Happy Birthday John

John Emerick on his 41st Birthday Celebration with his two favorite ladies, Dixie and his Mother Jan.

Good Laugh - "Yes Dear"

Here is what I consider a "Good Laugh" for the day. Enjoy!

Some Humor

Live Simply, Love Generously, Care Deeply,
Speak Kindly and Leave the Rest to God.
A clean house is the sign of a broken computer.

Love of Flowers

My efforts of adding color to a little piece of the world I visit on the weekends.

That's what I get for helping!

Hi Dixie, Here is your card from Diane:

Dixie, I prayed for you today.
"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face towards you and give you peace." Numbers 6:24-26 (NIV)

All joking aside....I love you! Red Nostrils and all! Bless you.

A Dream Vacation in Orlando - The Grand Floridian Hotel

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier. I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first. But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke I'd been drinking. I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. The Coke is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need water. I put the Coke on the counter and discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table. I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers. I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

the car isn't washed, the bills aren't paid, there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter, the flowers don't have enough water, there is still only 1 check in my check book, I can't find the remote, I can't find my glasses, and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day, and I'm really tired. I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.

Do me a favor...........
Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!

A sharp tongue can cut my own throat.

If I want my dreams to come true, I mustn't oversleep.

Of all the things I wear, my expression is the most important.

The best vitamin for making friends..... B1.

The happiness of my life depends on the quality of my thoughts.

The heaviest thing I can carry is a grudge.

One thing I can give and still keep...is my word.

I lie the loudest when I lie to myself.

If I lack the courage to start, I have already finished.

One thing I can't recycle is wasted time.

Ideas won't work unless ' I ' do.

My mind is like a parachute...it functions only when open.

The 10 commandments are not a multiple choice.

The pursuit of happiness is the chase of a lifetime! It is never too late to become what I might have been.

Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right.. Forget about the one's who don't. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.

Sometimes we are so caught up in who's right and who's wrong that we forget what's right and wrong.

Hello again!

It may seem as if I've been hiding out, but let me just say I've been very busy. It's spring time! For me that means cleaning, moving and planting.

The cleaning has been both at my place in Andover and at the cabin. Two weekends ago I moved my household furniture from my home in the cities to the cabin, and took the cabin furniture back to Andover. Let's just say it was a workout! Randy took two spills, and ended up with a few bruises. I on the other hand wound up with a sore back and legs. But does the cabin look wonderful.

I was able to move my bedroom mission style furniture, brown leather living room furniture, kitchen table and guest bedroom queen sleep number bed all up north. I love being up north even more now. Believe me, I'm not a camping kinda gal - I like my bed, running water, heat, and kitchen way too much to sleep outside under the stars. I have a hammock for looking to the heavens and seeing all the beauty it has to offer. Then I go inside where the clean sheets await.

Well, Randy and I were able to get the vegetable garden planted this weekend. Man-o-man - he is like a child at Christmas time when he walks into a greenhouse. He had over 30 tomato plants in his basket at one point. I told him he could get 15, so we ended up with 20 which is still less than we had planted last year. With over 22 tomato plants in the summer of 2006, we ended up having a community garden. All the neighbors were in our garden. It was like watching black birds take over a corn field. With that many tomato plants producing vegetables, we had to open it up to the neighbors or they would have gone bad. Even with others partaking in our garden, we were still able to can 40 plus quarts of tomotos for use during the winter months. Here's to another great season.

I did get my flowers in the ground along the shore line. This is something I look forward to each year on Mother's Day. With over 100 flowers to plant, I expect the shore line to look wonderful this year. Randy and I nurture the gardens as if they were our children. Each morning we go out and check on the "kids" to see if they are safe, growing strong and if any nasty neighborhood gangs have taken over (weeds). It is a joy to watch them grow and become strong and beautiful. See, it is like raising our own kids.

Once our gardens are producing, I'll have to take photos and post them for all of you to see. Parents like to brag - right?

Well, that was my weekend in Northern Minnesota on Mille Lacs Lake.

PS: We never got a line wet in an attempt to fish, but did work on the boat. I mowed our yard, which consists of 6 lots, and two of our neighbors yards. I think I took four showers in a period of two days. It's very dry up north, so the dirt was flying everywhere.

Have a great week. Chat soon.

Make it a great day!

Too Funny Bunny!

http://www.bluemountain.com/view.pd?i=165886033&m=1439&rr=y&source=bma999

Just after I posted to my blog today, my girlfriend sent me this e-card. Now, keep in mind - she has not been to my blog site as of yet. So the timing of this is just Too Funny!

Enjoy.

Robin Eggs

Let me just say, "my tummy hurts" from all the Robin Eggs I've been snacking on while working very hard at my desk today.

