BUTTERFLIES

Hello, friends.  Can you believe it is the end of June already?  The year is half over already.  But it is Summer!  And I am enjoying every minute.

Today was day 2 of our heat wave.  Temperatures got up to 98*F (37*C).  It is 11:00 p.m. and the temperature is 88*F (31*C).  This weather is predicted to last for at least the next 7 days and perhaps beyond that.

So it was with fear and trepidation that I ventured out to Rite Aid this afternoon.  When I got into the car the temperature was 106*F (41*C).  But I needed cards for two ladies in church whose birthdays are tomorrow (yes, the same day) and a few other things.  But of course I found something else.  In the 50% off section (all summer things) I found a string of solar lights in the shape of butterflies.  Now if you know me, you know I adore butterflies.  So I had to get them.

When I got home I took it out of the box, read the directions, put it together, and took it to the back yard.  I found a sunny spot to put the solar panel.  I wasn't sure the line would reach the top of the fence, but it did.  I was able to wind them around the top of the fence and leave them there for the evening.

Tonight I looked out of the kitchen window and saw a delightful sight.  The little butterflies were all glowing.

I went outside and took a couple of pictures of them.  They are so pretty.

When I get my next paycheck I will go and get another string of them to continue on down the fence.  I'm going to enjoy having these lights on a dark summer night.

Kathy

WHAT'S HAPPENING

Yes, my attitude is really bad.  I am due for a time out.  The beach is a great idea.  Oh, I wish.  I told Joe that we definitely have to get to the shore at least once this summer.  Even if we go just for the day.  The Jersey shore is only an hour and a half away so we can do it back and forth in one day.  In fact when we were kids both Joe's family and mine would do just that.  No one stayed over.  No one had money for a hotel room.  Joe's family would always go to Wildwood and my family would go to Atlantic City or Asbury Park.  Now Ocean City is our place.

We are in the beginning of a heat wave.  By Sunday the heat index will be up to 105*F (40.5*C).  I think I will be spending most of the day in the air conditioning.  I am not a big fan of A/C except in temperatures like that!

I have been very lazy about cooking.  Last night after Bible Study Joe called out to one of our local pizza places.  I got a gyro sandwich.  As I was eating it I kept getting it caught on the stitch in my gum from the extraction.  It was very loose but still firmly in there and it hurt!  It hurt so much that I stopped eating halfway through the sandwich.  I finally finished it taking small bites every few minutes but it was difficult.

This evening we were both hungry and couldn't figure out what we wanted for dinner.  I suggested going to Shoprite and getting a rotisserie chicken.  But when we got there, we decided to go to the in-store restaurant.  It is so nice to have an inexpensive place to just have dinner that is only four blocks from home.  Joe got a hoagie and I got a vegetable egg roll, some fried chicken, and a fruit salad.  The cantaloupe, honeydew and watermelon were so sweet and good!  It just hit the spot.  The people there are so nice and when we thanked the server as we left, she seemed surprised but pleased.  Doesn't anyone have any manners anymore?

Tonight I noticed that the stitch in my mouth has fallen out.  I didn't notice it and I know I had it when I was eating dinner, so I guess I swallowed it.  Oh well, I'm not worried about it.  I'm sure many people swallow stitches.

I am trying so hard to work on the house, but I just have no energy.  I seem to have the most energy about now -- 11:00 p.m.  Why?  Well, tonight I had iced tea for dinner so now I'm wide awake.  I think when I am finished this I will try to get some housework done while I have at least a little get up and go.

I finally got the Office program on the computer tonight.  It took some doing, but I am hoping it works.  It had better for $150.  I need to get the church bulletin done.

I noticed there were a lot of comments on my last post about driving in rush hour traffic in the middle of the city.  I guess it is all what you are used to.  When I worked downtown I would drive to work every day.  I had my driver's license only a month when I drove around the city.  I've even driven in Manhattan.  Boy was that an experience!  So driving in heavy traffic is second nature to me and I don't think I'm brave or anything like that.  It is just something I am used to doing.



