When I'm 64............

A tribute to my dear Mom, Bev, as she turns the age the Beatles made famous....64, of course!
Thank you to all of you who have been so tremendously kind to send Mom greetings, cards, well wishes, handmade treasures, and most importantly your love, prayers & support as she goes through her treatment for lung cancer. I don't know if I can ever justly represent in my thanks just how much your generosity and kindness have meant to all of us. It really has made the difference in seeing us through this terribly difficult time. And for those of you who included a return address, Mom is steadfastly working her way through sending you a return greeting, if you haven't heard from her already! :-) And for anyone who hasn't had a chance to send Mom postcard or greeting, but would still like to, Mom would LOVE to hear from you. The mail makes her day!! Really!! Just email me using the link her for her address-

Mom is now in her 19th day of radiation treatment. Only 9 more days to go!! She gets the weekends off. So far the side effects have thankfully been minimal, and not nearly as bad as we worried they might be. She has recuperated quite well from the surgery. She's now 2 months post-op! She is still debating the merits vs. drawbacks of taking chemo for her specific cancer, stage and her own particular case.

Mom isn't usually a ponytail wearer, but it has become her hairdo of choice due to its ease of effort while recovering and not feeling 100%. I have to say, I think it looks quite cute & girlish on her. She belies her 64 years!

Happy Birthday Mom!! We love you and hope to celebrate many, many more happy birthdays with you!


When I'm 64

When I get older losing my hair,
Many years from now.
Will you still be sending me a valentine
Birthday greetings bottle of wine.

If I'd been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door,
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four.

You'll be older too,
And if you say the word,
I could stay with you.

I could be handy, mending a fuse
When your lights have gone.
You can knit a sweater by the fireside
Sunday mornings go for a ride.

Doing the garden, digging the weeds,
Who could ask for more.
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four.

Every summer we can rent a cottage,
In the Isle of Wight, if it's not too dear
We shall scrimp and save
Grandchildren on your knee
Vera, Chuck & Dave

Send me a postcard, drop me a line,
Stating point of view
Indicate precisely what you mean to say
Yours sincerely, wasting away

Give me your answer, fill in a form
Mine for evermore
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four.

20 Years.........What?!?!

Twenty years. It's hard to believe even seeing it in print. How does time fly by like that? Really?! I still feel like I am in my 20s, so it's super hard to convince me that the postcard that arrived in my mailbox announcing my 20 year high school reunion was actually intended for me. Well, I guess the inclusion of my name alongside my overly eye-shadowed, senior year photo helped, but still I deny.


After a lot of back and forth, yes I will, no I won't, I finally decided that yes, I will make the leap & attend.

In a unique twist, my husband and I graduated from the same class. No, we are not high school sweethearts, rather, we hardly knew the other existed back then. My husband did remind me we sat at lunch together (amidst a group of people) for an entire year, which somehow I forgot? Seems strange now, considering I am married to the man and have borne his children.
Oh well.
In all honesty sometimes I still forget that we've had lunch together, but now it's more likely due to early-onset Alzheimer's.

Apparently that same year we "lunched", I must have asked him to sign my yearbook. Back then I had a pair of riding style boots that had a vintage-y o-ring harness type detail. Think vintage Frye with a bit of an English riding twist. Quite cool. I'd still wear them if I still had them.

Evidently my now-husband had a thing for them (but not for me). He went so far as to comment on them in my yearbook? Strange for a sixteen year who is purportedly straight, yes?!? I concur.
But, what I didn't think strange was when I read this comment aloud, courtesy of some fairly lousy penmanship: "Well, chemistry has been a great class and so has lunch, talking about your boobs and all."
Boobs?? How forward! Maybe he did notice me after all!!
Funnily enough, it was less weird to me for a teenage boy to comment on my (non-existent then & now) boobs than my boots.

So now here we are, 20 years later, together, boots, boobs and all, gearing up for our 20th reunion. Any other "Class of 88-ers" here? Would love to hear if you are going or not, or if you already went and how it was?

