it is so sad that baby Nyrie will not know her grandfather. But I know that Nina and Artie will make sure that she knows how special her grandfather was and how much he loved her without even the chance to meet her in person.
There will always be a special place in my heart for Vic (and Artie, too). I will remember the wonderful Aremenian dishes he prepared and shared with me. I will remember the glasses of wine and the fun of sitting around and listening to their stories of immigration and their jokes. As mentioned in the eulogy today, it's hard to find words to express how special Vic was (and Artie still is) or even exactly what makes them so. I think you have to have been priveleged enough to be in their lives to truly understand and I will be forever grateful that I was.
Vahik brought light and love to a world in short supply of both. Laughter came as easily and naturally as breath to him. On his lips a joke was always ready (more often than not, a dirty one), and in his eyes an unwavering delight in life and the people who filled it. Vahik knew what the world was made of, and he still loved all of it.
C'tesowt'iown Vahik - Goodbye Vic. You will be missed.
Books, books, books
Another love - reading! This is not a new hobby, this is something I've been doing for years and years and years. When I was a kid, I would spend hours at the library picking out books to read. Nancy Drew was a favorite, as was Beverly Cleary. Ha!!!
The other day I counted and I have 42 books in my "queue" for reading. Here's a peek at my nightstand:
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I'm lucky that I have lots of friends who also like to read, so many of the books in my queue are books that friends have loaned me. I have a few books in the queue that Joe found in the airport. But I have to be honest. I have a little problem. It's called "Barnes and Noble." I go crazy in that store. I walk in and just the smell of all those brand new books is like an aphrodisiac. That might be a slight exageration, but you get the idea, right?
I can't possibly make a New Year's Resolution to NOT buy books - that would kill me. But I will make this one: #4 - Read the books in my current queue. My boss says that's not a real resolution because I read a lot anyway, but since these are my resolutions, I make my own rules. I'm 134 pages away from finishing John Grisham's, The Last Juror, one of the better Grisham's I've read.
And once I'm done, it'll be 41 to go...
The other day I counted and I have 42 books in my "queue" for reading. Here's a peek at my nightstand:
.JPG)
I'm lucky that I have lots of friends who also like to read, so many of the books in my queue are books that friends have loaned me. I have a few books in the queue that Joe found in the airport. But I have to be honest. I have a little problem. It's called "Barnes and Noble." I go crazy in that store. I walk in and just the smell of all those brand new books is like an aphrodisiac. That might be a slight exageration, but you get the idea, right?
I can't possibly make a New Year's Resolution to NOT buy books - that would kill me. But I will make this one: #4 - Read the books in my current queue. My boss says that's not a real resolution because I read a lot anyway, but since these are my resolutions, I make my own rules. I'm 134 pages away from finishing John Grisham's, The Last Juror, one of the better Grisham's I've read.
And once I'm done, it'll be 41 to go...
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