Home Alone....

Collin started school on the 12th, so he starts his third week on Monday. Ian left for school yesterday, seemed a lot smoother. He's in an apartment this year, located on campus
http://www.housing.purdue.edu/HTML/Housing/Hilltop_Apartments/Default.htm

It's Ian and two other friends he knows, one his roomie from last year. We spent Wed, Thur and Fri painting a table he made. It turned out better than I thought it would. I thought by the end, the "P" wouldnt look like a "P". :-)






He has also changed his major from Engineering to Computer Graphic Technology... I think thats it. :-) It's a much better fit for him, he's a bit more on the creative side than the Sciences, and he will enjoy his work instead of dreading it. Plus Im hoping he gets some cool software. *Grin*

The time I wasn't painting a table, I was painting Scotty's kitchen! That's finished, and I will blog about that with pictures soon. It's amazing what a can of paint can do!

Monday I have the house to myself again, well me and dogs. Can't say I will miss ESPN on during the day!

Happy Sunday to you all!
M

Twenty......

Ian turned twenty this week, we celebrated today since he worked the night of his birthday date. Like most Moms, I cant believe I'm old enough to have a 20 year old. I liked their birthdays better at this age....


Or even this age....


Even though Ian just got moolah for his b-day, I don't know ... the excitment in their face just isn't there anymore! :-)

I think he has requested twenty chocolate cakes with chocolate icing for his birthday! Where as Collin is maturing..... last birthday he wanted White Chocolate Cheesecake!



......and didn't even care if it cracked and sunk a bit, but as you can see could barely contain his excitement.

Next time maybe I will light the candle under their..... oh nevermind! :-)

M

250th Order!!!!!!!

(link here!)
Wooooo Hoooooooooo!
The Author's Attic, my novel inspired jewelry site just received its 250th order!

It's been open less than a year, and I'm looking forward to bringing in a couple of new products in time for Christmas!

Thanks everyone for being so supportive!

M

Catching up....

Let's see...

Ian is on his way home from Wisconsin, he just spent some time up at a friends cabin with some other friends.

All the boys here are off to Chicago to see a Sox game on Sunday.

I've been busy helping a friend fix up thier house. If anyone remember's my computer mentor Scotty??? He was looking for a small house to fix up and live in for a few years and found one about a half hour north of here. With my parents gone it's sure nice to have someone their age (well a little older) to help and tell you everything you do is wonderful and appriciates everything!

We have been to lot's of movies.... all recommended.

The Hangover - funniest movie I've seen this year!
Public Enemies - little long, but cool if you grew up in Chicago and live in Indiana. Plus it has Johnny Depp which makes time go waaaay faster!


The Proposal - predictable but fun.

Still have to see the new Potter yet.

I haven't been reading anything, I've been stripping wallpaper, replacing drywall, caulking.... and more caulking. I don't think I can stomach another Lowe's, Home Depot or Menards trip. Harbor Freight gives me a headache, that place ...... stinks! :-)

Staining the deck this weekend... OMG I can't tell you how much I detest spending 200 bucks on stain. It's crazy!

Oh and lot's of clearance shopping... I love clearance!!!

Hope you are having a good summer and it's going a wee slower than mine!
M

Civil War in Four Minutes

I meant to post this w/our Springfield trip, this was the neatest thing we saw at the Lincoln Museum.

It's the Civil War in four minutes, how the borders change with the battles. You might not be able to see it, but in the lower right corner is the casualty numbers rising as the war continues.


You can find it

Here
Here
or Here!

Bad Michelle, bad!

I've been a bit busy lately, and haven't spent as much computer time as I usually do. Which basically means... it's warm out! :-)

As of right now, Brian is in Mexico City for a week. He said it's an experience, that he has never really seen a rat walking along the sidewalk with people in a city before. He's anxious to come home.

Brian and I had an overnight last weekend in Springfield, Illinois. A friend and I made a pact if Obama won we would meet up in Springfield to toast him! Well, we did meet up and had a wonderful time together, toured Lincoln's home together... didn't realize till the drive home that we forgot to toast!

One of the coolest things we saw at the Lincoln Museum was this little video.... The Civil War in Four Minutes. I found a link tonight for it.
http://www.livevideo.com/media/playvideo_fs.aspx?fs=1&cid=0AAE7142624E434EACC767A347D626A8

If anyone of you have heard me talk about my computer mentor and old fart friend Scotty for the last ten years, he's moving by us. About 30 miles away. His very adult kids moved back home, so he left! :-) He wanted a cheap little house to move into and fix up, and Indiana is cheap! He's a retired mechanic, and great woodworker, so Brian and I are starting a "to do" list for him. Hopefully he doesn't read that before he moves in.

This little guy starts Drivers Ed this week!



Somebody tell me where the time goes?

Hope you all are enjoying your summer!
M

And the winner is.......

Me! Well, it was really Fiona Graham, but I feel like it was me. *g*

Friday and Saturday I was in Jackson, Michigan meeting up with net friends for a Diana Gabaldon event. Friday night it was a reading and signing at the library.

Saturday, Diana has some writing seminars, I don't go to those, since you can prolly tell by this blog.... there is no help for me! After the seminars was a luncheon, that I did attend. I bought a Brianna's Braclet to raffle off at luncheon. BetsyG and Colly helped me sell tickets, I wouldn't of been able to handle the crowd if it wasn't for them. When finished over 550 tickets were sold, and $528.00 was donated to the library's Word Wise program.


Instead of numbers on the tickets, well at least the first 450 tickets, I used character names out of the books. This sounded like a good idea when I started, at 200 I marveled at Diana's ability to think up names, but at around 300, I was beginning to think I was nuts for thinking of this, and wondered how in the heck does one person come up with that many names?

