Blog Love Award

I received this award from Cathy at Wives With Knives,
Thank you Cathy, I really appreciate this. I just love getting awards!!!

Because I love everyone on my blog roll, I at first I thought that I would do a SmilingSal, and hand it over to everyone that I follow, and to everyone who has ever commented on any of my posts. Then, I had a change of heart. I think that some awards are extra special, and deserve some extra thought, (just my opinion here) as to who they are passed on to - sooooooooooooo, I am awarding this one to:

Jientje at Heaven In Belgium: I wish that I had 1/10th of this woman's talent! She does it all - Gourmet Cooking, Lace Making, Photography, Tour Guide etc. etc.

Robynn at Robynn's Ravings, Katie at Tatersmama, and Queenie at The Queens Blog: Because they almost always leave me laughing until my sides ache!

Becky at Becky and Her Babies: Because she's my friend and I love her (and she has a crazier family than I do) - make SURE that you read her post "Stranger Than Fiction"!

Marni at It's A Pug's Life: Oooooh, how I love when she has a Punkin and One-Eyed Jack post!!!

Sara at GitzenGirl: Needs no explanation - just go there and read.


Aaaaaaaaaaaw shoot - I can't do this...I love you ALL, and your comments are truly the highlight of each and every day.
So, to everybody on my blog roll - come and get your award!

Hugs, Kisses, and very best Wishes!

What's IN A Name?

Linnea over at her NeaBear did this fun meme and I decided to try it here too.
Just follow the instructions to find your name. Have fun!

Here is mine.

To find your ROCK STAR NAME take your first pet name and current car – Metno Equinox

To find your GANGSTA NAME take your favorite ice cream flavor and your favorite cookie - Black Jack Cherry Bordeaux

YOUR DETECTIVE NAME? Your favorite color and favorite animal - Green Dog

Want to know your SUPERHERO NAME? Just add the word "The" plus your 2nd favorite color, and your favorite drink - The Lavender Coke

Your NASCAR NAME. Take the first names of your grandfathers – Jim Wesley

TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME? Just take your 5th grade teacher’s last name and add a major city that starts with the same letter – Don't Know Denver

Of course, if you find me in witness protection I will assume it was because you were using your SPY NAME. Add your favorite season or holiday to your favorite flower – Christmas Rose

Find your CARTOON NAME by taking your favorite fruit, and an article of clothing you’re wearing right now, then add "ie" or "y": Banana Robey

Your ROCKSTAR TOUR is heading across the northeast - it's called "The" plus your fave hobby or craft, your fave weather element plus the word "Tour" - The Blogging Rain Tour

That was fun. Go ahead and grab this if you want to give it a go.

What Kind of Shopper Are You?

You love to get things as cheaply as possible. You live for sales.
It's partially because you like to save money, but it's also because you like the thrill of finding a fabulous deal.

Of all the types, you tend to shop frequently, but rarely buy. You keep an eye on prices.
Brand names are not that important to you. You know how to have style without collecting designer tags.

I really don't care a lot about shopping. I would rather shop on line than go to stores - BUT - I do have fun going to Goodwill with Becky. You never know what you will find. After a long morning at the hospital for an EKG and then going across town to the lab that accepts my insurance (and getting stuck 5 times and then having the tech get out the "butterfly"), we stopped by Goodwill on our way to Olive Garden. I CAN'T WAIT to show you what I got...but I've got to get to a computer that can read my memory card. You guys are gonna LOVE IT!! Stay tuned....

Grandmothers

I received this in an email, and jut had to pass it along. Some quotes are funny, some are sweet, and just about ALL are accurate!!!

Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting. ~Author Unknown

What a bargain grandchildren are! I give them my loose change,
and they give me a million dollars' worth of pleasure. ~Gene Perret

Grandmothers are just 'antique' little girl s. ~Author Unknown

Perfect love sometimes does not come until the first grandchild.
~Welsh Proverb

A grandmother is a babysitter who watches the kids instead
of the television. ~Author Unknown (AND usually does it for free! ~ LIBBY)

Never have children, only grandchildren. ~Gore Vidal

Becoming a grandmother is wonderful. One moment you're just
a mother. The next you are all-wise and prehistoric. ~Pam Brown


Grandchildren don't stay young forever, which is good because
Grandfathers have only so many horsy rides in them. ~Gene Perret

When grandparents enter the door, discipline flies out the window.
~Ogden Nash

Grandma always made you feel she had been waiting to see just
you all day and now the day was complete. ~ Marcy DeMaree

Grandmas never run out of hugs or cookies. ~Author unknown

Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our
hearts forever. ~Author Unknown

If I had known how wonderful it would be to have grandchildren,
I'd have had them first. ~Lois Wyse

My grandkids believe I'm the oldest thing in the world. And after
two or three hours with them, I believe it, too. ~Gene Perret

If becoming a grandmother was only a matter of choice, I should
advise every one of you straight away to become one. There is
no fun for old people like it! ~Hannah Whithall Smith

It's such a grand thing to be a mother of a mother - that's why the
world calls her grandmother. ~Author Unknown

Grandchildren are God's way of compensating us for growing
old. ~Mary H. Waldrip

You do not really understand something unless you can explain
it to your grandmother. ~Proverb

An hour with your grandchildren can make you feel young again.
Anything longer than that, and you start to age quickly. ~Gene Perret

The best baby-sitters, of course, are the baby's grandparents. You
feel completely comfortable entrusting your baby to them for long
periods, which is why most grandparents flee to Florida. ~Dave Barry (If you're from Florida in the first place...where do you "flee" to? ~ Libby)

I wish I had the energy that my grandchildren have - if only for
self-defense. ~Gene Perret

Grandmother-grandchild relationships are simple. Grandmas
are short on criticism and long on love. ~Author Unknown

Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do.
Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of
little children. ~Alex Haley

I'm a Carnation.

You are down to earth and grounded.
You tend to be more traditional than trendy.
Your confidence gets you through anything.
People trust you and are very loyal to you.

What flower are you? Find out HERE.

This is all for today, as I realize that I probably put most of you to sleep, a third of the way though yesterday's post. What was I thinking?
Ya'll just need to tell me when to shut up!!!

Day # 4 - Do You Really Want More?

I've been assured that you all won't forget me, but I've decided that I need to throw out some "bait" to make sure that you don't get away. I think that my best bet might be to use the pity angle, so I'll tell you all a little secret...I may be here in warm sunny Florida for quite a while. At this moment my medical records are sitting on my orthopedist's desk, waiting for review. If he feels that I'm stable enough, he will order my lab work and EKG. If I can breeze through those, without having to get cardiac approval...I'm going to go ahead and have my left knee operated on. This is long overdue, as I've put it off for almost 2 years now.

I will keep you posted, as I get word. Hey if you stick around, and I have the surgery, I'll take pictures and post them! Won't that be fun?

AND NOW....DRUM ROLL PLEASE...

A Week In My Life Continues!

Today is a bits and pieces day. Little things that I love...and things that make my days easier. I had started a draft before our sudden departure from home. I had some of the pictures uploaded, but hadn't added text. Soooooooo, I'll work with what I have.

See that lusious chocolate up there? Ummmmmm!. Terries Whack and Unwrap Chocolate Oranges. Like the dark chocolate best. You can find them everywhere, around Christmas time, but they aren't so easy to find the rest of the year. Soooooooo, when you find these babies STOCK UP!

The other end of the eating spectrum - Green Giant Frozen Vegetables.
I couldn't live without 'em.
I especially like the rice pilaf, and super sweet corn, and the broccoli florets, and the green beans with almonds, and the honey glazed carrots, and the.....list goes on and on.

This is the cast of Corner Gas. It is a Canadian Sitcom. If you haven't seen this bunch of kooky characters from Dog River, you're missing out. It takes about 3 episodes to get "into it", but once you do You're Hooked!!!
(P.S. - my husband has turned into Oscar and Big J is Hank!)

My Swiffer Sweeper Vac, makes my life soooooo much easier. I run this baby around the house everyday, and it keeps, dog hair and dust bunnies under control. Since I started using mine about 3 years ago, it has cut the need to mop by a good 2/3rds. No joke! Mine has just about given up the ghost, so I'm hoping that I get a new one for Valentines Day.