I am getting used to the new computer, but I still miss my other one.  I knew what I was doing with it.

I'm going to get off of here now and do something before I go to bed.  Hope you all have a good night.

Kathy

A BUSY MONDAY

Summer is here and I am loving every minute of it.  It is so nice to have the longer hours of sunlight.  I have more time to do things.  I can sit in the yard and read.  I can cut roses and bring them into the house.  Free bouquets are always nice.  As soon as I get paid this month I am splurging on a new hibachi for the back yard.  Then I can grill our dinners outside like our neighbors do.  Their steaks smell so good! 

I like cooking outside and eating inside away from the bugs.  Joe not so much.  But I don't mind that at all.  We don't need a big grill.  We have had a couple of them but really for the amount that we used them it was a waste.  A little hibachi can be taken apart and brought into the house in the winter so that it stays nice.  And I've had a couple of those for years too.



Yesterday was such a busy day.  My pastor had jury duty of all things so I offered to drive him downtown.  Of course it was rush hour and NOBODY wants you to change lanes.  Oh my, give me a break someone!  We finally got there but I was in the wrong lane and overshot it a couple of blocks.  But I was able to pull over and he got out and walked back.

Going home wasn't nearly as bad.  People were going into the city, not coming back out.  I also took the back streets.  I did NOT want to get onto I-95 again.

When I got home I got something to eat and then got ready to go to the dentist.  My dentist is retiring.  *sob*  I love her and am going to miss her intensely.  I took Joe with me and she was there when we got there, but just leaving.  She gave Joe a hug and said this was the hardest thing she has ever done.  She has watched some of her patients grow up from little kids to adults with children of their own.  But it's time.  Her receptionist has already left and moved to Virginia.

The new dentist is also a woman and is very nice besides being an excellent dentist.  There is now a hygienist who is nice.  So I will continue to go there, but it just won't be the same.  The new dentist said she has big shoes to fill since Dr. McFadden is so well loved.

We came back from the dentist and got something for lunch then headed for the nursing home for Joe to do Bible Study.  Pastor usually does the study for the people there but when he can't, Joe takes over.

We had been home from the study about 45 minutes when Pastor called and said he was finally out and could I come pick him up.  I took Joe with me again and we headed downtown.

It wasn't as bad as the morning going back down.  Again, I kept getting into the wrong lanes and had to keep moving over so that I wasn't going down the wrong streets.  I will know how to do it next time.  We picked up Pastor, took him home and then went home ourselves. 

As we got in I got a call from Staples that my backup was finally complete and I could come get my items.  There was no way I was going out again, so I will get it today.  I was so tired.

We had flounder and zucchini noodles for dinner.  I love my spiralizer.  I make my own noodles and they come out great.  It was a great dinner.  Now I have to come up with something for tonight.

Hopefully today will not be quite as busy.  I am teaching Bible Study this morning.  We are continuing on with the Fruit of the Spirit and today we will talk about "Love".



This is a great 10-week series which is perfect for the summer.

I am still trying to get used to this computer.  For some reason it arbitrarily makes pages bigger or smaller without me doing anything.  I wish I could figure it out.  I still haven't figured out how to install the word processing either.  If I have time I have to do that today.

I need to go over my lesson and get myself ready for the day.  So until later I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday.

Kathy

I'M BACK... SORT OF

Hello, friends.  I'm sort of back.  I have a computer that I bought over a year ago when I was having problems but have never used because I really didn't like it.  But beggars can't be choosers and after spending almost $500 to get the information off of my old computer I figure this is good.  Very good.  I haven't figured everything out on this, but I will... eventually.  It's hard when you are used to one thing to have to relearn a whole new system.  I could tell what keys I was touching just by feel.  BUT... God is good.  Very, very good to me.  I have lost a LOT of information -- knitting patterns, photos, etc.  I hope I can recreate most of it.

This will be very quick.  I have an hour to get ready for church and get myself going here.  I still have to eat and dress.

