Snow Day at TCEA 2011

Another snow day, and I missed it. However, it was for a good cause. I am at the TCEA Technology conference in Austin and loving every minute of it. It is always such a treat to get to come to this conference. I love being here with the really computer nerds. I am always amazed of what is out there. Very seldom do  I go to the General Assembly because I would rather spend my time learning something rather than being motivated. However, the guest speaker yesterday was Leigh Anne Tuohy, the real mom from the movie, "The Blind Side;" so I did go. She is a beautiful lady with a very moving story. You can tell that she is the real thing.

Now is when I NEED a snow day to go back through the one million things I have been exposed to this week.

Four Days and counting

The weathermen missed the forecast a little. We were supposed to get a light dusting of snow or maybe one inch accumulation. When we got up we already had 3 - 5 inches, depending where you measured. It snowed throughout the day. By dusk we had 8 inches of snow. So what did I do today?

• Quilted
• Read
• Watched soaps
• Made and fed the birds bread crumbs
• Made snow ice cream
• Took pictures of the snow, the birds, and Abby

My back yard

Before

After

Notice I did not do any real cooking. I do need to go the the grocery store for a few staples. I am not bored yet, nor do I have cabin fever. I am enjoying this unexpected time off and the beautiful snow that God chose to give us this winter.

Bad Weather Days

Several weeks ago we had a snow day. It was such a treat. Never did I expect to get one, two, three more of these days. Tuesday, the first day, I baked a Red Velvet Cake and made some Tomato Basil soup. The rest of the day I was pretty much a bum - I watched soap operas and read magazines. Wednesday, I did a little more. I did sew on my quilt and a little housework, before I watched soaps and read. Thursday, I cooked a Cream Cheese Streusal Coffee cake and did computer work, before I did the soaps and reading.

 Today I am going to break this spell of staying at home this afternoon. We have Justin's 30th birthday meal. I know through the years we were home on several of his birthdays with snow on the ground. Daddy would go get Diana and the kids and bring them to my house on these snow days. One of our favorite memories is that the kids would make paper airplanes to sell. They would put them in the window with a price on them in hopes someone would buy them. There is no wonder that two of the boys ended up as salesmen. They started early.

"Junny", Happy Birthday. Thanks for the 30 years of memories. We are so proud of you.

An Abby update:
Abby has been having a rough time going outside to take care of "business." She does not like the cold winds nor the ice and snow.

Another Project - Happy Birthday, Daddy

In the last 8 years, Rick and I have restored and redone many items from lake houses, my kitchen, to quilt chests, chairs, and the lists go on. This weekend we went to Lubbock to pick up another project.  We are going to be out of our league on this one. This one is actually one of my "wants." In fact that is why I actually acquired this. Greg found it, and had heard me say that I wanted one of these; so when one of his friend's business had one for sale, Greg called me to see if I wanted it. Of course I did - sight unseen.

Sight unseen. The suspense Saturday morning almost killed me as we waited to get into the warehouse to see it. We had no idea what shape it would be in, what model it was, if it would roll, or how we were going to get it on the trailer. We did KNOW that it would not run.

Finally, we got in the warehouse (Greg did have a few blond moments along the way, but that is OK. Rick and I are not telling the whole story about our trip out to Lubbock. We are not ready to be compared to Short and Jack. Maybe, Fred and Ethel.)  Here is what we found!

1948 Willys CJ Jeep

We found this information out by finding the serial number and then looking it up on the Internet. Even though this one looks like the war jeeps; it was made in 1948. The war jeeps had a MA in the serial number  for "military action." If the number had CJ in it, it was a civilian jeep.

Why would I be fascinated with one of these? It reminds me of my father. I know that we had one when I was a very young girl. I have heard many stories of my brother driving the jeep when he was in elementary school. Later Daddy had one for the deer leases. He rolled one in Colorado, cracking several of his ribs.  He later had one on his Jacksboro deer lease. The only time we went to the deer lease was for a day trip just to see the lease. He took Diana and I riding in this jeep. The men on the lease made a pack that which ever man lived the longest got the jeep. I am sorry to say that Daddy did not win. This week was Daddy's birthday - January 25. Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Rachel's Challenge

Our school took part of "Rachel's Challenge." What an amazing story of this young gir! She was the first to be killed in the Columbine school shooting in 1999. If you are not aware of her story, it can be found at this site:
http://www.rachelschallenge.org/
The challenge from this includes items that will make anyone, any age a better person. I accepted the challenge.
1.  Look for the best in others.
2. Dare to dream - Write down your goals.
3 .Choose postive influences.
4. Kind words and little acts of kindness
Will you?

It's Twin Girls

The girls will have their own blog pages. Abby's can be found by linking onto "Abby Rose" beside the word "Home " at the top of this.

A Snow Day

I really did not want nor need a day-off for snow. I did want a late start;  but because of bus routes and parking lots, I got a day-off. Like a kid in a candy store, I could not decide what to do with my day - so I did it ALL.

• I started out by baking Chocolate Chip cookies and two Pumpkin Rolls.
• I read a manual on operating my camera with all the knobs.  
• I did my daily Bible study for my women's group.
• I sewed on my strip quilt.
• I cleaned out my sewing box.
• I watched a chick flick movie.
• I cooked dinner. 

It was a great day. However, I know in May when we make this day up, I will be disappointed knowing that we were supposed to be off that day.