The in-between stage?

I have a birthday in about 8 days. I won't say how old I'll be but , well in a very few short years I'll qualify for social security benefits.

Today I went shopping at a clothing store. I have a couple of occasions approaching that I need to have something decent to wear.
Looking in my closet this morning all I see are Levi's, t-shirts, flip flops and tennis shoes. Oh lets not forget those comfy sweat pants!
This is my life.
This is my "style" - the laid back comfy style of I never go anywhere or do anything special life style.
So when something comes up once in a blue moon , such as a friends wedding, I then realize I have nothing to wear.

All I had in mind to buy was a pair of black slacks and some sort of nice top. Then also needed a pair of comfy decent shoes.
all I have to say is "UGH".

My mind says that I'm a young active girl who likes to be in current style of some sort.......BUT also wants to be comfortable.........AND doesn't want to look like an older person who's trying to look young ...but doesn't.
Ya know, those people we see out there who are obviously OLDer yet insist on wearing clothes that belong on my granddaughter! That is what I do not ever want to look like!
However......I also do not want to look like I'm 20 years older than I am! I don't do the plaid elastic waist polyester pants with the gauze type flowered button blouse , ankle socks and slip on canvas shoes.

YET, as I'm browsing around this nice big clothing store I realize that there is no in between!

So what am I? I don't fit into either category! All the clothing on the racks are the styles for the younger or the older! So again..........UGH.

In desperation I begin grabbing things as I walk by the racks and throwing them into the cart. I figure I'll just try on as many things as possible and maybe something will meet the in-between stage that I'm in.

As I'm trying on clothes I begin to wonder am I really in that in-between stage or am I just fooling myself into thinking I'm younger than I really am?
The discoloration of the skin on my chest as I'm trying on this blouse makes me wonder...........and the wrinkled sagging skin hanging down from my arms by the armpits as I'm trying on this sleeveless top makes me cringe!
The roll of .......whatever that is around my waist makes these pants look disgusting!
And what about the horrible colors and designs on every rank in the store! I look like a circus clown that threw up!

The pile of "nope not that" is getting bigger and the pile of "maybe a possibility" is very small.

Finally, after feeling like I've been in this store for about three weeks I give in. I settle on some black slacks that seem to fit well enough that I can sit down and not loose my last meal. I pick one top that is indeed sleeveless but I like it and it's comfortable. I decide that since the top is sleeveless I'll allow myself to buy the sweater to wear also. I did find some very comfy flat shoes and I have to giggle because the style is a "MaryJane" style which is the same style that I wore in high school! They were the most comfortable of all the shoes I tried on and comfort comes first for me now.

So there it is. Black slacks. Sleeveless top that is black with pretty blue swirls on it. A mid-length black wrap around sweater and some comfy black shoes.
Yes the dominate color is black. There was pretty much no other choice. Everything in the store is now the "fall/winter" style and the colors are all dark and dreary. I'll have to search through my jewelry to see what I can use to lighten it up some.
At least the wedding I'm going to is next month and I guess that October will be alright for dark and dreary! ha!

Besides, I'll be sitting in the back of the room anyway staring at the wrinkles on my hands and my MaryJane shoes!

and so it begins.......

Well it was a nice summer. Must of had fun because they say that time flies when your having fun and it sure seemed to go by fast!
I had plans of all sorts of things to do with the grand kids during the summer and didn't quite get through that list!

We did spend a few days at the beautiful bay. I could just move there! LOVE it there! It's the one place that we can go with or without the kids and just sit back and enjoy God's beautiful creations

We went to the zoo at least three times. The museums. The science center. Played baseball and tennis at the park. Used the swimming pool several times. Played the Wii numerous times.
We had sleep overs , treasure hunts, spy games and built forts.

All in all it was a good summer.

Now tomorrow school begins and so begins a whole different schedule. Things are changing. As of right now I'll be taking Conner to preschool two mornings a week and picking up Kyle from school four days a week. However, Vanessa doesn't know if she will be one of the chosen to be laid off as her company is now downsizing.
It's soccer season so there are practices and games that I will be going to and helping with the transportation.
Baseball season is almost over so Jim will be home more.
Ryan will be starting a brand new school this year.
Nathan and Sarah will be home schooled without their older brother for the first time.

