Catching Up....Again!

I've been MIA lately.....

All is well -  I've just been busy.

Sometimes by the end of the day, I'm so tired I go to bed.

I left you on Wednesday night so I am picking up on Thursday.

I set my alarm and was in Dallas around 10:30.

I meant to get there earlier but my laptop needed to go to The Best Little Geek Squad in Texas.

I had done a lot of writing last month while I was at the ranch and I had not backed it up so when it finally opened, I sent all the chapters to my email.

The amount of things I do not know how to do would absolutely amaze you!

Louis Dean bought a flash drive to back up my book......okay.

I plugged it in. A screen popped up. I still didn't know what to do.

I think Summer will teach me a few things next time she comes over.

I just have a fear of losing the book - or what I've written so far - and if that happens, I don't think I have what it takes to start over.

Anyway, sending 13 chapters on email  took some extra minutes so I was running late.

Story of my life.

It seems some little something nearly always comes up.

I should plan ahead and allow more time.

Yeah, right!

One thing I didn't have to worry about was what to wear!

I've been wearing new outfits every day, thank you very much to my neighbor, Tamara!

The green on green went right with my Steve Madden purse.

I'm so happy Amber makes time for us to get out and do things together.

Movies are our happy place and this movie was amazing!!

I was so NOT ready for it to be over!

After the movie we went back to Quadville and stayed busy with taking Christmas down over there.

Yes, Amber and I both have been taking our decorations down in February!

I went with her to pick the kids up from school. I love how they get excited to see me!

We ran a few errands and Granddad arrived just a few seconds after we drove in the driveway.

Kailey didn't know he was coming and she could not get to him fast enough!

That's one happy granddad!!

We were there to spend the evening and we brought the fixings for dinner.

This is Shiner - my grand dog.

He had a tumor removed from his eye on Tuesday and is recovering nicely.

Amber and Mike are not only excellent parents but they take care of their furry babies, too!

Granddad fried up a mound of chicken tenders!

Every one of us would take a tender as we walked through the kitchen before dinner but the mound kept growing!

He cooked the chicken and made the gravy.

I did the mashed potatoes and garlic green beans.

And I made the salad and the appetizers.

We had a wonderful dinner and sat around the table talking like real people.

No more cutting up food and supervising the kids eating.

We visit and laugh and have fun......until......

I was telling everyone about all the happenings at the ranch.

Without thinking, I told them about the peacock dying......and that wasn't enough.

I told them about the baby peacock dying, too.

Thank goodness I didn't get around to talking about Maddie the cat!!

Yes, we think the coyotes must have got her as she hasn't been seen in weeks.

But we won't be mentioning that out loud.

Needless to say, after dinner and the dishes, we left to come home.

Thankfully, Kailey had pretty much stopped crying by then.

We left at 8:30 and came straight home and went to bed.

I did not so much as take my make up off.

I.went.to.bed.

We were both asleep by 9:30.

Friday morning I was up early making chicken and dumplings to take to Fort Worth.

My first stop was to see Deanie and we had a really good visit.

Deanie continues to improve and I have to stop and remember how she was feeling just this time last year. It's encouraging! While she is still fragile, I'm not nearly as frightened as I was about her health.

We are so blessed in that we've not had to face death in our family often. The doctors say Mother will most likely live to celebrate her 100th birthday.

My next visit was to see my brother, Lonnie.

Once again, we had a great visit and I left some chicken and dumplings for them.

My last stop was to see Mother and Lillian and deliver bowls of chicken and dumplings to them.

They aren't crazy about the food at the nursing home so we try and bring them treats from time to time. 

I did not take one single photo all day long!

I'm using this one that Deanie posted on Facebook earlier in the week.

Mother had her dentures repaired and she was a happy camper!

It was late and I got in a lot of slow traffic coming home so I was worn out!

Saturday was a cold winter day and I loved it!

I fluffed and cleaned the 'clean' rooms and Louis Dean and I watched a lot of Downton Abbey!

I managed to take Christmas down in the dining room!

A reality shot!

Hahahaha!

Christmas is gone but it's far from cleaned up!

I think I may have finally grown up because I am now able to just STOP and go to bed and tackle it later. In the past I would have worked myself silly getting it all done.

This morning we woke up to a bit of  sleet and freezing rain. 

I decided to go to church but Louis Dean decided to stay home and watch Winning Walk on TV.

That's okay!

Amber and Mike arrived right after I did and we all sat together - kids included.

I love going out to eat after church with them.

We take our time and sit around talking and enjoying ourselves.

Today the kids and I played Tic Tac Toe and did some math on the brown paper towels the restaurant  uses for napkins.

Harrison rode in my car on the way to the restaurant and Kailey rode in my car on the way to Quadville.

I told them I could stay a teeny tiny time.....but we played and had fun for nearly two hours!

I love this photo Logan took with my iPad!

I got home about 4:00 and was a quick change artist getting back in my Jammie's in a matter of minutes and crawled back into the unmade bed for a nice nap!

It was nearly 7:00 by the time I started cleaning the living room.

But I got it done!!!

You can see I still have room in my China cabinet.

All of the Christmas dishes are packed away as are the fall ones.

I was so late in getting Christmas down that I didn't do any decorating for Valentine's.

The only spot is the heart shaped small plates circling the centerpiece.

Candles lit in celebration of CLEAN!

I used napkin rings Amber and Benjamin made when they were very young.

Toilet paper rolls sprayed painted and wrapped with gold ribbons.

I suppose this could be called spring decorating.

I have no plans for any dinners or entertaining in the near future....

but I have set the table anyway.

My art easel is back in the corner and I have a painting I did in 2002 on it with plans for jazzing it up.

I love the composition but think I can improve on the colors and texture.

Not sure when I will be getting back to my usual Tuesday Things but I hope it's soon.

So that's it!

I'm all caught up!

And guess what my plans are for tomorrow???

This may take me all day and half the night!