Birthday 2018

Another year older today!! Happy birthday to my twin Todd as well. 

Spent the day relaxing and reading all the Facebook comments before meeting up with Lynn and the boys to celebrate tonight.

Took time today to give my Stubbs a trim and a bath. He is looking so much better.

Sam gave me the movie Dunkirk so I'm watching it while I relax this evening.  It was a good day!

Unloading Once Again

Nothing better than having pizza and watching the Grammys with your bestie to make you feel better about another breakup. And you know what? It's all going to be uphill from here. I'm deserving of so much more but for now it will be a time to focus on myself and my new adventures.

Single and Fabulous

Well the time has come where Steve and I broke it off. For good. For permanent. For slamming the door and no coming back.  It's a good thing. Starting my new birthday year off on a high note of new job, new adventures, and newly single!

Hibernation and Random Thoughts

I've been hibernating like a bear this weekend! Lots of movies, although I did take a break to take the bathroom garbage outside and clean the kitchen.  This morning I actually took a shower, put on makeup, did my hair, then promptly dressed in sweats!  My creative urges have not hit me and the only cultural activity into which I've immersed has been a marathon of Astaire and Rogers classics. 

All this downtime has encouraged Web surfing and random thoughts:

LOL - this phrase is used ad nauseum by everyone, including myself.  Honestly, have you ever laughed out loud to something you have seen or read?  I might have done it twice. 

Men in Press - every time I turn around there is another story in the press about men behaving badly. The latest was on Vegas mogul and chairman of the Republican Committee Steve Wynn. Well duh. It's like people are shocked over this. Or perhaps it is men who are shocked as us women have been dealing with this kind of behavior our whole lives. 

Wall of Shame - There's a Wall of Shame project that I follow on Instagram where women write their experiences of being shamed by men.  One of mine would include the time I had my broken nose examined by an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor. He then directed me to the next room so he could check me for breast cancer. I was 14.  I went back many years later to find that doctor to no luck.  I think I may have broken his nose given the chance!

Time to close as my next Astaire/Rogers flick is starting! Happy Sunday!

Flowers - Yes. G.G. - No.

Jordan and Candy had me over for dinner tonight, along with Candy's two year old granddaughter, her mom and boyfriend.  They try to have little Hailey call me G.G. for great grandma but I've put the nix on this and have been encouraging her to call me Diva.

After dinner, Jordan and Candy surprised me with a bouquet of flowers for an early birthday and congrats on new job gift. So sweet and thoughtful!

Great dinner and lovely evening!

Get Out

I'd heard about the movie "Get Out" so I picked it up today at Walmart. Arrived home and was anxious to watch it. Pulled off the cover, went to remove the plastic wrap and discovered it had already been opened. Hmmm, what's up with that? Opened the case and discovered no DVD inside! What???

Ugh. Grabbed my jacket and promptly returned to the store. Exchanged the case for an actual movie and was set to boogie home to see it. Alas, received an unexpected request from a friend to help her out so made a side trip. Finally home after 6pm, made dinner and was able to watch the show.

Very disturbing and thought provoking. Can see why it has been nominated for an Oscar for best picture.

It's a Red Letter Day in the Diva Household!

Today was a fabulous day!  After having a successful phone interview on Monday, I was invited for an in person interview today.

Interview was at 1pm, done about 2pm, and they called me before 3pm with a job offer!!  It's for an established and growing insurance company, which will be a new experience for me but for which I'm very excited!  Great company, great benefits, and great people!  Plus it has a 10 minute commute!  Yeehaw!! My quality of life is going to be so much better!!!

Sonny Friday Night

My sons are such a blessing!!

Friday night Sam, Jordan and his wife and I all met up at a Kelso tavern for dinner. I rarely drink but was itching for a cocktail so went balls to the wall and ordered a Long Island Ice Tea. It was good but was lacking in flavor and top heavy with alcohol so I could only down half.