It has been very hot.  Then we got a cool break.  This week it is supposed to get hot again.  This is what summer is about and I am loving every minute of it.  I have been sitting out in the yard reading my book in the mornings when it is cool.  (Of course not this morning.)

I was finally able to download the picture of the sunset I took on the first day of Summer outside of Staples.  I just had to show it to you.

It was more vivid than this, but this is pretty good.

I have to run.  Hopefully I will be back tomorrow.  Or at least this week.

Kathy

THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER

Hello friends. Hope you are all having a wonderful day. This will be a short and sort of strange post I no longer have a computer.It gave up the ghost. Joe and I were at Staples for an hour tonight trying to get it fixed but no luck. I am typing this on my Kindle which is a bit strange. *sigh*  $100 later and there is only a hope of saving some of the files.

So that is how I spent the first day of Summer. Joe had an Elder Meeting and while he was gone I took a nap.  It has been very hot here and an afternoon nap is very welcome in this weather.

I can't see what I am writing so please excuse  any typos.

When we came out of Staples at 9:00 p.m.the sky was so beautiful.  I took a picture of it with my phone because I still can't find my camera Technology is turning against me.

Have a good night .Enjoy the Summer. I will be back as soon as I can


Kathy

THE 3RD ANNUAL MEN'S BREAKFAST

Last Saturday the church I attend hosted a Men's Breakfast.  This was our third one.  Unfortunately, the attendance was very low.  It is a shame because the speaker, Dr. Allen, was excellent.  How do I know?  Because I know him and have heard him before and because Joe told me.

I drove Joe over and delivered the two dozen muffins I baked.  I hung around a little bit and took some pictures.  The flowers for Sunday were also delivered while I was there so I was able to put them into place in the Sanctuary.  I asked the pastor if I got paid extra for working on Saturday.  He told me I got time and a half.  I laughed because my pay from church is $0.00.  I work for free.

So here are some pictures from the breakfast.

Here is Joe at the beverage table getting a cup of tea.

The tables had the cutest centerpieces.

Dorothea did a fantastic job on the food.  There were scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, French toast and cheesy potatoes.

The men seemed to have a great time.  I know Joe did.

Kathy

THIS WEEK

Hello everyone!  I know I have been missing lately.  I am finding it very hard to blog.  I have thought about just stopping, but I'm not quite willing to give it up yet.  I try to read your posts even if I don't respond to them.  But busy days and not feeling well have cut into even that.  Having a computer that works when it feels like it and doesn't at other times doesn't help either.

But having said all of that, I thought I would try to give you a taste of what all has been going on.

I have been having quite a week trying to eat SOMETHING but finding it hard to eat anything!  Lots of yogurt, applesauce, mashed potatoes, etc. have been in my diet.  When I weighed myself today I found I had lost 3 pounds.  That's good!  At least there was one good outcome of it.

On Tuesday I taught Bible Study.  With difficulty, I might add.  But such a great group of ladies I teach.  They helped out with the praying and reading of scripture, etc. so much.

I had to hurry home after study because I had a doctor's appointment right after the meeting.  They wanted to do a blood pressure check to see what was going on with my new medicine.  I could have told them that it went down as soon as that tooth was out.  I think a lot of the high blood pressure was due to stress.  And I was right, it was down quite a bit.  My doctor is very happy with that.

Wednesday I took it easy.  I didn't even go to Bible Study that night.  It is the first time I have missed in a long time, but I just slept instead.  I was waiting for a phone call that never came.  In fact it is now three days later and I still have not gotten that call.  Guess who's going to be on the phone Monday morning.  I hate when people promise to call and they don't.

Thursday I took Joe to the V.A. Hospital for his doctor's appointment.  The traffic was terrible.  It took so long to get there.  I had to drop him off at the front door and then go find parking so he could get to his appointment on time.  I did have a chance to read a couple of chapters in my book while I was waiting for him to come out of the office.  That was good.  On the way home we stopped at Shoprite and I got some vegetable soup for lunch.  It was so good!  Expensive, but good.  I have been craving veggies and it is one thing I have had trouble eating.  These were all soft and delicious.