Yep, it's all changing. But then life is all about changing right?

A Day Off

I watch my grandsons Tuesday through Friday. I'm busy on weekends. So on Mondays when I see people who know that I watch my grandsons they say to me " enjoy your day off".

So today, which is Monday, I :

got up at 6:30am.
watered yard
got a cup of coffee and banana
drove dog to the groomers
drove to the post office
drove to Target store
got my hair trimmed
came home and ate lunch
started laundry
got online and prepared package label for returning Avon item.
put one load in dryer and another in washer
baked two sheets of dog treats
folded one load of laundry and put another in dryer
worked on a "treasure hunt " game that the kids have been begging me to do
drove to the UPS office and dropped off the Avon package
stopped at a store to find a dog bed
drove to the groomers to pick up the dog
brought dog home
made a smoothie for Jim and I
cleaned up kitchen
began preparing stuff needed to go to the bay tomorrow with the kids.......this included,
making sandwiches, cutting up carrot & celery sticks, packing towels and sand toys, putting chairs and umbrella in trunk, putting bottles of water in refrigerator to get cold.
Pulled out the crock pot to use in morning to prepare spaghetti sauce so we can have spaghetti when we get home from the bay.
cleaned up kitchen
came in this office and began to put away all the Avon paperwork that I had thought I was going to organize today but since it's late it can wait.
Took a shower.
It's now 9pm.............oh yeah, there's still a load of laundry in the dryer needing to be folded!

I can't wait to go to the bay tomorrow and relax and have a nice day off!

Beach Bump

So we decided that we'd take our dog to dogs beach on Saturday. It's a beautiful beach area and on one side of the pier they allow dogs to run free without leashes.

The dogs are like a bunch of little kids in a playground. It's so fun to watch them. They never fight. Some like to just walk and relax. Some like to jump in the water and ride the waves.

Pepper just loves it. He romps around with a smile on his face wagging his tail and greeting all the other dogs.

Jim and I like to watch Pepper and the other dogs and we also just like the ocean air and relaxing walk................

But there are also dogs who love to run as fast as they possibly can after their play toys. Those play toys are the most important thing on their minds at the time and nothing,,,,,,,,,,,,,nothing better get in their way...............

and that includes little old ladies like me! As a dog came running through us so fast I can't even tell you what type of dog it was it caught the side of my leg/hip and being on the sand I lost my balance and went tumbling down!

So with a large lump on the front/side of my right leg and sore muscles all the way from my hip to my toes I will from now on have eyes in the back of my head as I take my relaxing walks along the beach!

oh, and no I do not wear a red dress with heels to walk on the beach :)

Drained or not?

Why is it that some days I feel like I've been bitten by a vampire during the night and all sources of energy have been drained out of me and then other days I feel just fine?
Doesn't seem to matter what I eat or do the day before or how much sleep I get.

For the last several days all I've wanted to do but couldn't do was sleep. I just wanted to lie on the couch in front of the TV and veg out.

This morning I woke up at 6am. Just woke right up without the alarm and was wide awake.
Today I've done two loads of laundry, broiled steak, baked homemade dog treats, cleaned the kitchen- twice, drove to the vacum repair shop and dropped off my vacum, brushed the dog, drove to pick up my vacum.........and I'm still wide awake!
I want to feel like this every day but Murphys Law -- tomorrow when the two boys get here I'll feel drained again before the day even starts!

Just don't go

Ya know, I think it would be easier if we just stayed home all the time and sat out in the back yard and listened to the birds and the wind chimes........ahhhh.

But life just isn't so simple.

Going to get an oil change in your car is like going to the dentist. Why is that?

I don't like going to the dentist. First of all , it hurts. Second of all it hurts worse after I go than it did before I went! I go for a routine cleaning and come out with sore gums and an appointment for all the extra work they say I need done.
Well that is how it is with the car.

