Radio Flyer

Carmens new Radio Flyer. Even has a bell on it which she figured out how to use already. She can't walk yet which means she can't operate her Flyer by herself yet. But soon... very, very soon.

My pretties

Check these gems out. Hit the jackpot in a used book store today. All are 1st Ed. 1st Printings and in very nice condition.

Stephen King Envy

Finally got my own dedicated bookcase for my Stephen King collection. A little over half way there on his books. I am very particular about the ones I collect. They must be 1st Editions and 1st Printings. The older they are, the harder they are to find.

Check out my newest charm - a Stephen King Bobblehead. He is a huge Red Sox fan and also likes the Lowell Spinners who are a Class A Affiliate (Minor League Baseball) of the Boston Red Sox. He is sporting a Spinners hat with a Red Sox Jersey complete with King #13 on the back. Look how dapper he is standing atop 3 of his books: The Dead Zone, The Green Mile and The Dark Tower. This bobblehead was 1 out of 1000 that were give-aways at one of the Lowell Spinners baseball games.

Don't ask me where I got it or how much I paid, just know that I HAVE ONE AND YOU DON'T. Neener neener neener !!!

Vacation

Headed home to Portland, OR today for a few days, then driving over to Sumpter, OR for the 4th of July weekend. Gonna be a blast!
Check it out here: http://www.historicsumpter.com/index.html
The whole town (population 350) is 1 ginormous flea market with vendors coming in from all over the US.

The Pledge Of Allegiance

McCain's remarks on the Pledge Of Allegiance and the Flag:
(Copied an Pasted from an Email)

In light of the recent appeals court ruling in California , with respect to the Pledge of Allegiance, the following recollection from Senator John McCain is very appropriate:

‘The Pledge of Allegiance’ - by Senator John McCain

‘As you may know, I spent five and one half years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. In the early years of our imprisonment, the NVA kept us in solitary confinement or two or three to a cell. In 1971 the NVA moved us from these conditions of isolation into large rooms with as many as 30 to 40 men to a room.

This was, as you can imagine, a wonderful change and was a direct result of the efforts of millions of Americans on behalf of a few hundred POWs 10,000 miles from home.

One of the men who moved into my room was a young man named Mike Christian. Mike came from a small town near Selma , Alabama . He didn’t wear a pair of shoes until he was 13 years old. At 17, he enlisted in the US Navy. He later earned a commission by going to Officer Training School Then he became a Naval Flight Officer and was shot down and captured in 1967. Mike had a keen and deep appreciation of the opportunities this country and our military provide for people who want to work and want to succeed.

As part of the change in treatment, the Vietnamese allowed some prisoners to receive packages from home. In some of these packages were handkerchiefs, scarves and other items of clothing.
Mike got himself a bamboo needle. Over a period of a couple of months, he created an American flag and sewed on the inside of his shirt.

Every afternoon, before we had a bowl of soup, we would hang Mike’s shirt on the wall of the cell and say the Pledge of Allegiance.

I know the Pledge of Allegiance may not seem the most important part of our day now, but I can as sure you that in that stark cell it was indeed the most important and meaningful event.

One day the Vietnamese searched our cell, as they did periodically, and discovered Mike’s shirt with the flag sewn inside, and removed it.

That evening they returned, opened the door of the cell, and for the benefit of all of us, beat Mike Christian severely for the next couple of hours. Then, they opened the door of the cell and threw him in. We cleaned him up as well as we could.

The cell in which we lived had a concrete slab in the middle on which we slept Four naked light bulbs hung in each corner of the room.

As I said, we tried to clean up Mike as well as we could. After the excitement died down, I looked in the corner of the room, and sitting there beneath that dim light bulb with a piece of red cloth, another shirt and his bamboo needle, was my friend, Mike Christian. He was sitting there with his eyes almost shut from the beating he had received, making another American flag.

He was not making the flag because it made Mike Christian feel better. He was making that flag because he knew how important it was to us to be able to Pledge our allegiance to our flag and Country.

So the next time you say the Pledge of Allegiance, you must never forget the sacrifice and courage that thousands of Americans have made to build our nation and promote freedom around the world. You must remember our duty, our honor, and our Country.’

‘I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisable, with liberty and justice for all.’

oh……and then you have this clown, who refuses to place his hand on his heart and say the pledge……

Let’s all remember this on election day…if you have family serving in the military, make sure you send it along. I had heard about this but a picture is definitely worth 1000 words! God save us!!!

She stands!

