Many of you will be happy to know that I didn’t buy Uggs…but I thought you may like to know what I did buy.

I thought these shoes were a great way to call in the warm weather that I am so ready to experience once again.

My daughter saw them and said, “Janet went shopping with you didn’t she?” How did she know????

I find myself wondering just what IS a woman of my age supposed to look like these days?

I remember when I turned 30 and my mother told me that I was now too old to have long hair. I laughed at her but I never could bring myself to grow my hair out again after that.

I wonder what other silly rules that I have  secretly hidden in my heart. I know that my mother used to frown on women of a certain age wearing  jeans and even though that doesn’t bother me…well.. as long as they are the right jeans of course…

Wow I am my mother….

This is my best friend and the other Modern Grandma….I tell her she is too old to wear Uggs…. but she just laughs at me…

Why can’t I just loosen up and enjoy life? Go a little extreme for a change…and I mean something a little more out there than painting my toe nails a color…yes folks that is really a hurdle for me.

I remember a woman who I once met….she was well in her eighties and yet so full of life. She told me that you are what ever age you feel before you look in the mirror that day and for this reason, she no longer owned any mirrors.

Has my friend already embraced this attitude about life and I am the only one that cares about the number?

Today for my birthday I’m going to head to the mall … after I throw away all the mirrors in the house… who knows…I may buy myself some Uggs…not likely…but maybe.

What is a Grandmother?

A grandmother is a lady who has no little children of her own. She likes other people’s. A grandfather is a man grandmother.

Grandmothers don’t have to do anything except be there. They are old, so they shouldn’t play hard or run. It is enough if they drive us to the market and have a lot of dimes ready. When they take us for walks, they slow down past things like pretty leaves and caterpillars. They never say “hurry up.” Usually grandmothers are fat, but not too fat to tie your shoes. They wear glasses and funny underwear. They can take their teeth out. Grandmothers don’t have to be smart, they only have to answer questions like, “Why isn’t God married?” and “How come dogs chase cats?” When they read to us, they don’t skip lines or mind if we ask for the same story over again.

Every body should try to have a grandmother, especially if you don’t have a TV. because they are the only grown-ups who have time.

This was posted in Ann Landers many moons ago…but it made me smile…hope it did the same for you.

If you have a sports player I highly recommend this. The girls loved it!

Inside I put some candy, some awesome glasses and a harmonica….all bought from the dollar store. Janet claims that boys really just want the candy but the girls seemed to love the glasses most. Can’t you tell?

 My twelve-year-old drew this picture. My kids are always amazing me at what they are able to do. 

I am trying to learn to stretch myself so I can amaze myself every once in a while. When I was on vacation this summer I showered in the great outdoors. This may not sound like a big stretch to most of you but in my 50 plus years I had never done that….by the way….it was really nice.

I also went tubing behind the boat for the first time after years of watching my children do it.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

I believe my kids can do anything…now I need to learn to believe  in myself

I am not sure how I feel about this. At first glance it seems like a good idea. This hooks your iphone to the handle of your stroller…shopping cart or bike. I could see where that could be handy, but do I really want someone to be texting during any of these times?

Shopping can be dangerous enough…in fact, I believe phones shouldn’t even work in the grocery store.

Biking…you really want to text during this? Doesn’t this rank right up there with texting and driving?

And then there is the stroller…. How many of us are guilty of talking on the phone when we are spending our “quality time”  with our kids?

Maybe kids need a device so cell phones won’t work around them…then once again when a baby points to a bird it’s mother will say “Bird” instead of…”Hey, whats up?”

Let me try to explain.  Before I head to the store each week, I try to take inventory of my fridge. I toss the spoiled meat I never got around to cooking. I always have such great plans when I’m in the store.

I also wipe up the Kool-Aid spill that everyone is pretending they haven’t noticed all week.

Today was a cold day by Florida standards when I woke up. We don’t get many sweater days but this morning was definitely one of those days. At least until about 1:00pm.  Before I changed clothes,  I decided it was a great day to clean my fridge. Cleaning the fridge this time of the year can give me a real shiver…so lets just say…it has been awhile  since I last gave it a thorough cleaning.