Yesterday I went to my church's Crafters meeting in the morning.  There were five of us there, all working away on our various projects.  I am almost finished with Joe's temperature blanket.  I have finished February and have just March, April and part of May to do.  I think I will have it finished by the end of July just in time for the HOT weather.  Oh well, it will be good for the fall and winter months.  I will show you the blanket very soon.  (Still can't find EITHER camera.  Using Joe's and my tablet for the time being.)


I had to hurry home again because I had my one week follow up appointment with the dentist.  I had ordered a cab for 12:00 noon.  I got home 11:45 and just had time to run to the bathroom before the cab pulled up.

This cab driver was the worst ever!  I honestly thought we were going to get in an accident.  He switched lanes and cut people off and all other kinds of things.  We were almost there when I whispered to Joe that I was carsick.  He told me to hold on there were only four more blocks.



As bad as that car ride was, is how good the appointment went.  Everything is great in my mouth.  I now have no restrictions.  I can eat anything, use a straw, brush my teeth, etc.  And I don't have to go back.  Yay!

Our friend Carole came down to pick us up and take us home.  While we were waiting for her, we went across the street to Starbucks.  Neither Joe nor I had eaten anything since a very early breakfast.  Joe got a lime and lemongrass iced tea and cherry bear claw.  I got a S. Pellegrino and chocolate chunk brownie.  It cost me $13!  But like I said to Joe, when do we ever get downtown and when do we go to Starbucks?  It was a celebration for the good report I got from the dentist.



It took Carole 40 minutes to get to us and it took us 45 minutes to get home.  It is usually a 15-20 minute ride.  The traffic was TERRIBLE!  We were standing on the corner leaning against the building waiting for Carole and when she showed up we ran across the street on the red light to get into her car.  I told Joe we should just act like everyone else in the city.  Just about everyone does that.  No, really they do.  It's life in the big city.  It felt so good to be downtown again.  I miss being well enough to go there and spend time there.  You guys already know I love the city.

Today was the Men's Breakfast at church.  Only a few men showed up.  What a shame because they had a great speaker.  I was there for the beginning to take pictures for our Facebook page.  I'll show you that soon too.  I don't have them downloaded yet.

I wasn't feeling well, so when I came home I laid down and went to sleep.  I have slept almost all day.  I guess I needed it.

So now it is time for me to go make dinner.  We are having poached salmon and mashed potatoes tonight.  Even though I was told I can eat anything, my jaw still is tender so I am taking it easy for another week.

And tomorrow starts another week.  The last week of Spring since Summer starts next Thursday.  Can you believe it?

Hope you all have a great evening and a blessed Lord's Day.

Kathy

AT THE DENTIST

Just a quick update to let you know I am OK.  It cost us $30 to take a cab down to the office, but it was well worth it because parking is impossible around there.  We got there really early and it was a good thing because they had quoted me one price on the phone and it came up a different price when I got there.  I had to have the first price voided and the new price put in and that took awhile.

I was nervous, but not as frightened as I was the first time.  There were two nurses and the anesthesiologist there.  Everyone was very nice.  They took my Blood Pressure which was still up but nowhere near what it was the last time.  The doctor asked me a lot of questions and then gave me the IV and I was out like a light.  For about 20 minutes.

It took me 45 minutes in recovery.  Joe was able to be with me.  He said the blood pressure was back to normal -- just very slightly high.  I was all numbed up so I didn't feel any pain.  The dentist said it was textbook perfect -- the tooth just slipped out.  He gave me some Tramadol for the pain.

Dorothea picked us up and brought us home.  I went to sleep for awhile.  When I woke up the numbing agent was wearing off so I took a Tramadol and went back to sleep.

But... there really is no great pain.  There is an ache and a twinge now and then.  I have been controlling that with Tylenol.  The swelling is just about gone and there is no bruising.

