Wednesday-5am: Before pictures

I couldn't resist. Sorry--but it was another pretty sunrise yesterday.

The sun is not up yet today. ;)

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I am posting some "before" pics. I am soooo excited! Dagan and Leah picked up the lumber for the additional shelves for the bookcases on Saturday. Lowe's cut them to size and Leah will sand them down. Five more shelves!!! Tada!--that means we can finally reorganize and rearrange the craft stuff!!

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I got a new bookcase last September that went in the bedroom because it didn't match the rest (don't make/carry those anymore, I guess). We moved this matching bookcase from the bedroom into the living room. Our card stock is in cardboard magazine holders laying (sagging) on their sides. This bookcase has become a kind of catch-all spot. Definitely needs three more wooden shelves.

As long as I was taking pictures I figured I'd show you all the art & craft supplies...well, except for what's above the washer and dryer...and in the storage area...and under my bed.....

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The bookcase on the far left will probably stay pretty much as is, I think. You never know once I get started--LOL!

This bookcase will definitely get some organizing. Oh, and you can see there are a couple of the additional wooden shelves in each of these bookcases that Leah made previously. We do have 12 X 12 inch scrapbooking paper, various paper pads, and other papers in some of the satchels. We want to move all the assorted papers over to the bookcase by the porch door and have it all in one basic spot for once. Which will free up a few of our satchels, too.

The cardboard ink pad shelves over the air conditioner will get cleaned and arranged.

The top part of the new bedroom bookcase (the three shelves of art & craft books below are okay) will get additional shelves and sorting.

And we're also going to put one of those wire four cube shelves stacked up in the corner. That will hold some of the odd shaped items that take up room that we don't use as often.

And Leah's sister and hubby picked us up some of the plain towel racks from IKEA in Minneapolis. They'll be put up where that painting is now by the porch door. Those IKEA racks will hold most of our punches--and maybe free up another satchel or two! (Nothing more exciting to a crafter than empty satchels--LOL!)

I took these pics off the internet of the paper storage shelves I am going to order in September. These are the clear plastic ones for the 12 X 12 inch papers. They come in a set of 10--so I can set five of them side by side on a shelf. And I searched online till I found a place that had them $10 cheaper with $9 less in shipping!!! Whoohoo!

And these are the steel shelf units--seven high--from Office Max. I have one that has four shelves that I have had for at least ten years (can't remember--could be 15 or 20--seems like I've had it forever--LOL!). Each shelf will hold about a ream of paper and they have never bent or bowed one little bit. So, I am planning on getting two of these to set side by side for all the 8 1/2 X 11 inch paper.

I know. They don't look like something to get soooo dang excited about, but I am almost dancing with anticipation up here! And after it is all done--then we get to relabel everything!! ;)

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Now you know what my next big project is going to be come September. I will take pictures, of course. Let you know how turtle-me is progressing. ;) For right now, I am just sleeping my way around the clock and hoping to be back on days by next week. Karma is snoozing in her cat bed under my desk--just because I put it in a new spot, of course. It's dark and quiet here in Fargo. Hope everyone is having a good week. :):)

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"Holiness comes wrapped in the ordinary. There are burning bushes all around you. Every tree is full of angels. Hidden beauty is waiting in every crumb."

Macrina Wiederkehr

Monday-8pm

These morning shots were taken in sequence over about five minutes.

Love the pink and blue pastel clouds.

But, as you can see, the day wasn't going to be a sunny one.

The dark blanket of clouds dominated the sky.

I'm glad that Hurricane Irene wasn't any worse than she was. I can't imagine the damage if she had been as bad as they first thought. I hope everyone is safe and dry and has electricity.

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I can't believe that Karma is still watching the door a week later--LOL!

I got a wonderful card from Iggy while Ruby was here and forgot to take pictures.

Here you can see the shimmer on the outline of the flowers on the front. Yup! "Flowers" from Iggy!! Thanks so much, my friend. :)

I've been working on letters the past couple days. Karma was bugging me for attention (she is just like a toddler at times--LOL!). I knew all I had to do is move something out of place to redirect her attention, so I pulled the ottoman over near me and she was immediately ensconced thereon.

But she was still annoyed with me for sitting at the table when she was so obviously in the mood for a good cuddle on my chair. I went to turn the flash off (I often attempt to take one with and one without flash) and she immediately started pawing on the craft satchels...just because she knew I was watching her and I'd say, "What are you doing, you stinker? Leave those alone." Then she yawned and gave me one of those--"so there!" cat looks.

Lastly, I have a pic for Iggy. ;)

Why on earth would CableOne need orange cones to guard the front end of its truck in a regular parking spot? They are just so dang important, I guess. I'm glad I don't have to deal with them anymore. At least once a year when they hooked up someone else's cable in the building they would unhook mine by accident. I don't miss them--even tho they insist they miss me terribly and send me weekly enticements and bribes to come back into the fold--the CableOne cult--LOL!

