My Ephinany! I'm a Funny Girl......FOREVER!!!!

I love to laugh! THEN and NOW!





Yesterday, I was looking at some old photos of my childhood years, and found so many in which I was trying to be funny! I suddenly realized, I STILL like to make people laugh! I always have! In the pure and happy childhood days, before school and outside influences, I was the family clown! I will post a few pictures of me and my brother and sisters and you'll see what I mean. And for those of you who know me in person, isn't it true that I just love you make you laugh?

Nature or Nurture?
I'm a clown! I think it's nature! And guess who was probably laughing under that bag?

My Mary Engelbreit Teapot Ornament Collection

Hey there! Here's one of my only collections, little teapots! I love little Mary Engelbreit teapots. These are the ornament size, but I also collect the slightly larger "miniature" teapot size. The larger teapots are all around 3 inches tall, and have removable lids, so they're also called trinket boxes. Oh, I adore these all. I have 7 of each size, all but 2 purchased over the years from eBay. My most recent addition is the red and blue teapot on the far left. If you click the picture, it'll enlarge and you'll be able to see the tiny flowers and hearts on it!

Our 28th Wedding Anniversary January 2007

Toby, and Anniversary (almost a dozen!) Roses
Wow, we sure had a marvelous wedding anniversary this year! Here's a picture of Bruce and I, with the vase of lovely roses he gave me! Also, I'd like to introduce my cat, Toby, who's also posing by the vase of roses. I don't know the significance of getting 11 roses? Was it supposed to be a dozen? Oh well! We enjoyed eating out, and then going to Albertson's and gathering some junk food to watch DVDs by.

New Picture or is it a Window?
Here's a picture of our new....window? Or is it a picture? Let's just say I wish it were really a window! Then that's mean we live on the beach! Oh well, I my aging neighborhood is so lovely, with lots of trees, dogs, roses, and friendly people. I bought this lovely picture with some money we got for our anniversary! I'll keep it forever! The only problem is, I can't decide where to put it! It looks super in every room of our house! After all, who couldn't use another window?

And even MORE anniversary celebrating!
Bruce and I got to go to Napa for a 3 day/2 night stay at the Meritage Resort and Spa!!! Way cool! We got the stay for "free" for visiting a time-share presentation last October. We had a marvelous, pampered time! We enjoyed our 3 hour train ride there, having a gourmet lunch of beef tenderloin (me) and duck (for Bruce). And , for a long lasting souvenir, I also got a haircut.

Mary Engelbreit Project by Erica

Today, Erica got home from work and excitedly said, "Mom, I made you something!" Yah, just like when she was younger! It sounded so sweet! She presented me with this Mary Engelbreit collage, made from some old tear off ME calendars. I didn't realize she had a copy of my "Sallie at the lake picture", and it's amazing how well that fit in!

Here are the Maryisms she picked for me:
Anything is Possible.
How kind you were to open the gates of heaven and give me that little glimpse of paradise.
Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% what you do with what happens to you.
The beginning is always today.
Every day is an opportunity to make a new happy ending.
When you reach the end of your rope tie a know in it and hang on.
Hang your troubles out to dry.
Skill to do comes of doing.
If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it.
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.
Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles, it empties today of its strength.

I enjoy buying and selling on eBay! I especially like when my seller's bid area turns GREEN! That means I have a bid on something! However, sometimes I bid and buy a little too quickly, and get things that are broken, stained, tiny, or - like in the case of my Mary Engelbreit calendar this year, the wrong date! That's right, I recently accidentally won a bid on a 2004 tear-off Mary Engelbreit calendar! I figured I had 2 choices with it: Save it til 2011 when the days will be correct, or use it for crafts. So, without even opening it, I handed it to Erica last night. She brought it to school today for her students to cut and paste, and looks like she joined them, and was able to run home and proudly give her Mommy this paper! I can't believe how much I'm wearing off on her!

Kid's Art Projects

My daughter has a job as a teacher in an after school care YMCA program for Kindergarten to 2nd graders. As part of her job, she does a special art club with a group of them, once a week, and sometimes asks me for help! Does she know what a treat this is for me? One night in December, right before her college finals, she handed me an envelope of money and asked me to come up with a nice craft for her art club. Wow, did that make me smile! I said, "Erica, I just can't take the joy of this away from you", and to that she answered, "Mom, I've got finals coming up and there's no way I can plan an art project and go shop for it." I was so happy for this excuse to go to Michael's Craft Store and hunt around. I came up with using Snow Tex, pine cones, and Styrofoam balls! She reported back that the kids just loved making their outdoor snow scenes!

Today, she ran out the door quite early for work and suddenly turned and asked me, "Mom, I'm going to the craft store to get a project for my art club. Can you call me in a few minutes with an idea?" I hunted for the weekly ad, and then called her back with my "marvelous project" of painting small baskets (on sale) and painting then gluing on different little wooden shapes (on sale 3/$1). She sounded just horrified on the phone, and told me "MOM!!! That's the worst project I've ever heard of! I'll just find one myself!" Thus, I passed the mantle on to her, and gave her confidence in her own choices! Oh, she bought fun-foam frames and shapes for them, which I'm sure they loved.

Girl at the Lake

"Sallie at the lake at age 5"

Hi! Here I am as a very happy kid! When we lived in Spokane, Washington, we had kind of a family pact: If it got over 100 degrees, we got to go to the Lake! Probably Loon Lake, or Silver Lake...I can't remember any others. But my parents were game for the lake. I was totally afraid of the water, actually, and feared drowning! That's why I don't think I'm really wet! Can you see my brave sister, Sue at age 6? Venturing deeper into the lovely lake than I!

Me at age 5. Let's see...out of us 9 kids there were already 5 of us! Just KNOW we had fun, every day in our family. But the lake days were just the ultimate in fun. Not as wonderful as going to Grandma's house, mind you, but they were pretty special.

Well, thus concludes my very first blog! I don't know what I'm doing HA- but one of my sisters recently challenged me to begin a blog!