God is so good to take such good care of me.  I go back on Friday to have the stitch taken out.  I am following exactly the directions given to me.  It is hard to eat but I am getting a little down.  The ice cream is helping a lot.

Thank you for all your good wishes and prayers.  They mean a lot to me.  I treasure all of you.

Kathy

ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS

Happy Friday!  I hope you are all having a great day.  I am at the dentist having my tooth extracted.  At least I hope so.  I just want this all over with.  I have opted for general anesthesia since I am so terrified of having it pulled.

So since I know I am not up to posting, I asked you for your questions.  Here's what I got.

Kathie asked if I had always lived in a big city.  Yes, Kathie, I have.  I was born and raised in Northeast Philadelphia.  I am truly a product of the city and I can't imagine living anywhere else.  I enjoy going to Lancaster County and living in the country for a few days, but I don't know if I could handle not having stores within walking distance where you don't need to get into your car.  And my doctor's office is just three blocks away.  The pharmacy is five blocks away.  And there are tons of convenience stores around, the closest a block and a half -- across the street from a Chinese restaurant that we use quite a bit.

I do wish there were more land around my house.  I live in a row house where we are all squished together.  I grew up in a twin house.  Some places they are called a duplex but a duplex to us is a house with two apartments.  Funny how words mean different things in different parts of the country.  The home I grew up in had a huge yard.  I miss having all that room, but I certainly don't miss doing all the yard work.

As for Philadelphia being a historic city, that is the joy of living here.  Growing up here I tend to take a lot of it for granted.  The summer before I began first grade my grandmother took my sister and I downtown to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.  At that time the Liberty Bell was housed in the hallway of Independence Hall and you could touch it.  So I was able to run my little hand inside of the crack and see it up close.  These days because of the crazy man who tried to destroy it, the bell is in its own housing a block from the hall and is surrounded by cords and guards to prevent anyone from getting near to it.  What a shame that you can't touch it anymore.

I've also been to most of the museums in Philly and even worked in one for 8 years -- the Academy of Natural Sciences.  My first job was working for an insurance company in Olde City and on my lunch breaks I would go to the free historic sites and hang out.  Maybe all of this is what made me become a history major in college!

Philadelphia

Verdi asked what is my favorite place that I have visited.  I think that would have to be San Francisco.  I was so scared taking my first airplane flight and it was across the country, but it was such a beautiful place to visit that it was worth it.  I loved walking all over the place.  I loved riding the cable car.  I loved Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiradelli Square and Chinatown.  I stayed in a hotel where the view out of my window was the Transamerica Pyramid.  I loved walking the streets of center city and even going into stores and buying clothes.  I had to because I brought winter clothes with me and they were having a heat wave!


San Francisco

But saying all of that, my two week tour of the south one summer is a close second.  My then boyfriend and I took a tour traveling from Philadelphia to Maryland to Richmond, Virginia, to Charleston, South Carolina to Savannah, Georgia and ended up in St. Augustine, Florida.  Wow!  Each place was better than the one before.  And on the way back we visited Columbia, Georgia and Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  The south is beautiful.  The only problem was I couldn't understand the people waiting on me in the restaurants and they couldn't understand my Philly accent.  My boyfriend had to interpret for me!




Charleston, South Carolina

I also love New England.  Connecticut is my favorite New England state.  Well, let's face it, Verdi, I like just about everywhere I've traveled.



Connecticut

Thanks for your questions.  I will probably take the weekend off but I'll be back next week with another post.

Kathy

ONE DAY TO THE DENTIST CHAIR

Hope you are all having a wonderful day.  Thank you for all the kind comments on my post yesterday.  Hadley sure is a cutie and I love sharing pictures of her.  I can hardly believe that in two months she will be a year old.  It seems as if she was just born.

I did take the time to answer each of your comments so if you get the chance, you can go back and read them.

I got the call from the dentist yesterday confirming my appointment.  I am to take my thyroid and high blood pressure medication but nothing else.  At first the receptionist told me to take it without water and I told her no way.  I am not able to swallow pills without water.  So now I can take a sip.  Gee, thanks.

