Almost Christmas!!

Took advantage of my free time before starting my new job to crank out 30 hand painted cards for my friends and family. Didn't take the time to snap a picture of each one: however, did capture my workspace along with the pics my family sent me of the cards they received.

I have a big bag of lip gloss that I bought from Ross for about $3.99.  In light of the holiday season, decided to sport the red gloss. Now, I never wear red - every time I've tried the color was too dark, too brown, and just not flattering! But this red gloss was different - had more of a blue tone, was sheer, and was the first red to work with my skin tone. Love it!!

Earlier this month met sis Luna at Guse's coffee shop. It's been in business for years but I'd never checked it out. Great coffee, great company, and it was a perfect visit!

The Blue Jacket Diva's met up at the local Latin restaurant Riggo's for a holiday get-together last week. We ate a lot, laughed a lot, and played the gift game. We never have enough time to visit with each other - I think we need to plan a full day or overnight stay just to catch up with each other properly!!

Cleaned and filled the hummingbirds feeder and the hummers have been out in force!!

Started my new job on 12/9 and love it. Manny said it seems I've been in a better mood -definitely lifts my spirits by having returned to being a productive member of society! 

😁😁😁😁👍👍👍👍

Finishing my Christmas shopping and plan to be all set for breakfast with the boys on December 25. To get in the spirit, I've watched three versions of A Christmas Carol, Miracle on 34th Street, Christmas in Conneticut, and It's a Wonderful Life. Nothing better than black and white classics to set the stage for the holiday season!!  🎅🤶🧑‍🎄🎄

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

December Already?

November was focused on landing a job! Was referred to a Seattle insurance agency by my former boss. We actually met up in Tacoma for a lunch at Matador, including a few of my previous co-workers.  Been so long since I had a girl's meal. 

Had a first interview, assessment, second interview, then I received the offer!  Fully remote with better pay than my last job!! Looking forward to starting on December 9th!

I think my stress was hovering on the back burner as once I accepted the offer, the cold crud hit me big time. Congestion, coughing, sneezing- the whole shebang. Thankfully I'm on the downhill slide - today was a good day as I was able to cough without wetting myself!! And the winter bug helped me shed 7 pounds!  Unfortunately, I shared the bug with Manny but he's getting through it fine - just the typical man symptoms with exaggerated whining and embellished achyness.

A couple weeks ago son Sam begged me to clean his house - for pay - so couldn't pass it up. I've cleaned it before so I knew what to expect - lots of dirty dishes leading to the question of "clean or toss?"  Spent over three hours and Sam gave me a 20 out of 10 score.

Not actual kitchen - example for reference 😉

Thanksgiving was a quiet day spent with Jordan, Candy, Sam, and Jordan's childhood friend John. Went instant all the way - mashed potatoes, boxed stuffing, jarred gravy, and store bought pies. Did roast the turkey from scratch.

Spent Friday simmering the turkey carcass to make stock then used some of it today to make turkey corn chowder. Yum!  Here's the recipe if it's calling you!

Decided to paint my Christmas cards this year. Bought a package of 50 brown paper cards and envelopes at 40% discount. Spent yesterday penciling in the design and today began painting.  Seven cards done with another 23 to go!!

Christmas Cards in Progress

Let's try to keep the stress level down this December!! Happy Holidays!

Baby Squirrel to Moonlit Beach

Still hitting the street looking for a new job. Had one interview and assessment for an investment firm and waiting to hear the decision. Today I have an interview for a Spa Manager - may be the perfect fit for me with my dedication to fashion and makeup!

In the wildlife category, came home one day and discovered a baby squirrel eating peanuts at the base of our big tree. Was even able to pick him up! Placed him in the tree to see if Mama would show up; unfortunately, that didn't occur so I placed a request looking for squirrel help on Facebook. People were coming out of the woodwork wanting to care for the baby orphan! 

First person had experience and her husband works right across the street so we delivered the little critter directly to him. Knowing the squirrel was being properly cared for let us sleep much better.