Carmen can stand! Not bad for her 2nd day of practice. Her legs are still a bit wobbley and needs support in the front (notice the big block table toy shes holding onto?). She is 9 1/2 mos old but still can't crawl. Obviously she will skip crawling and go right to walking.

Pool Time

Carmens 1st time in the pool and she loved it! She is sporting her brand new white w/pink polka dot swimmy suit and inflatable turtle with sun shade.

Thrift Store Goodies

I love thrift stores! This past weekend I hit 3 all next door to each other. 1st and 2nd ones left me empty handed. 3rd one was where I found these 2 cute items. The chenille bear with chenille hat and overalls is completely handmade. Cost me $1.50. I was digging thru some old toys in the back of the store and this cute little guy was on the bottom of the pile - literally. Got him home, removed his clothes and tossed everything into the washer... didnt he turn out great?The 2nd find is the cute wooden turtle stool I got for 99 cents. I plan on removing the plastic googley eyes and stripping the paint. Not sure if I will repaint it or just leave it unfinished... depends on the shape of the wood underneath. He also needs his legs tightened up - nothing a screwdriver and a hubby cant fix.

Watermelon

Summer never starts until I get my first taste of watermelon for the year. Even though summer doesnt start for another 3 weeks (June 21), its here in my book. Carmen got her first taste of the cool, juicy treat today and by the look on her face, she likes it! YUM

Adios Buzzard

When it rains, it pours, and not only in the bad sense of the phrase. We got the Mazda Monday and sold the Buzzard Tuesday (yesterday). Is that a lucky streak or what? Wonder whats gonna happen today - they say everything happens in 3's.
A guy came to look at the truck yesterday afternoon and I could tell he fell in love with it instantly. It was perfect for him and his landscaping company - Ford, 4 door, truck, 8 ft bed, tool box, and I quote him "Its my favorite color." Hah! He came back later that evening and wrote us a check. Awesome!
Farewell Buzzard, you served us well.

2008 Mazda 3 TR VE

Andys 1st brand new car purchase! Got it today. Isnt it cute? Very zippy from what Im told, I wouldn't know, I haven't driven it or even sat in it yet. Heehee. Great gas mileage for his daily commuter. Hope you all had a nice Memorial Day Weekend!

Stephen King

I LOVE Stephen King, Im almost obsessed with him. It all started when I was in high school and read my first King book titled "Salems' Lot." Holy crap did that scare the living tar outta me but it made me thirst for more. I am the biggest chicken when it comes to scary movies, wont watch them, but King just does it for me. I own well over half of his collection in hardback and am trying to find some of the older books in hardback as well. Been scouring thrift stores, used book stores and even looking online.

Some of Stephen's stuff is scary, but there are alot of titles out there that people don't realize he wrote. Take for example the movies Stand By Me, Shawshank Redemption, Dolores Claiborne and Secret Window (with Johnny Depp). He even wrote a book called "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" (not very scary, but weird) and then a few years later made a childrens POPUP book out of it - totally cool and someday will be a collectors item (of course I just happen to have a copy of it). There are so many great movies derived from his books, but the book is sooooo much better...it usually is in most cases.

Fridays Weigh-in

OK, so I usually only weigh-in on Mondays which is bad because I do good all week, but on weekends I eat horribly because Andy is home. I am still doing so-so on my weight. I am down to 168. Not bad considering I was at 176 around Christmas time. My goal: 140 (which I havent weighed since 1998). 150 is a little more realisitic but thats still almost 20 lbs.... YIPES!

Mom is here this week - today is her 65th birthday so we did a little shopping today. More tomorrow so Andy can watch Carmen while we are out.

My wrist is steadily getting worse every day. I go in next Tuesday to see a specialist and I am almost certain he will give me a cortisone shot - not too thrilled about that but at this point I will take anything to ease the pain.

My neck scar is fading ever so slightly - still very noticeable, to me at least. I know people see it because I catch them looking at it while they are talking to me, instead of looking me in the eye. Kinda annoying, but thats human nature.

Sea Glass

Heres all the seaglass that I have been working on. Colors are cobalt blue, cornflower blue, aqua, green, lavender, clear and rootbeer. Not sure what to do with it now. Jewelry, suncatcher, wind chime or maybe even mosaic a flower pot? Hmmm... choices, choices. I have another batch going in the tumbler today, only this batch is broken up pottery. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Carmen

Carmen is growing up fast. She is 8 1/2 mos old and is wearing 12 mo old clothes. Shes not overweight, just healthy! We had a nice, quiet Mother's Day yesterday. Just hung around the house and spent time with each other.