I am not as nervous this time, knowing that I will be under general anesthesia.  And at this point after going through the anticipation for several months, I just want it done.  I will call the cab company today to order a cab for tomorrow morning to get down there.  My friend, Dorothea, will bring me home.  Of course Joe will be with me the entire time.

Last night after Bible Study Joe, my friend Donna, and I went to Sonic for dinner.  I wasn't really hungry and ate just a little of my dinner, putting the rest aside for lunch today.  Unfortunately Donna thought it was trash and threw it out.  *sigh*  I did save my watermelon slush, but couldn't even drink it.  So Joe put it into the refrigerator for me and I'll drink it today.

I was so tired last night that my whole body hurt and when we got into the house I just went to bed and went right out.

I'm feeling better today and hopefully can get a few things done around the house.  My blood pressure is still high and nothing seems to get it down, so I am not pushing what I do.  If it is still high when I see the doctor next Tuesday, she is going to change my medication.  I just want to feel good again.

Thank you for all your prayers for me.  That means a lot.  My dental appointment is for 8:15 a.m. tomorrow.  That's Eastern time, so you can figure it out for you when it is.

I already have a post written for posting tomorrow and I plan to take the weekend off and relax.  But if I feel good, you might see something from me.

Hope you all have a good day.  I'm going back to my knitting.

Kathy

HADLEY IS 10 MONTHS OLD

Good morning everyone!  Isn't this a pretty picture I found on the internet?  I like having great pictures to show you on this blog.

Thanks for all your kind comments yesterday.  I got just two questions to answer though, so it's not too late to ask me things you've wondered about.  I am finally having my tooth extracted on Friday and I want to do a post ahead of time because I know I will not want to post that day.  I thought answering your questions would be a good way to go.  So ask away.

Today I want to celebrate 10 months of my little great-granddaughter Hadley's life.  Yesterday was actually her 10 month birthday but I just got the info from her mom this morning.  Of course I have tons more pictures, but chose just 9 to show you.

She loves her little car.  Isn't this a cute stroller?

She wasn't happy in any of the other pictures in this series, but look at this smile.

"I want to get away!"

Hadley is a little water baby.  She LOVES the pool!

Little country baby.

I hope she learns to swim at an early age.  I can't swim and am afraid of water.  I don't want that for her.

Her momma says: Well our little photo shoot didn't turn out very well because someone is cranky. But my baby is 10 months old today! She is so smart and amazes me every day...big girl is 24 pounds and 31 inches tall! We love you Hadley Jeanne!

Happy 10 months, Hadley!  Love, Memaw.

SUNDAY AND MONDAY

I am in a blog slump.  Do you ever get that?  I am just living life and there really isn't anything interesting going on to write about.  So I thought I'd tell you about what's happening the last couple of days.

On Sunday we had a special guest speaker for church.  Do you recognize him?

Pastor Ralph and Carolyn were not there because of a tragedy in their family.  Their niece who was 8 months pregnant with twins suddenly died on Wednesday morning.  The twins died with her.  It is very sad and we are all shocked.  I met her at Christmas a couple of years ago and she was the sweetest person ever.  Please pray for her husband, Nathan, and their little 2 year old boy Andre.  The funeral was Saturday and they stayed over to be with family before returning on Sunday.

But Joe stepped in and did a very good job of it.  He had only three days to get it all together.  He did a "rerun" of a message he did on a Saturday night about four years ago.  It was new to just about everyone there.  One other lady and I had heard it before, but it was fine to hear it again.  Updated of course.

On Sunday afternoon our friends from church Jim and Carolann came over.  Our stove had broken.  It automatically went to autoclean, would not allow the door to shut, and an alarm went off every five minutes.  We had to unplug it and although we tried everything we could think of, couldn't fix it.  We had made up our minds to call a repairman on Monday.  Jim insisted on coming over and had it fixed in less than five minutes.  He saved us a big bill and we are so grateful.