I go in for a routine oil change and waa-laa, they tell me my rear brakes are in need of replacing.
Now maybe some things I can put off till the last minute but the brakes! ?? I don't think so.
So now I need to figure out when I can go back to sit for an hour or so and get the brakes fixed and in the meantime grow a money tree to pay for this extra expense I didn't plan on.

And to add to this wonderful gifts of life that we are given our refrigerator/freezer has decided to leak water onto the floor. Seems that it thinks it needs to create a frozen lake at the bottom of the freezer which as the water runs down onto this frozen lake it slides over the ice and out the door onto the floor.
As of right now there is a dish towel on the bottom of the freezer which is soaking up the water so that it doesn't flood the floor until the repair man comes to our house tomorrow. Can't wait to see his expression when he see's this frozen towel!
And of course until he shows up I have no idea how much that is going to cost.

They say when it rains it pours..............well I live in sunny California and it's not suppose to rain here!
Not having much luck growing that money tree either!

Wasting Time?

So what does it mean exactly to "waste time" ?

There is never enough time it seems. Yet time has never changed over the years. There is and always has been 24 hours in a day, 7 days a week since I was born ( many years ago ), so why does it seem that the older I get the faster time goes ?

How does one waste time?

I always, ALWAYS, have things I need to do. I'm a list maker. I have a list about 2 miles long of things that I could, should or would do "if I had enough time".

But really, how does a person actually waste time?

Is it really wasting time if you sit and do nothing? Are you really doing nothing?
You breath. You think. ..........gosh, my mind never seems to shut down. If I'm "doing nothing" and sitting still for five minutes my mind is constantly thinking of all the things that I should get up to do!
So how can one do nothing? Is that actually possible?

If I decide to type on this blog am I wasting time because I'm not finishing the laundry or making a grocery list?
If I decide to take a nap ( which is rarely done ) am I wasting time? My body is refreshing itself. My muscles are recuperating from the busy workout with the grand kids. My health is healing itself. So how can lying still and relaxing become "wasting time" ? Shouldn't we allow ourselves to relax once in awhile?

Don't we all just need to give in and give it all up once in a while? Forget about all the hubbub of the day, the stress, the long list of to-do's?
Can I actually do that?

Maybe instead of calling it "wasting time" we should say we are making a choice to accomplish something else. Maybe I should put that on my to-do list. #52 - accomplish something different today.

Accomplishing something..............hummmm, that is a whole different subject. I'll have to wait until I have more "time" to write about that!

Avon

I've begun a new venture. I'm now an Avon Sales Representative!
www.youravon.com/msebastian0230

For quite some time I've tried to think of a way to make a little extra cash while being a wife, grandma, caregiver, homemaker and whatever else I need to be.
Trying to do something that I can do from home and that doesn't require driving around to do home parties or too much "extra" work was a hard thing to find.

I've played with the idea of Avon for a while. I resisted because I am not one to wear much makeup and I'm allergic to most perfumes. I didn't want to try to sell something that I could not use myself.

Well, I did some research. I began looking on the Avon website and noticed that the company has expanded quite a bit since I had last looked! They have everything now! Not only makeup and perfume but great skin care products, body care products, jewelry, clothes, shoes, purses, watches, and more!
Then I also noticed that they support raising funds for breast cancer research, domestic violence, and women who need support. They are very strong in helping women to be strong!

So I took a leap of faith and I contacted the local representative. She came to my home and I signed up!

Now here's the real news! I barely had time to look at my start up kit and had my first orders! I have been very blessed to have great friends and family that have helped me get started in my new business.
I am amazed at how easy it is to sell! Women everywhere know and love Avon! I give my website, catalog or business card to a person I know and the next thing I know I have people I don't know ordering from me!

I am now on my third campaign. There is a new campaign every two weeks so I've been a representative for one month.
I want to have orders each and every campaign. That is my goal. When the new one started today I begin to wonder who I can approach for an order. What should I do now!
Then I'm blessed with a phone call this morning from a friend that I had left my catalog with. She's a hairdresser and one of her customers wants to order $50 worth of products!

I'm now using the skin care products and a little bit of makeup and loving the way it makes me feel!

