Dollar Stores and Tulip Town

No one should deprive themselves of the joy of color because color choices, unlike most choices, aren't a matter of money. You are free to select colors that put a smile on your face and edit out the rest. Living with refreshing, life-enhancing color in your room, in the clothes you wear as well as the paraphernalia in your handbag and the accessories on your desk can do wonders to your spirit. Color to me is one of the gifts of grace that is ours to select and a tool to help us live beautifully. Alexandra Stoddard.

Make your office or wherever you work colorful. I do. Actually, I do it to my whole house. My husband is a manly man, a retired Marine, and he lives in this froufrou pink house and loves it. Your hubbies probably want you to be happy, so go with the color that you love best. Beige is sooooo boring and depressing. Simply tint a white with a tiny bit of a beautiful color/pigment instead of brown. I'll never use beige again.
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 I've decided to have a giveaway soon. Just stay tuned because I'm not exactly sure when but very soon. I'll give you plenty of notice. I have ordered a couple more of her books to give away and there will be other stuff also. Just so you know. Truly, you don't want to miss my giveaways. You really don't!
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I have to file my nails every week because of keyboarding so much. They grow so fast since my doctor told me to take more calcium. I've never had great nails but since I chew 2 calcium chews a day they've been growing like crazy. AND it's very hard to type with long nails!
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He's still at it, hubs, I mean. We went to the Dollar stores the other day looking for a certain kind of pen that the man at our bookstore uses and I liked a lot. Flows easily with gel and is clickable. They're called WOW. Couldn't find them but I'll keep checking. They were wonderful to sign my name to the receipt with and I asked him about them. I've told you I'm a fanatic about certain things!

Anyway, we were looking for them and hubs went looking for cheap candy...again. I've told him and told him that Dollar Store cheap candy is just that—CHEAP! He bought some cheese popcorn. I tasted it later at home. He did also. He admitted it wasn't so good. (Need I say more?) Well, I'm gonna...say more that is. I don't buy cheap food at the Dollar Store. It isn't worth it. They get it because no one else will buy it at the regular markets. [Did you know that Dollar Stores have the biggest mark-up on their merchandise than anyone? Yes, this is true.] Anyway, the jelly beans he bought were atrocious also. I got nauseous from their smell even. When I'm dead, he can buy anything he wants, but for now I don't buy cheap food!
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My granddaughter posted on her Facebook a trip to Tulip Town in Mt. Vernon, Washington, they took in April. The most gorgeous tulips in all colors were there. I thought we might go over next year to see them. But it reminded me of a trip they took a year or so ago to the raspberry farms to pick raspberries. Caroline is three years old now so she was just a wee toddler then, but she could pick and eat the raspberries. Granddaughter apologized to the farmer, but they said it was fine that kids will do that. She was eating faster than they could fill baskets. Needless to say, she had the most poopy diapers ever for a couple of days. They thought she'd never stop pooping! We laughed so hard at that, we cried. Here she and our newest great granddaughter are and a picture of the pink tulips, my favorite ones.

I think she looks a bit geeky in this photo but she really is so, what can I say. But as her grandmother I think she's gorgeous and I'm not one bit prejudiced...no, really, I'm not. ;-) Okay, she is kinda cute and Juliette is also.

This is her last year before she got pregnant with the little doll she is holding above, her second daughter. When she's not being a computer geek at Microsoft, she's a cutie. But she is very smart.

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Yes, I still would love to have an outdoor shower.

A gorgeous shade of blue. Actually, I love this little kitchen.

Another pretty patio/picnic area.

A cute quaint neighborhood in England.

Look at this tiny chair. Maybe it was meant for a doll house. Even has its own tiny pillow.

Where do people find these little treasures? An old farm wagon dressed up in pink and blue.

Just some lovely froufrou items.

And yet another bird cage for you to see.

A staged photograph for sure but I think it's adorable. An outdoor, under-the-trees room.

Another countryside pathway. Sort of narrow for cars though.

A cute bedroom with lots of color.

Another stone sink.

Respite from work done cute!

Sigh. How adorable is this room! Look at those curtains and that pillow, rug and settee.

Have a coconut cupcake, but you might want to wait or rethink that after reading the tidbit today.

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Tidbit:

To cure hangovers, people in the Middle Ages would down a plate of bitter almonds and dried eel after drinking. In Outer Mongolia, they slurped down pickled sheep eyeballs in tomato juice. [Ooooh, yuck!!]
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Linking up with NMH Party and Pink Saturday.

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A Duh Moment

I've recently been reflecting on prayer. I need to know more about it. I've been meaning to ask my friend if she had a book on prayer that I could borrow but hadn't gotten around to it. I think my prayers lately—or maybe for a long time have been—well, for lack of better words—not very prayerful, just repetitious. I need improvement.