We had stopped at Shoprite on the way home from church to get something for lunch.  (They have the BEST fried chicken.  And I had a fruit salad with it.)  While we were there we saw they had their premade dinners for sale.  I got one for Korean stir-fried beef.  Not knowing the oven would be fixed, I got something I could do on top of the stove.

Have any of you ever tried those dinners that are sent to you from Blue Apron or Home Chef?  That is what these dinners are like.  I had never tried one of them before and didn't know what to expect, but it was good.  The directions were easy to follow and they gave you everything premeasured and cut up.  They even had a measured container of olive oil.  I am going to look for another one when I go shopping today.

On Monday I drove Joe to the nursing home where he gave a message to the residents there.  Every Monday our pastor goes for a half-hour service.  Joe sat in for him this week.  Those ladies and men there are so sweet and just love that we show up to talk about Jesus.  They are always smiling and waving at me.

We had breakfast for dinner tonight.  I made some blueberry pancakes and for once I didn't burn a single one.

After dinner it was still light so we went outside and started weeding.  There is so much to do, but I can do just a little bit at a time because it hurts me so much with my arthritis.  But anything is better than nothing.  We got a lot more done than I expected.  About a third of the yard is weeded now.  I cut one rose and brought it into the house.  It's nice to have flowers again.

And that's about it.  I have another exciting day today of teaching the Ladies Bible Study, going food shopping for the next two weeks and cleaning the house.  Still haven't found my cameras and I'm getting frantic here.  I'm so grateful to Joe for letting me use his now and then.

I'm thinking about doing a question and answer post.  Do any of you have any questions I can answer for you?  Anything about me or Philadelphia?  Anything about how I do something?  Some burning question you've always wondered?  Leave it in the comments below if you do and I'll see if there's enough to put a post together.

Hope you all have a nice day.  Thanks for stopping in.  Hope I haven't totally bored you.

Kathy

WHAT I'M READING: SPAIN OR SHINE by Michelle Jellen (2018/6)

Hello, friends.  I warned told you I would be back with another book this week and this is book #6.

SPAIN OR SHINE by Michelle Jellen (2005)

Summary:

The rain in Spain falls mainly on plain Janes.

Elena is lost in the shuffle among her three overachieving siblings.  But now that she's on her own for a whole semester, she intends to keep the spotlight all on herself -- and Spain is just the place to do it  Once she starts living it up in tapas bars, lying out on the beach (even though it's November), and having a nice, long siesta smack-dab in the middle of every day, Elena finds that Spain is everything she hoped it would be.  She's even met a to-fawn-over Spaniard, Miguel.  But Elena has always been more comfortable writing plays than starring in them, and she's beginning to realize that keeping out of the spotlight has its perks too.

My review:

This is another of the Students Across the Seven Seas series.  These are some of the best Young Adult books I have ever read.  Elena could be me at a younger age.  She wants to work behind the scenes.  She wants adventure, but is shy.  I loved the part of the story where she gets up the courage to visit her mother's family for the first time.  She thinks she will be bored or they won't like her and finds out that people are people all over the world and family is definitely family.  The love they have for her, even though they have never met her, is overwhelming.  And when she has all her dreams come true, it's time to go back to the U.S.A.  But she will never be the same.

I have to get more of these books.  They are always a good read.

JOE'S TEMPERATURE BLANKET

I've been working hard on the temperature blanket I'm making for Joe and it's coming along.  I really wanted to have it finished for his birthday, but that didn't happen.  I am, however, up to January.  In fact, I'm over halfway finished with January and will show that to you shortly.  In the meantime, here are the pictures from when I got done with December.

I was surprised when I saw how December turned out.  Look how gray it is.  The temperatures were mostly in the 20s and 30s.

Seeing it all laid out it almost looks like two different blankets. 

The fun part of a temperature blanket is you never know what it will look like.  And even if I made this again, if I used different colors it would be an entirely different blanket.  I so enjoy making them.  After this is finished I will start on mine for this year again.  I'm so far behind I will just begin over and see what I can do.

Have a great day everyone.

Kathy