Pigeons galore! Today I counted over 120 who came to feed. Perhaps it's the rain that's the reason for the increase in numbers.  We typically have 30 or so pigeon piglets so this many is surprising.

Grabbed an old painted canvas from the garage to redo it. Originally painted an ocean sunset scene; after a discussion with art expert Sam, decided to revise it into a moonlit scene. Love the way it turned out!

Sunset scene - Sam referred to the yellow reflection on the deck as a "pee stain!"

Revised moonlit painting.

Found an additional black and white photo to watercolor and embroider.

Sam, Jimmy, and Christian, along with Hazely, stopped by to help us with a light fixture issue. Those three are hilarious!  Jimmy flaunted his new pink hair, which he dyed for October Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Finally tackled a job on my to-do list - clean and organize the garage! This is actually the after pic - moved and stacked containers against the wall, tossed out tons of garbage, and made the Christmas decor accessible.  Only 70 days to Christmas!

Couple of months ago we were at Manny's dentist. They had a huge abstract rug that was beautiful and similar to the acrylic pour paintings I create. Took a picture, Googled it, and found the rug on Amazon. Isn't it gorgeous?

Last week our newer neighbor lady flagged me down to give me a couple snack packs of Lay's new flavor potato chips. Didn't realize she worked there but appreciated the thought. Two days later I opened the front door and there was a huge Target bag filled to burst with a variety of chips! Yummy surprise!

That's the excitement for now! 

September Odds & Ends

Goodbye summer and hello fall!  Hard to believe we are in autumn and another warm summer is but a memory.

Been plugging along with my unemployment duties each week, which involves training, resumes, reviewing job openings, etc. Early last week I applied for two local job openings. Good news is one of them scheduled me for a virtual interview. The set up was different - no real people just responding to questions and scenarios in writing and recorded verbally.  

Apparently, I passed that test as they called me for a 20-minute phone interview. The local contact then set up an on-site interview for next Friday. Things are moving quick!!  It's an in office job so, if selected, will have to brush off my dresses and drag out my heels!

We are thankfully coming to an end with Manny's intravenous chemo treatments which stop the end of October. OHSU has taught me how to flush and remove the chemo pump so this will eliminate the 15-minute trips to the hospital on Wednesdays following his chemo treatment every other Monday. 

Other recent life events have included the following:

We were recently in the oral surgeons office to set up extractions for Manny. They had a large, beautiful rug that reminded me of my abstract paintings. I took a pic then tracked down a similar rug on Amazon. Ended up purchasing a rug for the living room along with a smaller one to lay in front of the fireplace. Love the look!!

Found a huge bag of Scrabble tiles at Goodwill so snatched them up for a discount. Scoured Pinterest for ideas then decided to decoupage a few, added 3D clear Mod Podge for a resin vibe, attached a jewelry bail and bead words, and finished it off as a dangler.   Thought they may be nice to add to wrapped gift packages.

Discovered a couple of black and white beach photos buried in a craft drawer so decided to paint and embroider them. Here's one that had just the right number of girls to represent my sisters - I added thread to each top then watercolor painted the rest of the scene. 

Over Labor Day weekend we celebrated little Hazely's 2nd birthday. Here's a pic of mom Lexi with her cutie. 

Manny and Sam

Due to the fires in Oregon and Washington,  we had a very smoky sunset a couple of weeks ago.

For some strange reason, decided to strip and launder the covers of the couch yesterday. This turned into the biggest clusterfu*k idea of all time.

Unzipped and removed the sitting cushions with no problem. Began to remove the back cushions and what do I see? An absolute gawdawful ton of feathers stuck to the inside of the fabric! I knew the cushions were feather filled but didn't expect that mess.

Took the cushions and pillows outside to remove and pluck each feather from the inside of the fabric. This process took so long I began to feel like Ma Kettle cleaning a hundred chickens!

With the cushions defeathered and the yard filled with assorted brown, yellow, and white tufts, it was time to wash. Two loads to clean then more time to place the covers back onto the cushions.  (At one point I mistakenly chose the wrong cover for a seat cushion. Spent a good 20 minutes wrangling the larger cushion into the smaller cover, sweating a storm as I shoved and punched and pushed with all my brute force until I was able to close the zipper. Upon realizing the seat cushion was not meant to be shaped as a basketball, spent another 10 minutes releasing the foam padding from its binding and covered it with the correct cover.) 