So if your looking for great products to use for yourself or as a gift........everything and anything from deodorant to jewelry check out my website! Or if your looking for a part time job with a great company contact me!
www.youravon.com/msebastian0230

Quakes, Avon, kids and weather.............seems I just haven't had any time to sit and write much lately.
I haven't been looking at recipes either to use for my recipe blog. Been just throwing things in the pan and when it's done we eat!

We've had SEVERAL earthquakes starting with the big 7.2 on Easter Sunday. Still having them as of today. So far our home has held up well and we are all in one piece. Feel bad for those who live further south and getting the worst of it though.

I signed up as an Avon representative. I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment because I haven't had the time to get a feeling of organization yet. I am going to try to spend the next two days doing some filing and organizing. I plan to put an ad in the local newsletter that goes around this mobile home park on the first of May and want to be ready in case it gets some attention!
I am pleased though that I'm in the second campaign already and even though I've felt very unorganized somehow have managed to get over $100 in orders each time!
I inherited this beautiful old roll top desk from my mother-in-law and using it for my office space in a little corner of my front room. I can even close my office by rolling it down!

With school in spring break the last two weeks I've been extra busy with both boys here most of the days. Took them to the zoo this week and kept busy figuring out things for them to do all day.

Weather has been just weird. Rain, sun, wind, it changes every few days. Which is making my sinuses and my arthritis do a dance that I don't like!

Baseball season has started. Jim is going back to work as an usher beginning on Monday.

SO, with school starting , Jim working, some time to get Avon organized.......maybe the quakes will quiet down and all will be at peace again!

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Lost or Found?

So what would you do if you were walking through a parking lot with no one else around and there on the ground in front of you is a folded up $20 bill? -

You know it's not yours. It did not fall out of your pocket or purse. There is no one walking in front of you that dropped it. There is no one within close enough range to yell to and ask if they just dropped it. In fact there is no one around at all. -

Do you feel lucky that you found it? -
Do you feel guilty that you are standing there with money that belongs to someone else?

Today is full of tough times. People need that extra $20 to buy milk & lunch meat for the week or to put gas in their car to get to work. -
Yet as you stand there with this now unfolded money you look around you as you spin around in circles to see if there is anyone in close range that may have dropped it......and there is no one. -

What do you do? What do you think? What do you do? Does it depend on the situation of the day? Does it depend on the location? How does one go about finding the rightful owner? -

Realistically if you take that money to lost & found what do you think will happen to it? Is there a lost and found bucket full of lost bills of numerous denominations that hasn't been claimed yet? Or is there a person who works at the lost & found who is now approaching the status of millionaire with all the lost and found money that has been given to them? Would a person walk up to a lost and found and simply ask "hey, has anyone turned in a twenty dollar bill today?". Do you get on the loud speaker and announce that you found money in the parking lot and see if anyone comes to claim it?

Well, I don't know what you would do but in a parking lot full of vehicles and absolutely no one around to claim or ask it was decided that it was a nice day to go out to lunch. :)
-

Spent my day today on the couch with plenty to drink, the TV remote, a book to read and a supply of Kleenex.
The head cold bug seems to have bitten me. Since I had a day with no plans made it was the perfect opportunity to rest and recover.

Hopefully no one else will be sick and I will be over the worst of it by tomorrow morning.

I have learned something about myself these last few days. I'm not as much of a "go with the flow" as I assumed I was or as I used to be.
Most of my days I wake up and wonder what will come my way that day because my days are filled with the schedules of everyone in my life and seldom under my control.
However, I did have some sort of schedule going that I had begun to get used to.

But now it's gotten mixed and confused. Not by my choice or my control of course. Not by any ones choice or control.

My son was laid off from his job. Not only that but he is without a vehicle at this moment. Not a good combination.
So he and my daughter-in-law have to work it out day by day who will need their van that day. It all depends on if she needs to drive somewhere while on her lunch break, if he has places lined up to apply for work, or what might be going on with the kids.