While shopping for Easter baskets for my grand daughters, I ran into one of my weaknesses yesterday - The Whopper Robin Eggs. Every year it's the same thing, "I must have them", "Blue is my favorite", "I'm gonna get sick", "I don't care - they're so good".

You'd think at 43 I'd know better.

At least I was responsible in my selection of Easter basket contents for the grand kids. NO CANDY - instead, they are getting tooth brushes, kid gardening gloves, fruit snacks, juice packs, stickers, Dora books and hair ribbons. Yikes - I don't think I'm gonna be the favorite Grandma. Oh well - I'm sure they will get plenty of candy over the next few days.

Update - Now I have the hick ups from all the sugar I just ate. Oh for crying out the window.

Until next time - Make it a great day.

Another Blessing!

Laina Marie -

This beautiful bundle of joy is grand daughter 3 of 4. Laina Marie came to us back in October 2006, and she is such a wonderful child. My son Jake is holding Laina, his first daughter.

Being this picture is a little out dated, I'll make sure to get some new photos for future posts.

Jake is a very proud father. I've been blessed to see my two oldest boys take on father roles and to be doing such a good job at it.

They love to play, cuddle, encourage and take pure joy in seeing thier daughters grow and develop.

I can't help but love this photo - it's so tender and loving.

All little ones should have this in their lives.

Once you are introduced to my family, via this blog site, I'll move on to other subjects. Can you tell I'm a proud Mother?

Thank You!

This is just a quick note to say "Thank You" to all that posted to my blog welcoming me to your Internet world. I did visit a few sites, trying to respond with personal thank you posts, but guess what? I couldn't figure out how to do it in the short time I had between meetings.

Yes - that's right. I work full time, and now I have a wonderful playground to visit when times are slow (and that doesn't happen all that often). So, please know up front - I'm not ignoring you, I'm just working "hard for the money". This is my wonderful office - can't you just see me working hard here?

One thing I can tell you about myself, is that I LOVE music. So - once I figure out a faster way to respond to your posts, I'll tackle how to add music to my site.

Here is my Granddaughter Audrey Lou - I think she is taking after Grandma Dixie with a love for music and singing. This is her first time singing Karaoke LIVE at a city celebration last summer.

And here is Audrey's sister Tara Ann - dancing to her sister's singing! They really are just like their Grandma Dixie - I love dancing in the streets too!!

And now for their youngest sister Olivia Nicole....

She is a little young to know if she will take after me too.

Here is their Grandpa Randy (my husband to be) singing to the girls. Can you tell how much they love and adore him?

Well - until next week. Make it a great day and have a safe and wonderful weekend.

NBL - Dixie

Blogger Birth

Oh My Gosh!

Today is my "birth day" as a blogger.

Mark the calendar, Wednesday, March 21st, 2007! The 1st Day of Spring and the birth of a new blogger. I guess we should thank my sister Diane, being she had to walk me through the set up. You will learn more about my sisters as I develop this site, but Diane (the oldest of five siblings) helped me through more than setting up this blog site, she helped walk me through life. Without her, I would not be who I am today.

Let's see if I can find a photo of her for all of you to see. I can probably find a photo, I just don't know how to post it - let's give it a try.

I did it! After 3 hours of trying to make it work, I end up with this photo. She's there - do you see her? Just to the left of the pole, laughing at me as I begin to get knocked around on the para sailing boat - just before take off!

And we're off! Can you hear the screaming?

Diane is in this photo also, see her - she's at the front of the boat with the camera up to her face?

She wears that camera like a charm bracelet!

It's always with her!

Okay - enough about Diane.

I also have a sister Doris Lynn (she goes by Lynn) - so if I cross over between the two names, you'll understand my confusion.

Oh my big sister Lynn...she had a wonderful time on our "Girls Weekend" in Marco Island, Florida earlier this month (check out Diane's blog for more details - her link should be on my blog home page). Having never been on a plane, seen the ocean, or located a conch shell with an actual animal living in it - I must say, it was a blast watching her see/experience these things for the first time.

I have evidence of her enjoying her time on Marco Island, or should I say above Marco Island.

That big white thumb in the lower right hand corner is ME - hanging on for dear life as I para sail one handed and take a picture with the other. OMG - do you see how high up we are?

Look behind my sister Lynn, you can see the curvature of the earth - we were up so high! Over 1750 feet to be exact. What a rush!

To see Lynn smile like this is amazing.

The beauty of Marco was breath taking. We left Minnesota at 7:30am on March 9th and 3 hours later, we found this! Isn't flight grand?!

I'm having way too much fun blogging, thanks Diane.

Until next time... make it a great day!

NBL - nothing but love