I got a Blackberry Curve as an early Christmas Gift this year. LOVE it! I can text to my hearts content. It has a GPS system, and I can blog surf while riding in the car, or waiting as the pharmacy or at the doctors office. I don't know how I lived without it.

Here are the medications that make my life liveable. I am so grateful for the technology that has made modern science what it is today. I am so thankful to my doctors for the care that they give. I truly would not be alive today, if it weren't for skilled EMT's, R.N.'s,dedicated doctors, and medication!

Maybe I'm just a nut, but I find this really funny. You all already now that I have sleep disorders, and take medicine for them. See all the bottles with the red labels? These are warnings, that the medication may make me drowsy! Well DUH! (In defense of my pharmacist friend - they have to put those warnings on there.)

Oh shoot, the dryer just buzzed - I need to take the clothes out and hang them up. So excuse me for a minute...talk amongst yourselves. I'll give you a topic...if you are riding in an elevator and the cable snaps...If you jump up in the air the moment before the elevator hits the bottom, will you come away unharmed?

Okay, I'm back. Thanks for waiting!

I love my camera. I have a new model than this one. Mine is an SX10IS (10 Mega Pixels). This is the camera that IvoryHut uses - she has her own blog and is a contributer to Pioneer Woman!
It's really just a glorified point and shoot, but it takes fantastic photo's, and is sooooooo easy to use.

Memory Manager 2.0 is the program that I use, to keep my photo's organized. I can't say enough good things about it!!! It's inexpensive, easy to use, and does a lot more than just "organize" my digital photo's - but the organization part is what I want to talk about today!

Here is a picture of my home screen.

Above is the time line, which is one of the features of this program. When pictures are uploaded into the program, they are automatically sorted for you, as to the year. As you can see, I've got a good head start for this year. I don't know what I was doing in 2002, cause I sure didn't take many pictures that year.

Here's where it gets really good. You can create your own "Sort Boxes and Folders", to place your pictures in. As you can see, I have a Box for Events and in that box, I have numerous Folders. One of those folders is for Birthdays. Now ~ I love this ~ you can also see that I have a Box for family and then in that box I have folders for each family member. I can take each photo that I've uploaded and put it into numerous folders in different boxes. Example: In the birthday folder in the even box, I have photo's of a birthday party for Alton. I've put those same pictures in the Folder for Alton in the Family Box. This feature makes it sooooooooo easy to go back and find your photo's. There is also an editing feature, that allows you to turn photo's, crop them, adjust lighting levels, etc. etc.
If any of you are interested in this program, please go HERE! This is my friend Tammy's site. She is a Creative Memories consultant. You can find out more information on the Memory Manager Program in the Digital Scrap Booking section!

This is my calendar station. As you can see, I have a little basket with colored pens, and a thingy to keep pictures and business cards, and invitations on. What the heck is that thing called? Go ask Martha Stewart, she can tell you what it's called. It's a fancy bulletin board. Any-hoo, I've got everything I need here, to keep me on track.

I use the FlyLady method of cleaning and keeping my home neat and orderly. If you haven't yet heard about FlyLady, you are in for a treat. Please go HERE, to enter the world of clean and clutter free.

Here is my Daily - Keep It Clean - schedule. It may look like a lot, but it really isn't. When I follow this plan, I easily keep my home neat and clean. It becomes a habit after a very short while, and frees up so much time.

Here is my Weekly - Keep It Clean ~ Schedule. This is the more time consuming (but still very reasonable!!!) heavier cleaning duties.
I'm serious about this folks. The system WORKS! Check it out. She has items that are available for purchase, if you want them, BUT - the program basics are free. All you have to do, is go to her site and start reading. I will tell you that I love her Calendar Stickers and buy them all the time.

And last, for today...My Princess House Miracle Dish. I have 4 or 5 of these. I bake entire meals in these baking dishes. They always come out perfectly AND they are easy clean up. In another post, I'll show you some of my other Princess House goodies. Until then, you can check out what they have to offer HERE. This is another great friend who is a Princess House Consultant/Manager.

Ta-Ta for now - You know that I love ya!

Hi

Hi everybody - I'm busy working on a post for today, but need to find the links for a couple of things. So stop by later in the day - PLEASE!