Last Light of the Day

Nervous Habits Anyone?

For most of the past week, I have been suffering from the results of a nervous habit of mine. When I am under stress, I clench my teeth in my sleep. I've done it for years. After my divorce the habit was much less evident. But, in the past year there have been many changes at work and much indecision as to what the future holds for me there. I recently realized that I am once again clenching my jaws in my sleep. Sometimes I wake and think that my jaw has come out of alignment and is shifting in my mouth as well...I've probably added grinding to my list of lovely unconscious toothy nighttime habits.

I woke one morning this past week with one side of my mouth sore. Three or four teeth were uncommonly sensitive to the touch but there was no pain when I bit down. Weird, I thought but quickly credited it to my nighttime activities and went on with my day. The next morning I woke with more pain. By the end of the day I decided I might just be getting an abscessed tooth because I had added sensitivity to cold food and even air drawn in would result in searing pain for a minute or two. I made a call to my dentist and arranged to be worked in the next morning. After x-rays and an exam, my dentist was puzzled. The tooth that was causing the pain didn't even have a filling or cavity to cause any decay. After I told him about my jaw clenching he concluded that I had aggravated the tooth myself. His advice....go to a sporting goods store, get a mouth guard and wear it at night.

Oh, what a lovely sight I will be. Good thing I live alone!

So what about you? Do you have any nervous habits? What do you do to manage them?

ps....the cold sensitivity seems better today...still there, but better. I have to drink using a straw. What a pain...literally!

Back to the Future

This week I am traveling back into the not so distant past to celebrate Postcard Friendship Friday, back to June 21st, 2003. On that particular Saturday night, a prince was celebrating his 21st birthday with a big "Out of Africa" themed bash. While he celebrated royally, I recuperated from a busy day, in a not so distance hotel room.

While visiting London, I mailed a postcard a day to my youngest two children. Both were at home in Alabama working at the same summer camp . I sent postcards to both of them everyday for two reasons....one because I love them and two because it was a camp rule that they had to get up and sing at lunch in order to receive their mail. And man did they have to sing a lot! This is the postcard I wrote to my daughter on that June Saturday night.

Outside Spaces

Saturday I went over and visited with my parents for a couple of hours. Before I left, Mother took me on a tour of her flowerbeds. I asked her about a big bunch of purple flowers that was in full bloom. I'd never seen them before. She said it was a weed. I couldn't believe anything so big and pretty could be a weed, a wildflower maybe. Does anyone recognize this plant?

The bumblebees loved it.

Mother is fond of decorating....the yard as well as the house.

I think this rusty old table and chair set is pretty.

When I left I decided to take the scenic route home....up and over the mountain that separates us. I stopped at the top to take a few pictures. See the kudzu on the ground? It is slowly but surely covering everything up there. For those of you who don't live in the South, kudzu is relentless in its pursuit of swallowing up everything in its pathway....the ground, trees and even houses if left unattended. Once it takes hold there is nothing that kills it.

Once home, I walked out in the backyard to get a closer view of my blooming oak leaf hydrangea. It is beautiful this year. Like everything around here, it has benefited from the frequent rain storms we've had this spring.

It is the prettiest if you stand at the back of the yard and look towards the house.

For 20 + years it has been a struggle to make the yard pretty. In the beginning, the topsoil washed down towards the street, exposing rocks galore. The many hardwoods provided much shade, but also contributed to our inability to grow the grass which would help control the washing. Eventually my ex built some wooden flowers beds and inadvertently stopped the washing problem. A huge tree in my neighbor's yard died and suddenly the grass began to grow. A few years ago, my son and I planted some bushes. The yard is the prettiest it has ever been.

My dream has always been to have an easy yard. You know the kind of yard I mean....the kind with perfect light, magical dirt, springy soft grass and beautiful landscaping.

What about you? What is your dream outdoor space?

Remembering

Remembering all of the men and women who died in the service of our country today.

Photo taken by my uncle while serving in Europe during the 60s.

Thank you for your sacrifice.

You guessed it

Some of you guessed it. My surmise would be that you've also been frustrated by trying to organize 10 years of unorganized photographs. Just trying to remember which year is which is giving me a headache.

My goal is not to stop this time until I get them all in a book.

Driving Ms Crazy

Yep, Ms Crazy is me. Crazy for starting this project. (I've tried before and always failed) Doing this is making me OCD. I've been at it off and on over the past week and a half. Maybe I'm half way through. This is something that I should have started doing over 10 years ago. It involves dates and faces and important events.

Can you guess why I'm going crazy?

Be back later, with my cautionary tale, so you don't have to fall into this quagmire of confusion and indecision.

Yuck!

I'm at work this morning making collection calls....it's Saturday for Pete's sake! Life just gets better and better.

.....at least I'm off on Monday. Something to be thankful for indeed. I'm going to try and make some time this weekend to catch up on everything with you guys that I missed while my computer was on the fritz.