I am tempted to sign up as a temp banquet worker for the night so I can go, but be a fly on the wall...or maybe a disguise..bearded lady anyone?
August 30th is the big night. I'm excited one minute and filled with dread the other. :-)
Wish me luck...(in other words, please don't let me have the smallest boobs and biggest butt).

Older, yet wiser.

Ode to Jell-O

So, Jell-O. That's where it's at.
Can you tell I am a product of the 70's?
Actually something about summer gets me all hopped up on Jell-O.
It doesn't have to be crazy, fancy, swanky Jell-O like that which bedecks this hipster scene-
Oh, to only look 1/2 as glam as the lady in the striped dress.

Actually, I'm a simple girl with simple dreams. Just Jell-O, with fruit mixed in, pretty much rocks my world.
My all-time favorite is orange Jell-O with crushed pineapple and mandarin oranges.
Oh heavenly, fruit juicy goodness!
Lime with pineapple is pretty up there too.


Recently I picked up this Jell-O cookbook, less for me, and more under the (false) impression that it was worth something. Usually I have a good eye when thrifting, and a fairly good memory, which typically likes to serve me correctly. Not in this case. This book can be found pretty much everywhere for a couple of bucks, at the most, which is what I normally would have thought. But, for some bizarre reason I had this lightbulb flash while thrifting that I had seen it go for $15-$20 bucks on ebay recently. Not true. Maybe I confused it with "The Old Joys of Jell-O".
So now I am its proud owner indefinitely.

After having made fruited Jell-o, devouring it, only to make it again for three days straight, I realized this book is really where it truly belongs, not by chance, but perhaps by divine intervention.
I have to admit I've thought many times of hosting a retro themed party with a largely "molded" party spread...you know aspics and congealed salads galore.

With fabulous guests like this-
But with one caveat, it should be kitschy, but also good tasting. I am not into wasting tons of food just for the humor. The guilt is too great.

After thumbing through a few pages, I am now all giddy for this book. I want to experiment and see what retro food fare is worthy of a revival.

I do have to say upon first glance this recipe scared me. Barbecue Jell-O? I was almost certain it was going to contain meat, which freaked me out. Thank goodness I was wrong.

This is one I really will try-
Actually the fun & frothy little recipe above reminded me of my one time childhood fave, Jell-O 1-2-3-
Do you remember it too? The Jell-O dessert that magically separated into 3 distinct layers?
Then I realized that you can no longer buy Jell-O 123. Sad. And sadder still that it probably hasn't been on the market for 20 years or more, and I just noticed. I guess that's why they stopped selling it, customers like me. You can't quite make a killing on a product people think to buy once every twenty years or so.

But, wait!!!!

Now you can re-create it in your very own home--
Homemade Jell-O 1-2-3
What you need:

3/4 cup boiling water

1/2 cup cold water with enough ice cubes added to equal 1 1/4 cups
1/2 cup whipped cream
3 oz package any flavor Jell-O

What you do:

In a blender, mix the gelatin and boiling water together. Add the ice cube/water mixture and mix until the ice cubes are melted. Add in the whipped cream & mix for 30 seconds. Pour into dessert/parfait glasses. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Voila! Serve & enjoy!

Peace, love & Jell-O!

p.s. Does anyone else think one of those kids in the very first photo at the top looks like Quinn Cummings of "The Goodbye Girl", or is it just me?

Easy, Yummy Homemade Ice Cream in Five Minutes Flat!

So, what to do on a hot summer day?
Make ice cream of course. But not just any ice cream...
Five Minute Ice Cream
**The best kind of ice cream for toddlers to make, hands down. No patience required!**
Actually, this version allows young and old alike to be instantly amazed at the simplicity of forming their own ice cream without a machine or even the aid of a freezer.
I am sure there is some sort of science property being demonstrated here, but I am not entirely sure what it is....something to do with the salt and the ice (thermodynamics?). Sorry while technically I do have a Bachelor of Science, it is in Clothing, Textiles & Design, so I can't help you too much here. I did find this link though, which should help you understand the hows & whys.