I did notice a bit of a pattern though, there were a lot of "J" names, a bunch of "Geordie"s, other initials I don't remember (I know this memory thing is sad), and thankfully only one "Loaghaire". I did include names of animals, and appendages such as Bonnet's "Leroi". I really wanted "Leroi" to win, but to no avail.

I lost my voice due to allergies about two weeks ago and was just getting it back on Thursday. But lost it again on Friday, Michigan is about two weeks behind so they were in full bloom, so I lost it again. Which was a bit embarrassing getting up in front of about 225 people sounding like Peter Brady when he became a man!
(I just had to post this picture I thought it was so funny, it looks like Im trying to catch flies with that huge mouth open.)

Diana picked the winning ticket which was... "Fiona Graham"! To which I looked at Diana, and said, "Fiona Graham?" To which she replied, "You know her, Roger's Fiona." Me, "Oh yeah!" Phew, nothing like forgetting a character in front of the author. :-)
This is what the little tickets looked like.

After the luncheon was over, Lynn, the gal that won the bracelet came up to me and asked if I was the same "Michelle" that started the Katherine Swynford Yahoo Group? I said, "Yes." And she preceeded to tell me years ago I posted a recommedation of "Outlander" on the group and that's why she read the book. I just thought that was the neatest thing!

(Lynn the winner, Diana and moi)

While cleaning up these two older women came up to me and asked if I was the "jewelry lady" and I said, "I am." and they wanted to show me what they got for Mother's Day... it was jewelry from my website. They said they also got Dove chocolate, and I couldn't imagine anything better to go with my stuff, since my favorite milk chocolate is Dove! :-)

Then dinner with buds and Diana, and then I came home. Ian was home from school, and had a nice quiet Mother's Day with the boys!

Lola's Spoooooooooky Birthday!

So, I do make cupcakes. They are more for us than for Lola, esp. since they are chocolate cupcakes and chocolate is a no-no for dogs. So I go to put one candle on a cupcake and I have all that type of stuff in a little box in my baking cabinet.

I see one pink candle laying out of any candle box in the bottom of the supply box. With all boys we usually always have pink candles. :-) So I dig out the pink candle and go to put it on the cupcake, and there is a Montana hair on it. Hair gets everywhere with dogs, but usually the inside of cabinets, well the top cabinets are safe.

Maybe it was just his way of saying....
Don't forget me.
I'm okay.
I'm still here.

or maybe..... I want a cupcake too!




Of course there is the singing and then we scare the crap out of the dog with fire!

M

Happy Birthday Lola!

Lola is one today! Just a year ago this week, we lost Montana and a big chunk of our hearts. What we didn't know was, two days after Montana died, Lola was born... and was meant for us.

Lola sleeping under my desk chair her first week with us.

Lola trying to sleep BY my desk chair today.

Puppies do heal the heart!

M
.......and yes I made her cupcakes!

I have a feeling mine will be of food....

So when I was looking up the last words of Napoleon to double check I had them right... I found this site with people's last words. I thought it was kind of interesting!

Especially those of people that were getting excuted, some were jerks till the end...

Kiss my ass.
Who: John Wayne Gacy
Note: Those were Gacy's last words before being executed by lethal injection.

I did not get my Spaghetti-O's, I got spaghetti. I want the press to know this.
Who: Thomas J. Grasso, d. March 20, 1995, executed by injection, Oklahoma.

Remember, the death penalty is murder.
Who: Robert Drew, d. August 2, 1994
Note: Executed by injection, Texas

...some thought they were comedians, not murderers.

Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel.
Who: George Appel, executed by electric chair in 1928.

Hey, fellas! How about this for a headline for tomorrow's paper? 'French Fries'!
Who: James French.
Notes: French, a convicted murderer, was sentenced to the electric chair. He shouted these words to members of the press who were to witness his execution.

Yes...A bullet-proof vest
Who: James W. Rodgers
Note: Asked if he has any last requests before facing a firing squad.


Now for the law abiding citizens last words.

...some funny

Am I dying, or is this my birthday?
Who: Lady Nancy Astor
Note: In her final illness, she awoke on her deathbed to see her family at her bedside.

Now, now, my good man, this is no time for making enemies.
Who: Voltaire (attributed), when asked by a priest to renounce Satan

Leave the shower curtain on the inside of the tub.
Who: Conrad Hilton when asked if he had any last words of wisdom.

...some that are just too good, they must of thought of them before hand.

Now comes the mystery.
Who: Henry Ward Beecher evangelist, d. March 8, 1887

All my possessions for a moment of time.
Who: Elizabeth I, Queen of England, d. 1603

Thank God. I'm tired of being the funniest person in the room.
Who: Del Close, improviser, teacher and comedian, died 1999

.... some you know they weren't planned.

I can't sleep.
Who: J.M. Barrie, author of works including Peter Pan.

Can this last long?
Who: William III of England, when his doctor told him that he was ill.

Wait a minute…
Who: Pope Alexander VI

...some just sad.

I'm going to go be with Gloria now.
Who: Jimmy Stewart, speaking of his late wife

Hello.
Who: Graham Chapman, Monty Python's comedian, to his adopted son who had just arrived at the hospital.

I'll finally get to see Marilyn.
Who: Joe DiMaggio, talking about his former wife, Marilyn Monroe

....and some of food.

That was the best ice-cream soda I ever tasted.
Who: Lou Costello

I just wish I had time for one more bowl of chili.
Who: Kit Carson, American frontiersman

I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis.
Who: Humphrey Bogart

Let me change that, I have a feeling mine will be of chocolate!