Hoilday Greetings

Happy Easter tomorrow and Happy Passover too!   We don't really celebrate it these days since we have no little kids around any more to do the Easter egg hunts.  I actually almost forgot it was even Easter tomorrow.  I do always take time to thank Jesus for sacrificing himself on the cross for all of us though.

We are having some work done to the back area off the porch.When we moved here (close to 13 years ago) there was some railroad ties along the back below the porch that were stacked up (and held with rebar) and there was some soil filled in and we planted some things from time to time.  It was likely there for years before we moved in as well. Over a year ago, one section was starting to buckle, probably from the pressure and age of the railroad ties. 

So we decided to have it leveled out and have something done.  Turns out our lawn guy's brother does this sort of work.  He actually came last weekend (with our lawn guy) to take down a tree we had in the back that was really leaning over toward the fence (and the wood fence was not ours).   We didn't take any pictures of that but .. here are some photos of the project.  I forgot to take any Before pictures.  But here's some of the work in progress.    Will post some more as it progresses. 

And the work supervisor

Finally getting nice out

This week we started actually getting some temperatures that were decent for this area. It didn't dip into the 30's for once and went up to or just beyond 80 degrees most days.  Just in time for Spring!  Yah!   I'll take it.

Yesterday the youngest and I went wedding dress shopping and we were both impressed with the amount of selection to try on, despite the relatively small store (at least it looked fairly small). Anyway after some try ons....she came out beaming in a beautiful dress with lots of flowy chiffon.   She tried on a few others that were contenders but came back to this one..added a veil.. and then it happened..she said YES TO THE DRESS. It was fun and I'm glad she has one thing she can cross off  her wedding to do list. :)

Happy Spring !

I know it has been weeks since I blogged. One of my siblings nudged me about it last weekend. I sometimes get into a mood where the desire to blog wanes, especially when there is nothing really to blog about other than to complain about something, work, lack of extra work, the weather, not getting warm fast enough...you know that sort of thing.  I figured instead of being negative all the time, I just wouldn't blog.

But I have something happy and exciting to write about today. On Sunday, my youngest got engaged!! We are so excited for her and look forward to helping with her wedding plans, even though that includes covering the costs! LOL.  She has been dating this nice guy that she actually knew from college for about 2 years and he made certain not to propose in a cliche manner on a standard engagement holiday like Valentine's Day.  Instead he asked her on St Patrick's Day.  I'll have to ask him if he has any Irish in his bloodlines. 

There was an engagement party right after the proposal up near his folks home.  We didn't go because it would have required us to stay overnight, but my daughter and future son-in-law did stop by here on Sunday on the way back and we had dinner all together and got to hear the details of the proposal and see her sparkling new engagement ring in person.  I'm so glad that she has found a wonderful guy that she can love for years to come.

Some other good news is that my sister from Ohio is coming next month to visit.  She was going to come in the fall but injured her food and had to postpone the drive out here.  It will be nice to see her and visit without having to be around a funeral and sadness (as she was here for mom's funeral last summer). 

That's it for now. Can't make any promises but will try to blog soon. 

Olympics ending

Watching the closing ceremony which is really spectacular...and I'm ready for the games to be over. They were pretty good, but I think I prefer the summer Olympics to the winter.  I just don't get that curling is considered a sport to be part of the Olympics. It looks to me like a sort of shuffleboard on ice. I don't know.  But glad the US won the gold regardless so that it helped the medals total for the US.   I think the finest moment to me was when Diggins won  Gold in cross country.  She came from behind and that was phenomenal.

I went to visit the youngest this weekend.  I hadn't seen her since Christmas and also needed the break.   It was a nice relaxing weekend.  We saw a movie and had dinner at Outback last night.  Today while driving home, it rained very hard a few times and I nearly pulled over because the visibility was practically nil even though I had the wipers on high.  There was about a 10 mile stretch like that and I was glad when I finally drove away from it.   By the time I was near home, it was sunny as could be out.  Weather has sure gotten strange. Hope it is not 'global warming'.

Tomorrow is Monday. Hope this is a great week ahead.  It will be March before the end of the week.  Come on SPRING! :)

Higher price...higher quality?

I have had issues throughout my life with uncomfortable bras.  If you are not interested in this topic, I suggest leaving this post right now.  :)

I cannot stand underwire ones as they feel like they are cutting in to my ribs. Not everyone with a B/C cup require underwires nor possess enough extra layers of fat or skin that would make the underwire not uncomfortable. I in fact tend to just avoid wearing them altogether unless I am going to be out in public walking around where it would be obvious that there is nothing 'holding up the girls'.

So my hubby actually saw these bras advertised on a morning television program. They were not underwire and looked very comfortable.  So I ordered some at a whopping $49 a piece, BEFORE tax and S&H.  

They are comfortable and they have removable pads for the cups which I like.  After a few months I was putting one on in the bathroom and I heard rrrriiiip!  These have to go over the head as there is no snap closure or any other way to get it on.   I could not believe it ripped at the side.  I have never had a bra rip on me, ever!  And it wasn't too tight.  I was really disgusted but thought it may have been a poorly made one.  So I tossed it.

A few weeks later I was putting on another one and rip again. This time only a few inches of the side had ripped.  So I looked at it really closely.  The seams were only crimped closed!  Hubby said they were likely heat crimped.  You know like we used to crimp our hair?!!   There was no stitching along the seams whatsoever!!  So my pulling it over my head and pulling down one side made the crimping simply un-crimp!  I had never seen anything like this before.  And I always wash them in cold delicate and hang to dry so it isn't like they were not being laundered properly.

I started avoided wearing them but mostly so that more wouldn't rip.  But I got an idea which I put into action today.  I took the remaining bras that I have and sewed a seam on each side so that it will hold even if the crimping does not. I think it will actually prevent the seam from breaking apart period.  I'm so glad I can still work a sewing machine too...sort of like riding a bike I suppose.

Here is a before and after picture of a seam. Now I feel comfortable wearing these again.  I should make this suggestion to the manufacturer but I'm sure it would go unnoticed.  After all, why would they want to discourage future sales to those women who keep ripping them but want to give them another shot?  ;-)    I wish I would have thought of this before throwing out the other 2 bras though.  Oh well.  I have enough for now.  Hopefully that will do the trick!

BEFORE - CRIMPED SEAMS

AFTER  MACHINE STITCHED SEAM

ENTIRE SEAM SEWED

What did I do today?

Well I didn't want to clean although I did two loads of laundry.
There wasn't any good movies that we wanted to go see.
And no work this weekend...so yes I was so bored that
I actually cleaned out the bathroom makeup, toiletries drawer...

It was really one of those things you think you should do some day...but never get around to. But I did it.  Threw out a lot of old makeup, some of the mineral makeup was like 10 years old. So now it looks wonderful and there is no more questionable stuff crammed in it.   I even cleaned all the brushes too. LOL!

Federal Wreck-press

Hubby just heard something outside and a Federal Express truck backed up in the street and demolished our neighbor's mailbox!!  Oye!  They need to slow down!  I know they are to hustle the entire time but seriously?   I saw the truck race past and apparently realized that he missed a delivery, put it in reverse and BAM!!   Here is a before photo too.