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Prayers to everyone on the east coast dealing with cleanup and damages. So glad Hurricane Irene wasn't as bad as they predicted her to be. Or as my Swedish relatives would say, "Could have been worse". Just grateful it wasn't. Hope everyone has a decent, calm week. :):)

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"Love is the first ingredient in the relief of suffering."

Padre Pio

Saturday-5:15pm

Was a golden...

...pastel sunrise this morning before I went to bed. ;)

I wouldn't see as many sunrises if my hours didn't shift about so. :)

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I wanted to say a special thank you to Leah, today.

Karma loves her "exercise" treat egg. Has not lost interest in it yet!

She pushes it all around the floor with her forehead.

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No surprise there. Karma does love her head pressed against anything and everything--even the floor will do--LOL!

Karma really does love her blue egg.

Here she fell asleep with her paw touching it...

...like a toddler fighting sleep will do playing with a favorite toy.

Thanks for thinking of her, Leah! ;)

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"Joy is the simplest form of gratitude."

Karl Barth

Friday-5:45pm

For several days Karma seemed to be waiting for Ruby to come back. Every time there were people in the hallway she'd go stare at the door waiting...in anticipation of Miss Ruby.

I miss her, too. ;)

Karma has been harder to sneak up on for pics, too--LOL!

Whether inside lounging in the sunshine...

...or out on the porch soaking up the heat.

But is was 90 again one day and that puts Karma into a contented coma.

As you can tell, been pretty quiet around here this week--LOL!

Karma's done a lot of porch napping.

Me...well, I had the dentist on Tuesday afternoon. Then Wednesday Caroline had to bring a client in for a pre-op exam, so she called to switch to Thursday. I cancelled Dagan and Leah on Wednesday night because I've either been sleeping 9-10 hours or under 5, so wanted to sleep while I could, whenever I could--plus I knew they had run every day last week, so they were fine with that.

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Been reading, journaling, writing letters, catching up reading blogs (didn't post on the old ones, but have read everything now), emails, watched a couple movies, some TV...a fairly quiet, contented week. :)

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My soap (All My Children) that I've been following and chuckling over for 40 years, is going off the air in September after 41 years. They said they were going to try to wrap up storylines before then, right? Well, I have been totally, totally LMAO and enjoying these past several weeks. People are coming back from the dead left and right! Or past characters are glimpsed in dreams or visions or phone calls...it is so totally over-the-top unbelievable (Dixie is on her second Lazarus trip as we speak) but then soaps are not known for being reality-based TV--LOL! Crazy as this ending has been, I have to admit it is such fun to see old familiar faces. Plots are moving at warp speed, Pine Valley emotions are flip-flopping all over the place--and Susan Lucci (Erica) is soon to be unemployed. What a hoot! I can hardly wait to see who else is coming back from the dead! ;)

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I hope you all have a super weekend!! :):)

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Even Socrates, who lived a very frugal and simple life, loved to go to the market. When his students asked about this, he replied, "I love to go and see all the things I am happy without."

Jack Kornfield

from After the Ecstasy, the Laundry

Monday-noon

Karma's recovering from a week of daily company. She's spent most of her time since yesterday passed out on the warm porch catching up on her lost beauty sleep--LOL!

[Karma was friendlier to Ruby, though, than anyone I've seen in the last four years. Maybe because Ruby is an born animal lover...plus moves more slowly like me? LOLOL!]

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Well, greetings! I feel like I've been gone longer than a week...and yet it feels like my time with Ruby flew by so fast we were shocked when it was over. :(

Having my first "company" coming in many years was motivation to at least finish cleaning my desk, right? I found strange antique items like these floppy discs. Shows you how long it's been since I went through everything--ROFL!

I did get the desk and file cabinet finished, inside and out--tada!

I cleared off the art table (and the craft table-forgot picture) because Ruby was bringing along a Chinese brush painting kit she'd bought a while back. Cool!

Cleaned the porch...

...and even quick made little popsicle stick markers for the herb pots.

I had my Mother's Day roses hanging to dry in the hall closet for so long I'd almost forgotten they were there.

When cleaning the top of the hutch...well, here's the old bouquet from a couple years ago.

These seven roses were still good. The red ones get very dusty looking after a while and you just can't blow the dust off them for some reason. These still looked gorgeous!

A couple of the new ones fell apart, but here is the new dried bouquet...

...with some new and some older roses.

Now they are up on the desk hutch looking pretty.

I was so excited to see Ruby that I could hardly sleep the night before she arrived! Here she is sitting in my chair checking out her new phone. I believe this was on Wednesday. She sure doesn't look 70, does she!!

