Firty, Fashionable and Fun

These Flirty papers are so fashionable with the retro styles coming back.  It takes me back to my ole' Virginie days of fast cars and fun.  We wore these prints in high school.  The brave gals wore the bold flowered skirts and pants with small print tops. 

It is a little hard to begin again or go back to yesteryear clothes.  Seems like I just threw these styles out, after keeping them in the back of the closet a few decades.  But, here we are again and it feels like I'm recycling.  You could call it that, only different medium.  I should add my old photos to these papers and no one would know they are thirty years in the making. 

Join our class on Sept 19th at 7pm to make your own Flirty pages.  It's okay we won't tell you've been flirting around. 

I Fila the Difference

After years of looking like a black & white blob jogging along the roadways, in my large size T-shirts earned at the many 5k's I've been in.  It was time for a new outfit.   As the summer days stretched out like a clown's balloon, neon colored outfits popped up everywhere.  Easy to spot and more appealing than the puff pastry shaped pants on this body, I was tempted to join the club.

When the sales were shouting my name and the store lines were short, I grabbed a Fila brand bright yellow top and some black, sleak stretch pants with Laffy Taffy yellow stitching.   Instead of trying them on, for fear they would end up back on the rack, I decided to 'go for the gold' by pulling out my Kohl's card.

No sense letting the new clothes settle in the bag, they had their coming out party at the gym one night.  I felt like a million bucks.  A neighbor spotted me that week out walking and complimented me on my new Lime Rickey outfit.   It definitely makes me feel younger and classier.  Now to get the body to join the party. 

Quite a Quilt Show

The Springville Art Museum has hosted a quilt show for at least the past thirty five summers.  I went to my first one as a young mother.  How I loved looking at all the amazingly gifted creations.   Years ago a pineapple design struck my fancy. I kept going back to it over and over that year, trying to cement it in my memory so I could make one just like it.  Sad to say I never did, but still think about it. 

Look how just black, white and gray can walk you into a mighty maze optical illusion.

 

This town square creates a stop and visit feel at each home inviting you to stay awhile. 

   More than 200 ties make up these 19 circular designs collected over the course of a young man's missionary days.

 This 'Best of Show' applique quilt with eye popping poseys is a sweet treat.

    On the diagonal these squares bring out each color and stripe in a unique and crisp way. 

Each quilt contains within its borders the stories no book could tell, designs more pleasing than eye candy, more colors than the rainbow, thousands of pieces and years of delicate stitches. Don't miss the quilt show next year. 

40 Hour Work Weeks

I have officially joined the forty hour week work force.  I hate it.  What a blessing to only work 30-32 hours weekly and get full benefits of insurance and vacation.  The lady that is here Mondays so I can enjoy three day weekends all year, had surgery.  She's been out all month.  I have been singing the 'wo is me blues' all four weeks and still have one more to go. 

 Now I see how hard it is to get anything done. Doesn't matter if you go to bed early, it's the same twenty-four hours to get everything done in. To treat myself and Mr. Manly, we will be going to see the play, 9 to 5 at the Hale Theatre on Labor Day. That will be my official end of working five days a week. 

Today was payday and my check was more, but is it worth it?  I will tell you next week when this stint if over.   For now I'm just glad to have a job to pay the bills.

Beautiful Bathroom or Bust

I avoid attending the Parade of Homes because seeing all those smartly decorated models, with the latest in technology, massive kitchens, the hottest colors and perfectly placed plants brings on depression.   My own adequate home looks like an outhouse compared to them. 

Well, this year I am putting on my big girl attitude and going out to see every last house. 

I want to redo my master bathroom and what better way to drive up the price than to get ideas from theirs.  I can't even come close to all the gadgets in the ones at the Parade, but at least ours will only be semi-outdated. 

 We must have a separate toilet room, two sinks, bigger shower and tile everything else. Should we do a garden tub or jetted and how big?   

 What size shower, double or single size; clear or frosted glass, surround or one sided?

 His and her sinks and cabinets or....Hey wait a minute.  My budget is only $5k or less.  Now let's start over.   Although better than lovely, they are more than I can afford, but a starting point at least.

Yep, I think I'm ready to re-do.  Now to get Mr. Manly to come on board, we will be taking off in November.  Oh, the places you can go when you buy tickets to the Parade of Hot Houses. 

No Way, No How

I found the cutest old wagon.  It was probably fifty years old or more. 

Then the most amazing spot for a photo, was just outside where the wagon was spotted. No grandchild of mine was ready or willing to have a picture taken.  No way!  No how!

  It would have been easier to bribe some strangers in the neighborhood than get mine to smile.  Hey, wait a minute, there's a quick one we got on camera from Zach, while holding baby brother, Josh.

Chances are they will ask ten years from now, why was I so cranky?  Because, we are part of the 'Cranky Crane' bunch.  Thus history was made on a farm in Nounan, Idaho.   And to think this is my very own Grandma Eugenia Crane's birthplace, as well.  She was probably watching

and laughing from the spirit world, while we begged our little ones to look happy. 

Faulty Foot Needs a Fix

Three years ago I traipsed around on vacation in poor shoes on cement and got plantar fasciitis in my left foot.  This is severe pain in the plantar (foot) fascia (tendon or sheath on bottom of each foot) often caused when the fascia relaxes at night as you sleep with toes pointed downward.  Upon awaking and walking the fascia stretches and becomes inflamed.  After six months of stretching, foot bracing and inflammation it was healed.  Now my right foot has it.  Curses!!!

Was it the four miles of run/walking a day, worn out tennie runners or foot abuse that has caused this unfun problem?  Each day is another one of achy foot, anti-inflammatories and limping about.  Got to get that foot brace, I say and new shoes. 

The major causes of getting this dreaded problem are poor shoe support, high heels, over-weight, long standing on hard surfaces and myriad other reasons.   Take care of your feet because 'where ever you roam,' you will be using your feet.