The sofa looks great but we've decided it's time to get rid of the feather couch and replace it it with something much more user friendly!

Shout out to sis Julie who turned me on to the Washington Department of Revenue claims, which showed I may be owed money. Checked it out, submitted my claim, and about six weeks later received $109 in the mail!  Whoopee!

And finally, a big Happy Birthday to my sis Eilene on 9/21/24!!  Love you and hope you have a beyond fabulous day! 🥳❤️

Berries in the Most Unexpected Places!

Manny and I stopped by Denny's yesterday for a senior special breakfast. Where we parked there was a gigantic, sprawling thicket of blackberries just ripe for the picking. 

I asked the waitress if they were safe for eating (which I assumed they were as if they had been sprayed they would have been dry and withered.)  The dishwasher piped up and hollered "heck yeah - on my break I always eat a handful!"

With that Denny's approval in mind, we went back to the restaurant this morning and picked our little hearts out until we had three containers full of the plump berries.  Washed the batch then placed the zip lock bag in the freezer since their destiny is still being decided - pie, cobbler, or maybe even freezer jam!

Oy Vey My Life

Just when you think you are on the downside of a stressful four months of cancer treatment and leave, another life changing obstacle slaps you in the face!

Had set my return to work date; however,  they said the log in system needed to be updated and the team to where I would be assigned was still pending so my return to work date was pushed out by a week.  Had a teleconference with HR on the 22nd to go over the details. Unfortunately, instead of being assigned to a team I was laid off as my position was eliminated! Over six years employed so this was a shock! Thankfully, there is severance pay along with unemployment and sharing of COBRA so that's a plus.

So now it's time to reflect on my upcoming career choices and if I should focus on HR, insurance, or something entirely different. Been browsing the openings on line and perhaps something will pop up and call my name.

Here's an acrylic pour painting with crushed glass that I finished a couple of weeks ago.

Last weekend found this almost new set at a garage sale - they are a perfect replacement for my battered wicker chairs.

Painted my nails with a marble vibe.

New wildlife visitor who has come by a few times on a peanut hunt.  Lucky to capture this cute picture with his tongue out.

Repainted the metal globes and Mr. Squirrel found them to his liking!

From Trauma to Tassels

We are on the downstretch for Manny's cancer treatment but not without events.  

He was scheduled to obtain his chest port for the intravenous chemo; however, his tooth/face began swelling. We had a chemo doc appt on Monday, June 10 so he reviewed his symptoms and sent him straight to the OHSU ER. They hooked him up to strong antibiotics and scheduled him for surgery the next day.

On Tuesday surgery went well and they cleaned out the abcess infection, which had blown out to his mandible and neck. The team removed his ventilator and were wheeling him to the recovery room when the doctor saw he was struggling to breathe and was turning white. His tongue had swollen out of his mouth and they were unable to get an oxygen tube in so they were forced to perform a tracheotomy!  

He ended up in the hospital to Saturday recovering. He was unable to talk until Friday (which is his favorite hobby!) 

The next two weeks involved Manny recovering from the crises with me changing out his trache bandage each day. 

He was finally able to get the port surgically placed on the 28th and began the intravenous chemo on July 1st. We were expecting him to experience nausea but surprisingly that has not happened. He has been doing exceedingly well during all of these treatments.

July 4th we hung out at home but the neighbors were shooting off a variety of fireworks so we didn't miss much.

On to my crafts!

Tassels made from salt and pepper shakers.

Sewed curtains for the living room.

Painted a vintage window and hung it outside.

Made a set of curtains to hang above the mirror in the kitchen.

Reupholstered a chair that was gifted to me by sis Erin, using $1.99 fabric from Goodwill.

Last but not least - summer has arrived! Was in the 90's this last weekend and will continue this week with 99 on Monday and Tuesday! Blessed to have air conditioning!