Rosemary, For Remembrance

Wow. It has been a LONG time. No, I have not forgotten you. Any of you. 

The thing is, I kind of want to rearrange things here but I can't seem to remember how to work on my blog in HTML. Yea, I know I haven't tootled around Blogger since, hmmmm, December? Now I can't seem to update any of my "widgets" even through HTML. Half of this blog, I've changed through HTML, the other through Blogger widgets. Guess they are a thing of the past? There are ALL kinds of different changes here. UGH. Even the spacing is wonky. As much as I'm terrified to go in to operate, I truly need to. If for only my own sanity. (OCD much?) If Living as Rosa disappears, all I can say is, "ooooopsy." Momma tried. But yea, that would suck.

The big news of the year is that the kid graduates from university this December! Where has the time gone? It just flies. So happy and proud of him.

Things are good in the household. Bella and Baby Dave are still delivering "babies" to us every night. Frankie is turning more grey; but hey, aren't most of us! All of us are healthy and happy. Can't ask for anything more.

Ok, after this post, I'm going in. Fingers' crossed. Let's hope I see you on the other side.

Labels: Blogging, Cats, Dogs, Kid

Thank You

So amazing that I've been blogging, on and off, for over ten years. My first post in February of 2005 was written after returning home from Ukrainian Christmas in New York. My sister-in-law told me about this thing called "blogging." I also learned about YouTube on that trip. Oh dear. I think I must have been living under a rock. Naw, I was just mothering. Happily.

I had no idea where this little journal would take me. I certainly didn't expect to find so many wonderful friends through this medium.  Many I have met, many I have exchanged happies with and many I correspond with to this day.

This blog gave me "my time," which I am eternally grateful. Rearing two teenage boys and watching as my mom regressed with dementia was a challenging time in my life. I am so happy that I made the time to write each one of these one thousand, five hundred and three entries.

I was going to print each page and bind them for the boys to have. I gave up on that pretty darn fast. ha.  Perhaps there are two or three volumes printed and bound, somewhere. That's it. The only intention I had of this "Living as Rosa" blog was to have a journal, of some sort, for the boys. It turned out to so much more.

With all of that said, I must add a beautiful photo since photography was a whole other aspect of LAR. (And, yup, I'm kinda digging this app.)

Thank you to all who have followed and enjoyed this journey with me. Cheers to many more delightful years ahead.

Labels: Blogging

Motivation

Thanks to a visit to Amy Power's blog, I was inspired to totally redo my blog. Oy.

Oh well, I didn't have anything else on the agenda today. Obviously, I still have some tweaking to do; but I'm about done with HTML and CSS code for the day.

That Amy, wow. Thank you for sharing your talents.

Labels: Blogging, Inspiration

This Week

We had a beautiful sunset this evening. It turned out to be a warmish day; a door and a window were even cracked open. We're pretty fortunate to be able to do that during the winter months down here. Gotta love the fresh air wafting through the house most of the time.

We did have a few days of frigid air come through Middle Tennessee this week though. Even had some snow on Thursday! Yay! Didn't amount to much more than in the photo. Regardless, schools were closed on Friday. Yay! I heart the South!

I can now officially say to the hub, "Why, yes. I do drywall." An old family joke from early in the marriage. Of course, he thinks I can do anything. Ha. Well, the ice maker is on the blink, again. It had a leak; and my floors began to warp. After the entire fall trying to figure out what was leaking, we finally traced it back to the ice maker. Loverly. Long story short, it is defective and needs to be replaced, again. Geesh, Louise. But . . . I do give U-Line credit; they certainly do back their products. I have not had to pay for any repair work on this appliance. Cheers to that! And it seems, they are even going to repair the floors. Those types of companies are few and far between these days, unfortunately. Don't EVEN get me started on the KITCHEN IDIOTS! Braaaawwwhaha! See, I can finally laugh AT that saga! Amen.

I've been rehashing my blog this week, if ya haven't noticed. After spending a LOT of time on the header  (comme ci, comme ça), I then learn about all of these new free layouts available out there. And I mean some really nice ones! Wow, who knew? Ok, I know, sorry... I'm the last one on the planet to get that memo. (Yea, yea, I more-or-less took last year off from blogging, 'memberrr?) I still work in Photoshop and Image Shack and HTML code, etc. etc. UGH! Not for much longer, though. Well, maybe. I still enjoy fiddling about with all those PNGs.