I asked my husband to get my vinegar off of the top shelf of the pantry for me. Nothing cleans better than vinegar and water. That’s when my dear husband informed me that the vinegar bottle was stuck to the top shelf.

How was I supposed to know that something had spilled up there and was now turning into concrete? I’m short.

So here we were facing today’s projects…he cleaned the pantry while I was cleaning the fridge. Lucky for us our teen was nearby to read all those ever-shrinking expiration dates.

Remember that top shelf that I can’t reach? This is what he found up there…

Yep…a brand new bottle…

Oops…check out the date.

So why am I glad I didn’t die yesterday? Because if someone else had found my mess after I was dead, all they would remember about me was my outdated jelly or the mold growing  in the veggie drawer.  I want to be remembered for what I have done in my life, not what I neglected to do.

Yep…there was my house for all the world to see….pillow on the floor…shoes everywhere…dirty glass on the end table…computer on the ottoman…and on and on it goes.

I would never invite hundreds of people from all over the world to my home and have it looking like that and yet here I was posting it on the web.

I had gotten so focused on my wood floors I had forgotten to look around.

Have you ever posted something that you later wish you hadn’t? I read someones blog the other day and it was all about peeing her pants… I think she is going to regret posting that about the time someone at a dinner party brings up her blog.

There should be a computer program that says…warning…warning…you will regret this later…

Image via Traditional Home.

I love wood floors. I knew when I built my house I wanted them even though in 1987 no one was putting wood floors in their houses in Florida. People told me that it couldn’t be done, they wouldn’t last…you name it, I heard it. I couldn’t even find wood floors to put in my house. But since Mr. Amazing’s number one job in life is to try to give me my hearts desire, he ordered some tongue and groove wood and proceeded to lay them in our new home.

People tried to talk me out of putting them in my kitchen but I’m glad I didn’t listen. I love my floors.

They are pine…which once again people said was a bad idea. Pine wood is a softer wood and after 23 years I do have a few dents here and there but nothing that doesn’t add to the charm.  Once when we moved the piano we got a pretty big dent in the floor, but I just got a damp rag, laid it on the dent and took my iron to it. Before long the dent came right out.

I love that my floors are real wood and if some kid scratches them, all I need to do is a little sanding and stain to fix it.

Many times we have moved the furniture out of our familyroom ..rolled up the rug …and set it up like a big banquet hall or even a dance floor.

This is one thing, beyond a doubt , that will be going into my new home. I think the color of the floors in the picture from Traditional Home are prefect. Something that can be very formal or casual. My home right now has carpet in the bedrooms but I am thinking of the new house being all wood.

What do you think about wood floors?

I’m not really sure where this love for re doing things came from because neither of our parents are what I would call project people. My mother had vision, and if she had been married to someone like I am she just might have got addicted to projects too.

And even though my father in law wasn’t really a project person either he did give his son the confidence that he could do anything he set his mind to. My father in law was a jack of all trades and taught both of his sons to be also.

Our wedding was filled with projects…Mr. Amazing even made the kneeling bench and all the candelabra flanking the aisle. I always remind him that he knew what he was getting into from the very beginning.

One thing that I think really developed us into the project people that we are, is our first house. We bought our first house at the age of 21 and it was not our dream home. More like a nightmare. Other than the price there wasn’t one thing that we liked about the house. I’m not sure what we were thinking

But for as bad as it was, what that first house taught us was worth a fortune. When you start with something as bad as it was, you aren’t afraid that you are going to mess it up. We learned about load bearing walls, oops , sub floors, and why you want one, and plugged septic tanks.

I also learned that living in a house while dry walling it is not something that I really ever want to do again.

Here are some before and after pictures…Now remember this was 1980 when we did this…so you young people out there stop laughing at our re dos…

The kitchen:

Wow! Check out Mr. Amazing’s hair!

And the bathroom:

By the way..I made this shower curtain out of a sheet….so if you are having trouble finding just the right shower curtain…go look in the sheet department.

Do you consider yourself a project person?