Sam and I shared nachos while Jordan ordered deep fried mushrooms, which were pretty tasty.

We then moved on to the dart board. Jordan and I played two games and we each won one. That Jordan just cracks me up. So goofy and has an out there sense of humor which busts me up every time. 

We stayed til about 10pm. Getting older, my 2am has become 10pm. Just can't hang until the late hours.

Great, fun time!!

An Evening with Royalty

Sam treated me to a lunch out today followed by stops to Goodwill and Walmart.  Was a good time to catch up.

Picked up Snow White and Cinderella videotapes while at Goodwill so tonight I'm reliving my youth by watching a doubleheader of these classic cartoons. Loved them as a kid and still loving them now.

I remember growing up we had Disney soundtracks of these films so I know all the words. Magical!!  Between movie soundtracks and having a player piano stocked with Broadway showtunes, a lot of songs have been burned into my brain. All the Rogers and Hammerstein songs, Porgy and Bess, A Chorus Line, and on and on.  Thanks Mom for providing us with music!!

Pour Paint and Plant

Been busy today cleaning, organizing, and crafting. I may even rearrange the living room as I'm feeling the ambition.

Was gifted a really cool large conch shell from Lynn for Christmas. Loving it but decided it needed a little more oomph. Decided to paint it using an acrylic pour technique, which I've never done.

First off it appeared to be a messy process so I set up a container with a wire screen on top. This way the extra paint can flow off and be caught with no mess.

I then layered a variety of about 10 paints in a plastic cup.  Started with white then added blues, teals, mango, gold, navy and black in a beach pallette.  I then tipped the cup slowly over the shell, which spilled the paint out in a fabulous design. Ended up needing more paint so prepared another cup and poured it where needed, which thankfully blended.

Right now it's drying but I love the way it turned out. I'll be adding a light to it as well. When I first tried the light in it, it was way too bright and yellow. Adding these colors should darken it up and provide quite the sculptural piece.

Hauled in from the garage a cool piece of driftwood found from Willow Grove a few months ago.  It's an interesting hollow piece of weathered lumber that I decided would make a nifty planter.

After hammering off a few wood pieces that were hampering the design, I slid in the plant. Turned out perfect. This little plant, the only live one I have, is a real trooper. I received it in 2012 when my dad passed and it has hung on despite my forgetting to water it and paying it no attention.

Art Repurposed

Through Pinterest, of course, I ran across a project where a large canvas was covered with a shower curtain. Kind of a cheap way to make some art.

I ran with the idea and picked up a cheap shower curtain at Goodwill.   I already had a large canvas picture in the garage that wasn't being used so I recycled it. Today I staple gunned the curtain to the frame but it needed something more.

I gathered together fabric and trim them set about creating a mermaid for the picture.  Finished it up tonight. May need a little more tweaking but it looks acceptable. If not, the curtain can always be replaced!

Christmas Finally At An End

Met up with Steve for lunch at Red Robin on Saturday so we could finally exchange Christmas gifts. His sister gave me a purse from her trip to Italy along with a bottle of homemade limoncello. His niece's husband, who drew my name, gave me a wonderful teal blue velvet blanket along with candles. Steve bestowed me with a gift card to one of my favorite spots, Goodwill.  I was happy to offload the last of the rice warmer bags I had made for everyone.

Sunday I packed up the Christmas tree along with the holiday decor, then spent some time crafting with metal objects. Here's the outcome;

Is It A Sign?

This morning I awoke, trotted downstairs, and made a pot of coffee. Or attempted to. Water in, filter, coffee, turned it on and...nothing. Reset the plug in. Nothing.  Tried a different outlet. Nothing. Plugged the toaster in and it worked fine. With a tear in my eye, deduced and accepted the fact that there would be no hot home brew for me this morning.

Failure of my coffee pot which I purchased less than six months ago did not lead to a good start of my new year. Nor did being forced to drink instant Folgers, although thankfully I had that desperate measure on hand.

Is it a sign for 2018? I hope not!!