Who knows what you might find next time you visit.

More cowbell, baby!

More Charms

I went to Beth's on Thursday, and we made some more silver charms.  Mine is the A, and the other three are hers.  I love her simple "D!"  

My clay became too brittle and dry to work with, so I was only able to make the one piece.  I attached it to my bracelet that I wear every day.  When I had my bone density scan, the charm fell off.  Thank goodness the technician found it and gave it back to me.  My mom used to say, "You lose more jewelry!"  ha, That, I do!

PS  There's a new "survey" for the blogosphere by Technorati.  If you're interested, you can find the survey h*e*r*e. It takes about five minutes to fill out.

Apologies

(Vivienne Westwood Rug)

I am just getting back from Europe and I so apologize for not being able to blog while out of town. It was quite a two-week whirlwind--complete with sketchy wi-fi in most destinations. I will share details of each wonderful place in a little bit (as soon as I can get my photos transferred from notebook to my computer!).

I had thought that I had posted before I left. Only I hadn't. When I got home on Sunday, I looked at my blog and noticed that nothing has been posted since May 30! When I was at Riverside! Eeeeeek. Then I remembered how booger was giving me fits before I left. Yes! That's the reason why I hadn't blogged. It made me feel a little less guilty. But you? Did you think I feel off the face of the earth?

Long story short, I have been working since I returned on booger and have finally fixed the bug which would not enable me to upload photos to the posts. Oooooof. Why blog if you don't have photos to share? I couldn't. And so, nothing. Until now. It seems coming home from holiday is never easy. I've been putting out several fires since arriving home. Such is always the case, it seems. Hard to get away on holiday and even harder to return.

Without more rambling, I will now POST the entry I thought had already been posted pre-vacation. I hope you all are doing well, and I have so much to share!

Happy summer!

Blogger/Google

K, Blogger has finally found a way to charge for posting. I just tried to put a new post up and it tells me my Picasso account is full. I need to pay for more storage for photos. WHA????

That sux.

Nuthin' but a Mess!

This is just about what my entire house looks like these days. With the hub gone, I don't even bother cleaning up. Lazy. I'm feeling a bit haggard these days. Gonna just jump in the tub and soak it all away tonight.

Met with Medicare folks this morning for mom. That all looks ok. Still no word on mom staying where she is. But you think they would have told me otherwise if they were kicking her out into the streets, don't you think? I'm keeping the faith.

Please keep some friends of mine (and ours) in your thoughts if you could.

Missy Val over at Queenly Things is not feeling too queenly these days as she is IN THE HOSPITAL, of all places. I wondered to myself where she has been but too much into my own little world these days to check up on her. Poor thing. Get well soon Vallen. You know we all miss you terribly.

And our sweet Beth of Lasting Impressions of the Heart is having a go with her step father back in the hospital. That girl has been through the ringer this year, I tell you.

I also keep thinking about dear Robin of Bird Tweets who has a lot on her heart this past week. My thoughts are with her.

Such a difficult time for so many out there. I send big hugs to each and every one of you.

xo
ro

Welcome!

C'mon in and sit right down. It's time to relax. I welcome you all with open arms.

Let me make you some tea with little heart ginger snaps, if you like.

Let the tea warm you as you watch the rain drizzle on the trees. It really is a beautiful day, isn't it?

Forget about the time

as you watch the bamboo grow

and listen to the water droplets falling so peacefully.

Sit and meditate, or pray, forget or perhaps even remember peaceful times' past.

Curl up on the sofa with a hand full of magazines, poetry books and fun reads. Bella will be there to massage you into blissful peace.

Or, if you prefer, crawl into your bed and take a mid-day nap. Those are always welcome here.

I've left the light on for you in case you sleep through the night and awake startled wondering where you are.

Welcome to my little peace of the world. I hope you enjoy your stay. You are always welcome here. There is always room. I hope you are fond of my new little place.

Leave a comment and I will pick a name on Friday and send you a wonderful box of Belgian chocolates.

Shhhhh. Now, it's time to relax.


*Dedicated to my dear friend Pammy who needs a little peace right now.*

My new look is from Birdie Says!

Redecorating!

Please bear with me as I redecorate my blog. Ooooof.

Pink Sky at Night

Sailors' delight.