My calling in our ward is doing the ward bulletin. I love it! It's the best job ever, especially for someone who loves computers; it doesn't take a lot of time and I can be creative...to a certain degree. ;-)

But recently I was given the topic for the next Sunday, which I usually put on the front of the bulletin with some scripture or talk from our Church magazine, just to jazz it up a bit and be more interesting. I researched some General Conference talks on the subject and asked my friend for some advice. I finally found a very short story to put on the front of the bulletin.

Then at church that day, two new members of our ward were speaking. They gave fantastic talks, really great. I was still thinking about my conundrum in the first paragraph above when I got home that afternoon. Then a lightning bolt hit me!

The subject on the front of the bulletin, my search for something reflecting the topic and the talks that day at church were...are you ready for this?! PRAYER!

It didn't hit me until I got home from Church that Sunday that I had been searching for the very thing I was confused about and didn't particularly learn from it. It was a very huge DUH moment for me. I could hardly believe all this went over my head. I suppose I ought to be more reflective and pay more attention to things. I felt like an idiot, too.
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This is the chair I'm going to buy from Ethan Allen. I love this chair and it will go nicely in my living room.

My 2 French dining chairs are being painted and hubs is adding a cushion to it before I put the cover on them that I made out of drop cloth fabric. I need to paint them white also.

For those of you who had fathers, grandfathers, sons or brothers in Europe in World War II, these are the beaches of Normandy. The American soldier's were dropped on the sand in boats. The Germans were at the top of those cliffs killing them faster than they could get to safety. It was sixty years ago but I remember my parents, grandparents talking about it. The American boys and men had no chance of overtaking them from down below. It was a slaughter but we finally won the war. I also give thanks to all the brave soldiers who fought hard for our freedom. They are my heroes.

What a darling little daybed.

You could probably do this easy in a back yard. Shower off before you come in from the beach or pool. I think it's great!

Beautiful flower garden.

Exquisite up-close shot of a flower.

All pink and beautiful living room.

I have a chandelier that I wrapped the old candle sleeves with paper and they came out sweet.

Venice streets. I don't think I'd care to live on the water like that. It was certainly be damp and moldy.

This camper really looks like a tiny house.

Another nice and bright caravan.

This is Ralph Lauren's caravan. He like the ruggedness in his.

Another one all froufrou-ed up with napkins, tablecloths, banners and afghans.

This almost looks like a rock star's caravan but it is done up in style.

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Tidbit:
At General Motors, the cost of health care for employees now exceeds the cost of steel for cars.
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Rambling Again Today

I didn't have much to talk about today so I'll just ramble with some things that I've noted recently.

At Sundance this year some talent agency executives were "treated" to bawdy shows. Most of them were stymied and disgusted with what had been planned for their "entertainment." The acts were so lewd I can't print them here as I don't use those types of words in my daily activities, but let me just say they were lewd and disgusting. Probably some of those men and women brought their kids there for fun, vacation and skiing. Now, these acts were there for all to see. Again, I have to ask: what is our world coming to? That's despicable and low-life in my opinion. Is that the way the world has drifted—so far from morality to degeneracy? I fear for the young people being born and brought up today. Our church leaders have told us civilization is now worse than in the biblical day of old. I hesitate to mention the times because that might draw the p*rv*ts here and I won't do that. Don't tell me the times are changing; good morals don't change. Sickening in my opinion!
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Then I read in the news where the Japanese Minister said to just let old people die as they're taking up room and food from other people. I simply find some statements hard to believe; this is one of them. Hubs said we should just let him, the Japanese Minister, die in a few years then. Disgusting. People are put on this earth for a purpose. Let's let God decide when their time is up, not the government.
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Then there is a comic book character that some are saying might be gay. It's a comic book character!!!! What in the world are they talking about? Just stymies me. I am not homophobic; I'm a logical down-to-earth woman. It's a comic book character, people!
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 I had a blogger tell me that Europeans know more than one language. Well, some Americans do, too. I'm familiar with several languages as I took them in high school and college; but I don't speak them well enough to converse a great deal. But if you know one foreign language you can read some books and understand them. Some words are easily recognized in other languages. My heritage is Dutch, German, Mexican, French but I am an American through and through. English is from Germanic languages and not the Latin or Romantic languages. But all languages are similar in writing except the Greek or Cyrillic alphabets.
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Something extraordinary is happening to me. I've light ash-brown hair all of my adult life. Oh, I've bleached it a couple of times, mainly in my twenties but I stopped after a few years. I loved the look of gray hair or a champagne beige, still do. I started getting a few gray hairs just above my forehead in my middle sixties on my right side. (If you look at my sidebar you'll see me in various hair shades through the years. The one of me in 1984 with the apple on my cheek (done by one of the men in my tech forums) looks dark but that's because it's a passport photo. It wasn't really that dark but still a light ash-brown.

Well, lately, my gray hair is coming in at its natural color! I absolutely love gray hair and wanted it all to go gray but it never has, just that small section on my right side. Even hubs thinks the gray is going. My friend has the most gorgeous gray hair and she's 15 years younger than me. I've always admired her hair. But has anyone heard of gray hair reversing itself? It has stymied me.
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If hubs had this, I might enjoy camping. But then again, nah, I'd still have to go to the woods.

