There's a fine line.....

Okay, I lied.

There are MANY fine lines.......when I smile.

 

I've looked over the past 10 or 15 years, and there are a few certain incidents that I remember....

I remember in my 20's, I was trying to show Dan how I could still do a cartwheel.  So we went out into the yard, and made sure no one was looking, and I attempted to show him...I'm sure you are all familiar with the sudden pain that shoots through your body in one place or another, like a giant charlie horse.  I had the pain, but mine wasn't a horse, it had something more to do with a ham, I think.

I also tried to show my dear hubby how I could lay on my stomach, push my upper body up and fold my knees, so that my head and feet touched-that perfect triangle.  Well, my "I'm a dude" dude(see my Sweet Revenge story if you don't know what I'm talking about!) informed me that I looked like a perfect U, or an upright rectangle with the top line cut off.  

Just two weeks ago, a friend looked up at my hair and announced to my utter shock, "You're getting gray!!!"  Really?!!  Where?!!  I can just pretend that when I part my hair certain ways, it doesn't look like I've taken up frosting, in "Silvery Moon" by Clairol.  And I got to thinking, with friends like this, who needs.....oh, never mind.  :)

Am I complaining?  No!  Not at all!  

All I am actually trying to say is, in 2 days I will be 39, and I just ain't no spring chicken anymore!  Gray hair and wrinkles~I've earned them all!!!  I even got my wisdom teeth in my 20's(except they took them away, and just left me with beauty)!!!  And I made sure I let my friend know that I was proof that you can be gray and beautiful!  I mean, Dan's had gray since he was 18, and I still look at him and think, "He sure is handsome!"  Now we're just distinguished together!!!  Oh, and I let my friend know I was that, too!  :)

For my birthday, if we don't get hit with another blizzard, Dan and I, and Dan's brother Tim and his new bride, Niki, are going to a Japanese restaurant in Erie called Hibachi.  I hear it's quite an experience, and they cook at your table!  They also throw shrimp at you to catch, but you know, with me getting older and all, I think I'll ask them to set it on my plate, since the reflexes don't work so well anymore.  

I don't mind my age, I'm just a little scared, that's all.  I mean, what if everyone expects me to grow up?  

Actually, that's not really going to be a problem for me.  Now when Dan hits 40, that's gonna be a problem for him!  ;P

I guess it just really hits home when people call me "Ma'am".  As long as no one buys me a red hat and purple accessories for a few more years, I'll let that one slip......    :)

Just Wondering....

If one billion people in the world lost 10 pounds each, would the world be a lighter place?  :)

Make a Chocolate Bouquet

Please check my Delightful Domestications blog for another chocolate bouquet that I made with Reese's mini cups and Kisses!

Click on picture for a close up of the bouquet!

Valentine's Day is coming up, so what better time to decorate with a chocolate bouquet!!!  This is the time of year when candies are wrapped in reds, pinks, silvers, etc, so you can work with some of the colors you can't find just any time of year.

This was very simple.  In the first picture, notice the whole setting.  I have my porcelain vase with my hair flowers in it, my diamond shaped candle holder and candle, my square glass dish, my doily, and my vase of flowers.  

All I did was take a bouquet of flowers that I already had on my dresser, and pulled some of the flowers off of the wire stems(some of the stems are also plastic-those are mostly the flowers I left on).  I then took Hershey Kisses and placed them on the stems.  You may need to take a thin wire(clean-I used new floral metal wires, found in the floral department of Walmart) to make the whole before adding it to the stem.  

The close up picture shows you the red and silver Hershey Kisses I added.

If you would like more of the red and silver to make your setting more decorated, notice the changes in the last picture.  I added more Kisses to the bouquet, using metal flower wires.  I also removed the candle from the candle holder and replaced it with Kisses, and also added them to my square glass dish, and spilled them across the doily.  

A simple little display!  Make a display for your bedroom, or on your coffee table in your livingroom, or a centerpiece for your kitchen or diningroom table!

A Very Special Tribute

Today is a day or remembrance for all of us who knew Nicholas Masiker, a gifted young man that was taken in a car accident 2 years ago.  He was my children's classmate, my church's very talented musician and jokester, brother to Laura and Mary-Kay,  and our very dear friends' Larry and Brenda's son.  

Please take the time to look at my 6 blogs, as each one will have something different that we would like to offer for Nicholas' remembrance.  And as you read each blog, please say a prayer for this dear family, Larry and Brenda, and their two daughters, Laura and Mary-Kay.

Because my Chocolate Bouquet blog is my light-hearted blog, I wanted to share a story that Laura told at Nicholas' funeral.  The below story was written by Laura-enjoy. :)

It was in the early parts of the year 1997, my brother was 8 and I was 9. We were home schooled children, living in the country, and we had no television or computers. But, we had imagination and each other. We fought like cats and dogs to the point that we were either going to kill each other or Mom was going to kill us and we also played together as best of friends because up to this point in our lives we really only had each other as playmates.   It was in February that our dad’s uncle passed away who had been a member of the Navy for several years. To my brother this was cool--here we are going to a military funeral! I don’t remember much about the funeral, but I do remember that a soldier folded a flag and presented it to a family member, they spoke words of his military career, did a 21-gun salute, and honored him before the mourners. Right before they closed the casket, all soldiers present reverently approached the casket and solemnly declared, “Farewell, my departed comrade.” In all reality this was a very sad and solemn occasion but to an 8 and 9 year old it was just a fascinating experience.   It wasn’t too long after that my brother and I were home playing inside on a blustery day, when one of us had a splendid idea. Since we both loved to pretend, we decided we were going to play military funeral. Nicholas insisted on being the soldier so, unfortunately, I was the deceased, laid out on my bed in the finest fashion in solemnity and sadness. As I laid there stock still (only peeking a little) my brother carries his toy rifle around the room, marching with a sad look on his face. He folded the flag and presents it to a teddy bear. He slowly approaches my “casket” and looks down at me as his little body salutes. He stood there looking at me with sorrow as he sadly blurts, “Farewell, my departed cobweb.”   That was the end of our playtime…my mom and I succumbed to laughter as she tried to explain to Nicholas that he heard wrong. We laughed about it for several years.   Ten years later I stood at my brother’s casket and reverently looked at him in sorrow. He was 18 and I was 19, just beginning our lives as adults. We were good friends by this time and had a lot of fun times together. As I stood there focusing on every detail of his still form, memories rolled back in my mind taking me to a place when we were little and full of imagination. I didn’t do it in form, but I mentally saluted Nick and said to him in tears and indescribable sorrow mixed together, “Farewell, my departed cobweb.”   Unknowingly, my brother had declared silly words as a child that later on he became known by. I spoke at his funeral and relived that story to the laughing crowd, but I wonder how many people, as they traveled by his casket saying good-bye for the last time, said to him, “Farewell, my departed cobweb.”   It has been 2 years now! Time sure does fly by. I wonder who Nick would be if he were still alive and I wonder where he would be. But sometimes when the sorrow is the worst and I miss him so much I go to his graveside and talk. Sometimes I just sit and remember. Other times I weep. But every once in a while his deep voice comes echoing back from somewhere in the heavens and I hear the things he used to say, sing, and play and ever so faintly I can hear, “Farewell, my departed cobweb!”