So all of this makes my days confused and out of control and I"m a little grumpy. I don't know day by day if I will have the boys or not. If I do have them I don't know if it will be all day, partial day, or if I will need to pick them up or drop them off!
It's not their fault. It's nobodies fault. It was not planned and not wanted. But it is what it is so we all need to go with the flow.

So I'm praying for miracles. Praying for guidance, strength ,patience and blessings for all of us. Not just me but for all of us, especially my son.

Kids, Hubby and Dog

I haven't been on here much lately. I've been busy.

One thing that keeps me busy is my crazy hyper dog.

Here you see the before and after photos. His hair grows and becomes unruly covering his eyes. After taking him to the groomers he is now bright eyed and happy.

Once a week I take my grandson to a preschool class and once a week to a music class. It is a joy to watch him enjoy himself. Last week his preschool had a field trip to a gymnastics class. He loved it! He also had a homework assignment for his music class to make his own instruments from misc. items. He also loved that!

My hubby is anxiously waiting for baseball season to start. He will begin his venture as an usher again for the Padres. A job he is truly enjoying. He also will begin playing his Strat-o-matic baseball games again. Which is one of his loved hobbies. So daily I hear all about the plans and excitement that has been building up. He's like a little kid waiting for Santa to arrive.

It's in the air......or on the doorknobs! Grand kids are all getting sick with sore throats, stuffy noses, and feeling yucky and us adults are all trying to avoid it while taking care of the kids!

Be Careful What You Wish For!

Down here in Southern California it gets pretty hot and very dry for an extremely long time. So dry that you can taste the dust in the air and get very tired of dusting your house over and over. So hot that you don't want to move and can't stand to pay the a/c bill.
Yes, we are blessed by great weather most of the time, but the very hot spells are sometimes just too long and in need of a cool break. It's the dryness that I can't stand. There are just too many months that go by with no rain at all and we often get warnings of water shortages. Everything just feels so dry and dirty and the only way to fix that is to ask God to give us some rain from time to time.

The only problem is that when God does decide to give the rain to us he gives it to us all at once!

Guess what happens to land when it is so dry and suddenly a bucket of water is poured over it....yep, mud slides.
Guess what happens to trees that don't have deep roots in dry dirt....yep, they fall down.
Guess what happens to people who aren't used to rain, wind, lighting when they are driving....yep, accidents.
Guess what happens to roofs that haven't been wet in almost a year......yep, all the loose parts show up with leaks.

So as we try to be safe and not get swept away in the flooded areas or blown away by the 80 mile per hour winds or crushed by the falling trees or irritated by the expense of needed repairs - we need to be thankful for the rain.

Recipe Blog

Since January 1st Jim and I have been trying to eat healthier. I've been trying several new recipes. I have always gotten a little chuckle out of my hubby walking through the house saying "yum,that smells good" as I am cooking something. It may just be that I'm sauteing onions at the time but he always comments. So today as I'm cooking another new recipe he walks through with his nose up in the air sniffing away and saying how good it smells and the thought came to me to journal my efforts to cook healthier and what the results turn out to be.

I can't journal on paper due to the arthritis makes my hands hurt so instead I'm blogging it because typing doesn't seem to hurt as writing does.

Check out the link on the left sidebar.

Grief & Hope

Recently we received some very terrible news about a long time friend who committed suicide and took his wife with him.
My hubby has taken this news very hard. Over the past 22 years he had enjoyed many occasions of laughter and conversation with his friend. There was never any signs of such an tragedy to occur.

People have ups and downs in their lives. There are many obstacles in ones life that can be depressing or disappointing. There are illnesses and depressing events that sneak up on us.

But there is an invisible door. On the other side of that door there is a dark evil place waiting to swallow us up into the point of no return.

One must wonder what causes a person to open that door.

We all walk up to that door sometime during our life but then we must remember our many blessings and turn around and walk the other way. Sometimes it's a hard climb up the mountain to the other side, but it is worth the effort.

We need encouragement to keep us walking back over that mountain, strength to keep us there, and the knowledge that we are loved and cared for.
We live in this world but it is not of this world that we will find that amount of love.

"nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 8; 38-39
We have hope in the knowledge that God has given us that love.
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