Dagan and Leah had put Ruby on their Sprint family plan, too, a couple years ago so that she and I can gab all we want--hehe! Ruby also qualified recently for the free smart phone. I was the guinea pig (just love mine), so we ordered another free phone for Ruby same as mine so that it was here when she came up. Since they are identical phones, if Ruby has any questions, Leah said we could make a video for Ruby and email it to her--using my phone as the example. Clever! ;)

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Leah spent all Tuesday evening switching phones for Ruby and teaching her how to use her phone, just like she did with me. Patient woman, that Leah! :):)

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The splendid days just flew by!! Ruby arrived late Monday afternoon (big hugs!!) and we just hung out and caught up. [She stayed at a motel up the road from me. Sadly, not much room in my little place.] It seemed hard to believe she was actually right here and we could look into each other's eyes! Being in someone's presence is soooo different than emails, letters, and talking on the phone. Ruby is like family to me and always has been. The best loved family folk--if you know what I mean. ;) The whole week was marvelous!!

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Tuesday Dagan & Leah came over after work and that was "geek night" as Leah put it--LOL! (Phone stuff.) Wednesday Ruby and I just talked and drank coffee and managed to fit in a couple of movies. Thursday we spent the day watching Chinese Brush Painting DVDs...and gabbing, of course. All week we'd be just shocked at what time it was whenever we noticed the clock--LOL! Ruby got practice with her phone, too. She called me every night when she got to her room and I called her every morning. :):)

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On Friday I had us all set up on the craft table to practice CBP and show Ruby all my goodies!

Ruby showed up with roses!! I put them in the middle of the craft table first, but we couldn't see each other because we're both so short! (Ruby's 4'11" and I'm about 5'1".)

I have to move flowers out of Karma's reach anyways, so I put them up by the TV. Karma's too fat to jump that high--LOL!

They may look white at first glance...

...but they have a baby's cheek blush to them. (I just took these last two close-ups this morning--just gorgeous, aren't they?)

Ruby and I watched the instruction video...painted...went back to watch the DVD...then back to painting...etc...etc...on Friday. Basically were practicing the different strokes for bamboo leaves, orchid grass, and chrysanthemum petals. At least Ruby got some of the basics, not that I know that much. I haven't had mine out for probably 3-4 years!! We had fun playing about! :)

Suddenly it was Saturday!!

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We painted a little during the day and then went over to Dagan and Leah's for dinner. Ruby got to see where they live and meet Sammy and Annie.

Dagan and Leah made cheeseburgers on the grill, corn on the cob, and homemade blueberry ice cream for dessert!! The corn and the blueberries were from a local farmers market. Everything was absolutely delicious!

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This was after dinner. I thought it was funny that we were all four messing with our phones at the same time so I took a picture of Dagan and Leah. I didn't realize (duh!) that my phone can take videos and I took a short video of us...but haven't figured out how to get it onto my computer yet--ROFL!

Leah took a picture of Ruby and I. The cards on the table were for this bar fight card game that a couple friends of theirs invented and published. (Do you say published for a card game?) I don't think us two old ladies look like we're ready for a bar fight...but I won--ROFL!

Leah put some games on Ruby's phone for her. Here I am showing her how to play...well, either YahtzMe (like Yhatzee) or Jewels (like Bejeweled). We even played a couple 2-player YahtzMe games together on Dagan's new tablet.

Here she's learning how to play Jewels on her phone. Addictive, these games! ;)

Saturday night we left Dagan and Leah's, Ruby dropped me off at my place, we said our goodbyes, and the week was gone! Just like that! Poof!! It was glorious, though!

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Actually the timing couldn't have been more perfect. We didn't do the painting and visiting until the end of the week, so by the time I was getting in worse shape it was time for Ruby to leave. Not that she would have cared if I was hobbling about. But, poor Ruby! She's used to being out and about and more active--so she was getting creaky from sitting around here for days with shut-in me. And I am the opposite with the fibro--the more I move around the more pain I'm in. So we were both pretty creaky by Saturday--LOL! ;)

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It was a superb week with an totally awesome woman! I'd do the happy dance but I am taking it easy because I have to be out and about tomorrow--to the dentist's for a teeth cleaning--LOL! Caroline is coming Wednesday instead of Tuesday this time. Feeling a touch bereft.

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I am soooo far behind on the blogs I follow that I plan to do catch-up reading as I am able and just start now from today with comments. I know. I know. I probably follow too many blogs--but I do like them all. Even if I don't always comment, I do usually read each and every one of them. I hope no one takes offense if I don't comment on the last week's posts. Doesn't mean I won't read them eventually. Sorry.

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It is good to be back, but I do miss my Ruby. :):)

Hope there is a really good week ahead for us all!!

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"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

Winnie the Pooh