Wanna try making it yourself?

Gather up the following:
* ice cubes
* 1/2 cup kosher, sea or rock salt
* 1 cup half-and-half or milk or whipping cream
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 resealable sandwich size bag
* 1 gallon-size resealable freezer bag
* dish towel

Now here's what you do:

1. Fill the gallon-size bag half full with ice. Add in all the salt.

2. In the sandwich bag, mix half-and-half (or milk or cream), sugar, and vanilla. Seal tightly.

3. Place the small bag inside the large bag. Seal the large bag tightly so it won't leak.

4. To protect your hands from the cold, wrap the dish towel around the outside of the large bag. shake for about five minutes, or until the milk mixture turns into ice cream.

5. Grab a spoon and enjoy! *Makes about one serving or one regular scoop.*



It's yummy! Can you tell?



Oh, and for a visual treat. This is my new fabric I thrifted in L.A. (that's Lower Alabama 'round these parts.) I love this fabric so much that I want to marry it..which is perfectly fine with 3.5 year old Amelia, as she's been begging me to let Daddy marry her instead of me anyways. We can't even hug lately without her bursting into tears. Talk about an Electra Complex---yikes!

A FUN, FUN Weekend Jaunt

So we took advantage of a three day holiday weekend to take a short trip three hours down the road to our state capital, punctuating our journey with little comma rests at state parks along the way. A simple trip, but quite fun indeed. And reasonable with regard to affordability both dollar and travel time wise (keeping in mind we had two toddlers in tow).
I have lots of great photos to share but until I can carve myself out a bit more time to post them, here's a "tide me over"....

I found this sign to be rather ironic. I mean, I'm all for safety as much as the next guy, but this seemed to be a bit of overkill...and then the "have a FUN, FUN time" afterthought? Who can even think of having a fun time, much less a doubly all caps FUN, FUN time after reading this party-pooper, buzzkill of a sign?
Believe it or not, while it looks like they have covered all the bases and then some, I managed to spot a few rules they somehow managed to overlook....

1)Don't even look at the swings. Feasting your eyes on these devices of fun could cause injury (eye or otherwise).

2)Don't smile, laugh, run or play. Any of these actions is enough of a distraction to become a sure death trap.

3)Don't even think about having too much fun. Setting yourself up to be too hopeful, you're sure to just come crashing down. Better to set the bar low. (Not to mention the risk you run with all those thoughts of folly racing around your head. You're bound to give yourself an aneurysm).

But remember, have a FUN, FUN time, nonetheless!!!!!!!

Hope you all had a Happy 4th!

A Little Off Topic...Freezer Paper Stencils, Anyone?

Cancer has consumed us lately, but I don't want to allow it to rule us any longer.
It wants to take a stronghold on patient, caregivers and loved ones alike. And while we acknowledge its presence, it is a most unwelcome guest that we won't be rolling out the red carpet for. In fact we are doing our best to rather rudely escort it right out the door with a "good riddance" send off.
So, on that note, a reprieve. Actually this is a deja vu moment, as we crafted these a few weeks back, but hopefully this gentle reminder of life pre-cancer will get us back on track with just slight modifications, being ever more loving, positive, hopeful and appreciative of every moment of every day.
And now, back to normalcy (or some semblance thereof)-
An eternal classic, freezer paper stencils.
I used to love to make these in high school & college. This craft is a great economical tool to be able to constantly churn out new, one of a kind clothing & accessories on a dime. Actually Mom got me into stenciling originally, so thank you Mom. It's funny how a very "Mom-ish" craft can be so eternally cool. And with this one, the sky's the limit. This is truly one of those crafts where skill level does not come into play. Everyone is an instant expert, so you are only limited by your creativity. And even if you aren't feeling terribly creative, you can scour the internet to turn up images that are free to use, print them out and make them into a stencil.
A Quick Tutorial---

