New Year's Past

Years ago, I can't even remember the year, Joe, we're no longer married, & I were visiting my family in Wisconsin over the Holidays. For New Year's we decided to take a bus and go gambling with the family. We had a blast. It was pretty much my first time at a casino. I spent most of the night pulling down the lever on the .5 game, wanting my $$ to last all night. I think we pretty much broke even, but we sure had fun. And the great thing was, we could just sit on the bus and be delivered back to the parking lot where we left our cars.

That's when the REAL fun began. My mom always leaves a key hidden on the porch so we figured there would be no problems getting in the house in the middle of the night. Our kids were home, the oldest babysitting, and all sleeping upstairs in the same bedrooms we slept in as kids. Nice and cozy. The only problem was, no one remembered to tell the kids not to lock one of the locks because mom doesn't have a key for that lock. So, here we all sat, in the middle of the night, a coooooold Wisconsin winter night, trying to figure out how we are going to get in. I threw some snowballs at the upstairs window, to no avail. I threw a few small pieces of icicle at the window....this was the room where our son was sleeping. We pounded on the door. After 15 - 20 min. of trying different things, trudging through the snowand snowbanks, my mom announces that sometimes she opens the little kitchen window above the sink! Aahha!! We tried it and sure enough, it wasn't locked.

Sooooo, there's an awning above the window, there's a huge green shrub in front of the window and being that Joe was the smallest of the men present, he was "the chosen one" .......to crawl through the window. My brothers hoisted him up, he pushed the window up as far as it would go and began his entry! And this is a small kitchen window that doesn't even shove up all the way & he's wearing all the winter garb. On one end, the boys are pushing and shoving, trying to get him up and in & on the other end, Joe is trying to crawl over the window sill, which is always loaded with trinkets & stuff, over the faucets, dishwashing soap, sponges and other cleaning paraphernalia and oh yeah, a SINK FULL OF DISHES...no dishwashing machine here! And of course, he's going head first so he's trying to figure out how to not land on the floor on his head!

Meanwhile, we are all outside, laughing our a$$e$ off, in the cold, in the middle of the night....trying not to wake the neighbors....we are just lucky someone didn't call the cops on us!!! So, we all got inside, where it was warm, still laughing, picking up all the stuff Joe knocked off the sill and the sink...let's just say - it wasn't a quiet operation!

Next day, we asked the kids about their night....they said they never heard a thing!

That was so long ago but it still brings a chuckle whenever I think of it!
Happy 2010 everyone!

Julie's Summer Picks

I have chosen just a few of the many beautiful items for sale on Etsy, just because I like them! Each one has something special that touches me. As you can see by my store (www.stitchesbyjulie.etsy.com), I LOVE yarn and just about anything that has to do with yarn. Don't laugh, but I've told my kids that I wish they would make one of those huge jumping things for adults, but instead of balls, put tons of yarn in there and I would be in heaven! So, I've chosen some beautiful handmade and hand dyed yarn, a few adorable knit hats with the cutest little "pea-in-a-pod". I've chosen a beautiful necklace that I just love, it just says 'summer' to me. And what is more enjoyable than watching the birds in the summer and listening to their beautiful songs, so, to bring them to your yard, the cutest "All American" birdhouse. If you've checked out my store you will see that I also do pastels, so I chose this beautiful pastel to join the group. I've already contacted the artist to compliment her on her beautiful work, and I thought others should see this too. This young lady just looks like she's going out on the town with her cute scarf around her neck. Then, there's the beautiful, simple, yet elegant bridal veil...so pretty. It looks like it would be just perfect for a summer wedding. Finally, the little tutu...how sweet would any little angel look in this, complete with angel wings! What a great summer party! As I said, they just pull at my heartstrings. I hope you enjoy them as well, and that you'll take time to check out their stores.

Dogs

Dogs are funny to watch. I have 2 that we adopted from the pound, and we were told by the workers that they were brothers. They look nothing alike. But, we bought it, (good way for them to find homes for 2 in one shot), and could not separate them, so we brought them home. They were sickly at first and it was a lot of work and mess. I mentioned the fact that they look nothing alike and I'm sure some people chuckled and thought "sucker", but someone said that dogs can have 2 different fathers. So, I bought that story, sounds impossible but this person seemed to know what they were talking about. Anywy, on with the story.

These two are never apart, 2 totally different personalities, and look like 2 different breeds. They are so funny, when they run, it's like they are connected in the middle, running at the same speed, both turn at the same time, it's hilarious. Todd, the brown one, he thinks he's the watchdog of the house. He barks at everything, and sounds pretty vicious, so, when people were being burglarized in the neighborhood, our home was not hit. Mmmmm. Petrie, on the other hand, is the sweetest dog you ever saw. He will get up along side of you and lean into you so hard like he wants to be part of you. He has a sweet bark, wouldn't scare a flea. If someone walks in the back of our house, Todd will set off barking like a fool, and he'll even nip at Petrie if he even tries to bark, because TODD is the watchdog and he doesn's want anyone infringing on his territory. But if they get out, Todd can't find his way home. One time Petrie came back after much calling, but no Todd. So I told Petrie, "go get your brother". Off he went and sure enough, he came back with Todd at his heals, ears flying back. If they are ever separated, they cry. They sleep in the same large cage at night, and I only hear grumbles once in a while. (Just like kids)

So, I think they are brothers. They love each other, protect and watch out for each other, play together and cry when they miss each other. They're laying out on the patio right now, one sleeping because there's nobody to bark at and one is snapping at flies. Too cute. Two helpful, troublesome, noisy, sweet little blessings that needed a little love and brought a lot of love with them.