BTW, let me just say I hate Vista. I used to have XP...very easy to use....Vista not so much!

It's time for Postcard Friendship Friday Again!

I'm happy to be back online in time to celebrate another PFF! A few months ago our hostess, Marie from Cpaphil Vintage Postcards, posted this picture of a pillow she bought. As soon as I saw it I thought "I can do that!" And here it is:

I used a scan of a postcard my Granddaddy sent my Bigmother, my mother's parents, when they were dating in December of 1917. He writes "Here's hoping for you the happiest of all Happy Christmases you ever had, and then some. Clarence" Notice her address. It is just her name and the town she lived in. Didn't my granddaddy have beautiful handwriting. If you look closely at the top of the card you will see my Bigmother's handwriting where she wrote in ballpoint pen many years later "His 1st Xmas to me."

Clarence at 17

Vera (age unknown)

I made the pillow as a Mother's Day gift for my mother. She loved it.

Duets

Famous couples....infamous couples....historical couples....literary couples....BFFs....parents and grandparents....television and movie couples....who are your favorite couples?

I drew this a couple of weeks ago.
Bonnie and Clyde

Some of mine are:

Elizabeth and Darcy
George and Gracie
Harry and Sally
Barbie and Ken
June and Ward Cleaver
Lucy and Desi

Rhett and Scarlett
Damon and Affleck

Big Night

"In life and love, one big night can change everything"

I don't remember what I was doing in 1996 anymore, but I discovered this weekend that I missed a delightful movie that came out that same year, Big Night. Stanley Tucci co-authored, directed and starred the movie. Joining him in the cast are Tony Shalhoub, Marc Anthony, Minnie Driver, Isabella Rossellini, Ian Holm and Allison Janney. A failing Italian restuarant and brothers that don't always see eye to eye is the winning recipe for this critically acclaimed film.




Don't watch on an empty stomach. The movie will end leaving you dreaming of Italian food, but also satisfied that you chose to spend 2 hours in such delightful company.

I'm back!

I'm back online, but I'm out of the blogging loop. I can't think of anything interesting to say. I haven't really made any art while I've been offline. Actually, I don't know what I have been doing this past month.

Work is busy once again. I make collection calls for the major part of the day. The two offices in town are blended so there are twice as many people working out of the same space as before.

It has done nothing but rain all month. The grass is green and growing, but so are the weeds. It is too wet every weekend to mow so my yard is getting out of hand.

I am posting a couple of pictures of the cutest (IMHO) grandkids in the world. Wouldn't you agree?

Aubrey and Avery after their dance recital Saturday

Aiden with his Great Granddaddy, my Daddy

Elijah weekend before last when I babysat for the cutie pie

Doesn't my dad look great? My parents are in their late 70s. Daddy has always been the picture of health. He wasn't even on any type of medication until a month ago. Then he found out he has a type of cancer called multiple myeloma. It is incurable, but treatable. He is in the early stages although he was told he's probably had it for some time. The doctor is very upbeat and the medication he takes won't make him sick. Mostly older men get it. Men who have been exposed to agricultural fertilizers and herbicides, radiation, or chemicals such as arsenic, lead or asbestos. My daddy worked in the steel industry all of his life and was heavily exposed to asbestos dust.

You just get used to your parents never being sick. It doesn't seem right.

Mission Possible!

My computer is healed! Restored! Fixed up. Now I only have to wait until this weekend so I can go get it. Yahoo!

Thanks son. You are my IT hero!

BTW, my computer repairing son works as a programmer and something else to do with laying cable and maintaining their servers for Dealnews. Check them out for Internet bargains and coupons.

Free Surf The Internet Time At Work

The phone lines are down for 30 minutes and I can't do anything without the phone so....it's free surf the Internet time!

I miss blogging and all of my bloggity friends. Although, there is absolutely nothing new in my life to report. I must tell you that I haven't been using my free time productively. My house is a mess. yadayadayada....

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You know you can find anything on the Internet. Even a few laughs.

How about these two dudes? Anybody looking for a date tonight?

I don't think this little girl is interested in either of the guys do you?

But it seems this baby thinks the 2 dudes are cool. Looks like he might know who he wants to be like when he grows up.
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Okay, yes....I'm totally bored without my Internet access, my scanner, my Photoshop......please son, get the computer fixed for Mama!

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers this Sunday! Enjoy your day.

Not Yet, Soon I Hope

Like the title says, my computer isn't fixed yet. Maybe soon. We had to order a new operating system. The old one was unrecoverable.

I watched a couple of good movies this weekend that I thought I would recommend to you movie aficionados.

Bread and Tulips is an Italian film about a middle aged woman's search for her own identity. Set in Venice, this is a sweet romantic film and well worth having to read the subtitles.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0237539/

Swept from the Sea featuring the beautiful Rachel Weisz and Kathy Bates, is the story of rejection and love set amid the startlingly beautiful English countryside of Cornwall.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120257/

Give both a try. I'm sure you'll enjoy them.