From DVD's to Cheeseburgers

Went through my hoard of DVDs yesterday and picked out a ton I no longer watch or have no interest in watching. Lugged them over to Classics & Oddities and wound up with $100 in credit. Yee haw! They have a good supply of classics so came home with a bunch of keepers, including Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, and a rockin Frank Capra collection.

If the dvd includes it, I always like watching the special features. One of them included Ups and Downs, a short that included a very young, very blond June Allyson.  Have always seen her with red hair so it was weird to see her ala Jean Harlow.

After the dvd excursion, met up with Jordan and Candy for pizza. Went to the former Pietros, now called Pie@trios, which has been around forever but where I hadn't been in years. Still good chow!

Today I followed Jordan and Candy over to Rainier to visit the Columbia Mermaid, a store with all things mermaid and beach themed. It's also a stones, oil, soap, decor, and local artist mecca.  Bought a few amethyst stones for a driftwood project. The owner allows people to sell their wares so I'm thinking of selling my beach related items there.

This afternoon I found myself craving a thick, juicy hamburger.  Came home and cooked up some awesome bacon cheeseburgers, including lettuce, tomato, sautéed mushrooms, and special sauce. Sam swung by and had a burger as well. Really hit the spot!!

Over the weekend I painted a rock for Lexington Hardware, the store that Sam works in occassionally. I included all the worker's faces on the rocks and dropped it off on Sunday. Today one of the bosses put the following on the Cowlitz County Rocks Facebook, which was cool.

I shared my Chelsea story on Facebook and yesterday she responded with the following, which was so sweet.

Thank you for all of the years of fun and love!   You are such an influence on the person I am today; “goodwill hunting” is still a favorite pass time to date, sewing is one of my passions,  crafting is part of my profession and of course there is the fact that I know how to apply makeup without looking like a clown.  Thank you so much for showing me how much fun it is to be a girl!  Thank you for all that you did when I was young to ensure I stayed on the right path!  I love you...thanks for always being an amazing mother💋

Feeling the love!

Memories of a Daughter

Back in the day, I used to have a daughter - an actual girl on my side to balance out all the boys in the house. She was actually a stepdaughter, Chelsea, and I had a great time doing all sorts of girly things with her. Shopping, chatting, makeup, and I even sewed her a formal dance dress.

Time goes by, divorce happens, and kids grow up. We are now mainly Facebook friends so I was happily surprised when she showed up on my doorstep last night.

She was in town visiting her brother and decided to stop by.  Wonderful surprise and we spent two hours catching up. The girl is almost 30 believe it or not! No longer the teenager who insisted on a wardrobe of black for her school clothes.  No longer the girl who pierced her own belly button and hid it from us for a year.  Still the gorgeous girl, now a woman, that I remembered. She's obtained two degrees, traveled the world, and has a million projects on her plate.  Funny, intelligent, and beautiful, it was so nice to see this person for whom I had a small part in raising.

She may no longer be my stepdaughter but I'm happy that she will always be my friend. Thank you Chels for thinking of me and stopping by to connect!

Sunday at the Grove

This morning I awoke, had my coffee, then took a nice long shower. Did my hair curly today - it has lots of wave on its own but needs a nudge with the curling iron to give it some definition.  Threw on my overalls and I was ready for the day!

Bundled up Stubbs and we headed over to the Mickey Mouse bridge on the Toutle River to shore up my rock supplies. Was sprinkling some but it didn't take long to fill a bag.

On to Willow Grove, one of our favorite spots. Pup and I wandered the shore in search of driftwood for me and new places to pee for him.  Found an exceptional piece of wood that will make an outstanding planter once I'm through with it.

My hair? That river wind gusted and tormented my curls! It was quite the site when we were back in the car!  That oomph turned into matted crow's nest!!  In addition, got something in my right eye so it began weeping and turning red.  Rubbed it until was left with one eye all glam and the other absent of makeup and bloodshot. Arrived home and promptly shoved a clip in to get hair out of my face and properly washed my eyes!

Rinsed the rocks and while they are drying cooked up a batch of breadcrumb topped homemade mac and cheese, which is now in the oven.  Methinks it's time for an old movie and perhaps a nap. Hey, that's what Sundays are for after all!! 😉

Advice 5 Cents

I shoulda gotten a paycheck today!

Today I was inundated with friends who needed my HR advice.  Two were previous co-workers and the third was a close friend since junior high. Questions about unemployment, hearings, discrimination, harassment, and so on.  And of course I love giving advice especially when it's using my HR knowledge.  Made me feel good to help out friends in need.

Marking That One Off the List!

Thursday night returned to basics and painted about ten rocks, most with a hunting or fishing theme.  The gang over at Lexington Hardware have been asking for more to hide so figured I'd whip some up.  Dropped them off to hide Friday morning.

Spent the rest of Friday running around town with Sam, helping him to get errands done. He treated me at Izzy's for lunch and it was fun catching up.

This morning after coffee and cleaning the kitchen, I began the task of cleaning the back room.  Tossed out about 5 bags of assorted trash then moved a large bookshelf from the room to the stairway landing.  Well, Sam stopped by and was kind enough to help his poor mother take out the garbage and move the bookcase.

Then proceeded to move and organize all my DVDs to the bookcase.  My experience working in a library and knowing the Dewey Decimal system came in handy as I alphabetized all those titles.  However, such a lengthy process - once it hit 4pm I said "screw this" and just tossed the rest of the movies on to the shelf! 

Finally finished cleaning and organizing about 5pm and boy am I beat!  Been a long day working to mark off another item from my to-do list but happy it's done!

Loving the Lines of Driftwood

Found a piece of awesome driftwood at Willow Grove over the weekend.  Great curves with weathered details. 

Brought it home and lathered it with Liquid Gold then lacquered it.  Turned out beautiful but needed one more piece of oomph. Tried seaglass, crab ornament, candleholder - nothing was working.  Finally found a bronzed glass ball that seemed to do the trick. 

Now, where to put it on display???

Halloween Hangover

Halloween has came and went.  Had 400 visitors to the house; had to turn off the porch light when we ran out of candy.  We still had about four more knocks on the door, even after shutting the drapes and turning off most of the lights in the living room.  Some people's children!

Best costumes of the night!

Driving home yesterday we passed four deer just hanging out in a yard.  Had to stop and take pictures as they were almost tame.

Happy birthday to my mom today.  Been about 21 years she's been gone and I miss her every day.  Not sure if it's me missing her, my menopausal hormones, or a sugar hangover but I'm having an emotional day.  Thinking I may just crawl back into bed and binge on classic movies!!