What You Need:
A t-shirt (or any other item you wish to stencil)
Reynold's Freezer Paper
An exacto knife or cuticle scissors
Fabric Paint (or any permanent paint that will withstand washing)
An image you wish to stencil
A stiff bristled medium sized paint brush (any brush will do, this is simply my personal preference)
An Iron
Tape
A piece of cardboard

1)Print, or draw your image onto a piece of paper.
2)Tape your computer paper to your freezer paper with the paper side up and the shiny/waxy side down.
3)Cut out the actual image (if printed on computer, you will be cutting away all the black printed area), leaving the outline of the image intact on your paper.
4)Remove the tape and computer paper.
5)Place your stencil onto your t-shirt and iron it on, using a dry setting, with the shiny side down, facing the shirt.
6)Place the cardboard between the front and back of your t-shirt, sliding it into the shirt under where you will be painting to prevent any bleeding of the paint through to the back of your shirt.
7)Brush your paint on liberally, taking care to evenly coat the paint and making sure to reach all the tiny corners, details of your stencil.
8)I like to use a blow dryer to speed up the drying process and evaluate whether or not I think my shirt needs another coat of paint.
9)Once the paint is as dark as I'd like and dry, I carefully peel back the freezer paper to reveal a beautiful stencil. I like to heat set it again at this point with a blow dryer.
10) Don your creation, twirl around, admire oneself in mirror and be proud!


Here's a shirt I made for Amelia recently. The t-shirt was not my top pick, but it was what I had on hand, so I used it. I always try to use what I have on hand first before buying anything else. And when I have to buy, I try to buy from thrifts & second hand shops first! Consume less. Recycle more! :-)

Happy Creating!

A Long, Hard Day

Mom had her surgery today. It was scheduled for 11 am, so we arrived at 9:30 am as instructed. The surgeon unfortunately ran into a complicated emergency surgery just before Mom's and wasn't able to operate on her until 2:30 pm. Bless Mom's heart. Her sweet little throat was so dry, but she couldn't have as much as a drop to drink. I wanted to sneak her one, but thought better of it. Dad & I waited out the 2.5 hours in the surgery waiting room fluctuating between worry and hope. The doctor who is apparently an excellent surgeon, but not the best at bedside manner, came in at 5 to tell us the news.

Mom's mass proved to be malignant based upon the frozen section they took mid-stream. He also found some very suspicious lymph nodes that were hardened and appeared to be malignant as well. They did only have to remove the bottom half of the right lung, not the whole lung. The diaphragm seemed ok. The liver wasn't accessed. Now we wait for the pathology report in a few days time to tell us type of cancer, stage, and course of action.

We were able to visit with Mom in the ICU and one of the saddest parts was that she looked great and seemed to be recovering in leaps and bounds (which of course is a great thing, don't get me wrong), but it just made me wish that she was recovering to find it was benign or just an infection and that life would go right back to normal, or be better even, feeling healthier than ever.

Now, we face the unknown. So many variables. I am so terribly sad right now that I am just beside myself. I can't even believe I have sat this still to write this much. I feel like I will have a panic attack any moment or hyper-ventilate. I want to call Mom and confide in her just how I feel, as if this is happening to other people, but I can't. Because this is us and she is resting in jolts between bouts of pain with tubes all over the place. And it's eerie to not be able to reach out to her and it scares me of what it will be like one day if she is no longer here.

My Dad cried, not once, but many times. I have only seen him cry once before. It pained me deeply to see him so sad.
I am trying to get all my crying out tonight, so I can just go and be strong and fully there for Mom starting tomorrow. But, it is hard. It hurts so much in my heart.

I prayed a lot and this happened, but I will keep my faith and pray more. And help Mom heal. And show Mom just how much I love her. And help her do all those things that make her happy. I just have one hope and that is for time to be on our side.

Thank you to everyone for your support. Please keep those good thoughts and prayers coming. We will need them now more than ever. As always, can't thank you enough.