I sure hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday. Mine was uneventful, as usual. It was a lot warmer today, almost 50ºƒ. The hub is on his way home from Kansas City so that will be nice. He had actually just taken off from one of the NYC airports on Friday just before the plane crashed into the Hudson. The hub said he would take sitting on the runway for over four hours (which he did) over taking off and crashing! As if! We have a lot to be thankful for; and how 'bout that pilot! Woooooot!!

Beth introduced me to a new blogging friend over at Lolly Chops. I have already added her to my favs. She has a Sunday Recipe Sign Up and then gets the recipes all pretty in a file that you can then download. How creative is that? And she is just as sweet as punch. Beth had told me about a download for a calendar she put together for the year; and boy it sure does look like something I want to do. You must go visit Lolly if you haven't already. You won't regret it, I promise. Honest injun.

And speaking of gracious, talented folks, look at what Saucy, of Bloggedy Blog Blog, sent me attached to a little note. Now she is wildly famous throughout the land for her fabulous miniatures from Club Little House; and I am so honored to have one of her tiny little masterpieces. I want to make a tiny little doll to go with the jamin' minute ipod! To give you a perspective on the scale of this baby, the ear pods are beads! Thank you Saucy!!

With so much talent surrounding me, I couldn't help but go upstairs and begin a little something at my desk.

I had gone to Michael's and bought some more goodies--like I needed more goodies. But these caught my eye. I got a little "work" done before getting terribly hungry and having to come down for dinner. More salad and more chicken. Yum.

And, I have yet another amaryllis blooming. I don't think they will ever end. Which is just fine with me, of course. They are truly magnificent to watch shoot up from an ugly bulb, don't you think?

Is everyone preparing for the inauguration? What I would give to be home in DC right now. Pout. Oh well, I probably would have sat at home there too. giggle.

Layout Input

I've been playing around with my blog tonight. I've added a new feature in Blogger that allows you to list your favorite blogs with the feed thingy next to it and it updates the name when a new post is made.

It looks a tad messy to me, I think I prefer the look I had (I left the old list up too so you can see). Does anyone even use this on my sidebar except me? The update is kinda nice, but is it worth it when it changes the look of your (my) blog?

Should I update and move on in blogging technology or keep the nice clean look I had before and stay behind the times?

Input please? {Lurkers especially welcomed to pipe in.}

Robin's Sweet Tweets

You all have to go visit Robin over at Bird Tweets. She has started a blogging series with cooking videos. Now, that is just way too creative. Good going Robin.

You're absolutely going to love this gal. Watch out Mawtha, Rach and Paula. There's a new kid on the block.

A New Mag

Just what I need. Another magazine to read. Don't think I've read the last ones I bought yet. But this one . . . well, it's different.

I was looking for something I needed from one of my old trusty webpage bookmarks. For some reason, this one bookmark was in the wrong file. It wasn't under Blogs at all. I must have filed it very early in my blogging "career" as I probably didn't even have a blog file at that time. At any rate, this blog was one of my first favorites that I would visit over and over. It was such a lovely blog and inspired me in so many ways. And, for one reason or another, I lost touch.

I'm speaking of non-other than Posy, of course. I'm sure most of you know this gorgeous blog. I couldn't wait to go and see what was happening in Posy's world once I ran across it again. Well, not to my surprise, she had a post about being written up in this new magazine "Artful Blogging." Now, I had not even heard of it. Mwaw, Queen of Mags, not a peep. So today, as I was shopping for some baskets (will tell you that story tomorrow), there it was at the checkout counter, calling out to me "Buy me, buy me!" And I did.

Another mention at the very beginning is our lovely and talented Pam Garrison. I have been lucky enough to have purchased a pacakge of her vintage wallpaper (which I have used in all types of collages) through her Etsy shop. All I have to say is that the label she addressed to me was a piece of art in itself. (And, yes, I saved it.) I have barely even skimmed through this new magazine, but I know there are several more blogs that I love also chosen to be in the premier issue. At least I think it's a premiere issue. Or else, I would have already heard about it, right?

I am totally exhausted, floor man coming tomorrow to begin sanding!! AS if. One day's notice to clean out all my downstairs closets. Yes, I said, ALL MY CLOSETS!! Of course, I have pics to share; but that will have to be another day. I am jumping in the shower and rinsing off today's sweat (and tears--for being such a slob) and crawling under the kivers with my new mag.

I can't wait to see who's in it and look forward to finding some new places to visit. Will tell you more tomorrow!