Or even this! Love the ruffles and decor.

A round table in a camper? I've never seen that before.

This looks like a party place. How sweet.

All dressed up in pink.

Red and bright pink with polka dots.

Now this is elegance with a footstool and 2 "couches" to relax on.

This one looks pretty dang big!

I dearly love red and white checks mixed with a toile like this room. Any kid or teenager would love it.

Pretty little vintage tins and pot.

Another homeowner with an overhead pot holder. I like what she's done with it though better than mine. I may have to redecorate it soon.

Just real eye candy for ya.

Yum!

This looks so Christmas-y I had to show you its cuteness.

Our Albertsons pharmacy looks nothing like this cute one in France.

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Tidbit:
Switzerland's sick are hospitalized longer than any other country's: 9+ days on average.
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More Memories Of San Diego

Just in case you've missed my Pinterest page, you might want to go there and see over 8,100 photos posted there, just click here. And also, I'm only posting on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from now on unless something extraordinary comes up. I'm leaving weekends free.
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Our granddaughter, her hubby and their 2 girls have been here for eleven days and we have loved having them here. Do I even need to say how tired this ol' lady is having 2 great-granddaughters in the house? One is 3 1/2 months old, one is almost 3 years old. Caroline is a pistol and keeps us hopping.

She also loves perfume!

When she saw the perfume she had to smell every single bottle. Her favorite is Cabriole, which is close to her name so we call it Caroline. She runs around with bottles in her hands most of the time. Hubs was afraid it would spill but I've tightened the caps and tried to retrieve them when she was loosing interest in them and put them back.

Then the other day I caught her in there. She had moved the chair in our bedroom over to my dresser and got up. A few days later, we went in there and she wanted to see the perfumes—on a wicker tray—and I told her she'd seen them enough. Well, that little chick got the little pink ladder I had sitting in my bedroom over to the dresser and climbed up it herself. I cannot believe her problem-solving skills! This will serve her well later in life. She's really, really smart, but we all think that of our progeny. Right? This kid is something else though. You tell her something and she does NOT forget. We've had to hide things from her because of that.

Then there was the melt-down at Michaels. She loves craft stores. But she cheated herself out of some craft items by melting down so we had to leave the basket of items behind while we took her home to bed. Then she saw Target and told her mummy to go to Target. We asked her why and she replied, "Just trust me. Go to Target, mummy." We didn't! 

They're leaving tomorrow so we're going out to Jack in the Box tonight for salads or whatever they want. I love those kids!
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We lived in a house on West Mountain View Drive in San Diego during the mid-1960s and loved it there. The family across the street was also a Marine family we knew. I introduced them to baked beans and they introduced me to...well, let me explain.

We were going to have a BBQ one weekend and I said I'd bring the baked beans. This family was Hawaiian so she said they'd bring teriyaki chicken. It was absolutely fantastic and that's how I make it to this day. Chicken marinated for hours in soy sauce, ginger and garlic. Then put it on the grill. That's it. Better than any bottled sauce ever.

She said her kids didn't like baked beans. I made them anyway thinking they can at least try them if they want. They did and loved them. I had to give her my recipe for baked beans then.

Then one day while my kids were playing with hers I sat and talked with her in the kitchen while she was making something for their dinner. As she prepared it, she gave me a piece to eat. It was fishy tuna fish with some vegetables and rice wrapped in seaweed. I gagged. Luckily, I had a napkin to wipe my face and surreptitiously wiped my mouth and discarded the food into the napkin. I thought it was horrible but I'd never say that to someone. I then excused myself to go home and throw it out. Quite embarrassing actually. I love fish but this was very fishy-tasting tuna. I can't stand it if it has a strong fish taste. That's why I'm not eager to taste something from someone's kitchen anymore. I just say no, thanks, I'm not hungry and let it go at that.

This couple had 4 kids and she became pregnant with her 5th. When I asked her what she was naming it, she said, "Zelda, because it's our last one." I thought she was kidding; she wasn't. ;-) Lovely family.
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Love this little living room. Just cozy enough for me.

One of the most darling wreaths I've ever seen created! Oh my.

One of my ideal patios to have.

Who makes these gorgeous cookies? Stunning bows, roses and flowers.

Sigh...

These can't be real cupcakes. How did they make the pearl centers?!

I'd consider this one of my favorite kitchen tables.

A darling handbag.

Frilly pink gloves.

Gypsy, BoHo or Magnolia Pearl? Beautiful!

Another adorable kitchen...for people who like to cook. Not me!

I've done a similar thing to my entry into the family room, but I'm thinking of doing it to the living room into the dining area now. It just needs something more.

Another gorgeous living room I love.

Just too cute for words.

I thought you'd like to see this picture frame. Isn't it cute and unique?

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It would take a jumbo jet about 120 million years to fly across the Milky Way galaxy.
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Linking up with NMH Open House Party.

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