Summer will soon be coming to an end!

I haven't blogged hardly at all this month! I'm finding that not having a camera takes away some of the fun! I guess I'll just have to get past that!

There hasn't been anything Exciting going on! Just day to day life. Lots of blessings. Lots of cleaning and organizing!

School has started. (YIPPEE! sorry, just had do express a little joy!) I really didn't want school to start. I wanted to continue my lazy, no deadlines or real responsibility life. But I have really enjoyed getting back to a schedule and it helped me feel motivation again.

Do you realize the holidays are just around the corner? A short month from now we will start feeling like cool weather might arrive and if we haven't already, start thinking about gifts to buy and what projects need to be done.

SIMPLIFY.

That is what I want to do. But every time I try it, just doesn't seem to happen. I have decided much of that reason is because of the JOY I get out of DOING. I think I am going to really think about what I do - just because I've always done it, and try to do what is most important and brings me and my family the most joy! It's worth trying. Right?

For now, I'm going to enjoy this last week of August. No holiday thoughts. Just finish the home organization projects that I've started. Well, I'll finish them at least well enough to get through the holidays!

Hey, we've almost made it through summer! YIPPEE

Yes- I had a birthday!

(I actually wrote this two weeks ago! But I didn't post 'cause I wanted to include pictures! They are stuck on Hope's camera which is currently missing in action! Oh well! I'll have to add them later!)

No matter how old I get I still LOVE birthdays! Well - I love the thought of having a birthday! When it comes right down to it they are usually kind of painful! But later when I look back I'm so amazed at the love and kindness that my family and friends show me!

This year was NO different! It started out with my Mom calling and wishing me a happy birthday and then my Dad got on the phone and asked me if I was turning 25. Of course, that's kind of a stretch! This is my 26th birthday! (Yeah right!)

I enjoyed lunch with my sister and stopping at Target! Visiting with my friend Theresa while enjoying our Sonic Drinks! (Lime limeades all the way! "Could I have more lime please?") Finding the beautiful roses and chocolates hidden all over my house by my sweet friends Emily and Caroline! Enjoying their beautiful gift that brought tears to my eyes! (Thanks Emily, Caroline and Krista!) Talking on the phone to my SIL's, text messages and reading all the sweet FB messages! Vaughan took us out to dinner (Yay! I didn't have to cook!) and then we came home to gifts and cake! Heidi and Holli made the yummiest cake. Turtle cake! Lots of caramel and nuts! Quite the treat! Now I have new books to read and movies to watch! (Cary Grant and "Little Dorrit") I was hoping and wishing for Little Dorrit, but didn't really believe it would happen! What a fun surprise! It's so good!

And you would think it should end there, but no! Around this house birth days seem to extend to birth weeks! So! More lunches to enjoy with friends and sisters!

Thank you really isn't enough! But still - Thank you friends and family! You really made me feel special and loved today! You are all amazing!

Young at heart, slightly older in other places.

A funny Funny!

Few women admit their age. Few men act theirs.

It's not how old you are, but how you are old!

Life not only begins at forty, it begins to show.

Super Granny - Defender of Justice

An elderly Florida lady did her shopping, and upon returning to her car, found four males in the act of leaving with her vehicle.
She dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream at the top of her voice, "I have a gun, and I know how to use it! Get out of the car!"
The four men didn't wait for a second invitation. They got out and ran like mad.
The lady, somewhat shaken, then to load her shopping bags into the back of the car and got into the driver's seat. She was so shaken that she could not get her key into the ignition.
She tried and tried and then it dawned on her why.
A few minutes later she found her own car parked a few spaces farther down.
She loaded her bags into her car and then drove to the police station.
The sergeant to whom she told the story nearly tore himself in two with laughter. He pointed to the other end of the counter, where four pale men were reporting a car jacking by a mad, elderly woman described as white, less than five feet tall, glasses, curly white hair, and carrying a large handgun.
No charges were filed.
Ah, senior moments!

Games for When We Are Older

• Sag, You're It
• Pin the Toupee on the Bald Guy.
• 20 Questions Shouted Into Your Good Ear.
• Kick the Bucket
• Red Rover, Red Rover, the Nurse Says Bend Over.
• Doc Goose.
• Simon Says Something Incoherent.
• Hide and Go Pee.
• Spin the Bottle of Mylanta
• Musical Recliners.

I think we'll play some of these at my next birthday party!

I'm not old...I'm chronologically gifted!

This month is such a SPECIAL one!

In honor of the month of August I thought I would post some thoughts I've been having lately. Below is the first of the installments: :)

You Know You're Getting Older When...

• All of your favorite movies are now revised in color.
• At cafeterias, you complain that the gelatin is too tough.
• The car that you bought brand new becomes an antique.
• The clothes you've put away until they come back in style...come back in style.
• Conversations with people your own age often turn into "dueling ailments."
• Going bra-less pulls all the wrinkles out of your face.
• The gray-haired person you help across the street is your spouse.
• It takes a couple of tries to get over a speed bump.
• It takes too much effort to procrastinate.
• The kids leave one by one, only to return two by two.
• Lawn care has become a big highlight of your life.
• Many of your co-workers were born the same year that you got your last promotion.
• One of the throw pillows on your bed is a hot water bottle.
• The waiter asks how you'd like your steak...and you say "pureed."
• When you are cautioned to slow down by the doctor instead of by the police.
• When you do the "Hokey Pokey" you put your left hip out...and it stays out.
• Work is a lot less fun and fun is a lot more work.
• You begin every other sentence with, "Nowadays..."
• You can do just as much as ever; but would rather not.
• You choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy
• You come to the conclusion that your worst enemy is gravity.
• You discover the words, "whippersnapper," and "by-cracky" creeping into your vocabulary.
• You don't care where your spouse goes, just as long as you don't have to go along.
• You frequently find yourself telling people what a loaf of bread USED to cost.
• You go to a garden party and you're mainly interested in the garden.
• You have trouble remembering simple words like...
• You keep repeating yourself.
• You know it all, you just can't remember it all at once!
• You keep repeating yourself.
• You light the candles on your birthday cake, and a group of campers form a circle and start singing "Kumbaya."
• You keep repeating yourself.
• You look both ways before crossing a room.
• You know all the answers but nobody asks you any questions.
• You make it a point to attend all the RV shows that come to town.
• You notice they're making adults much younger - when did they decide to let kids become policemen?
• You realize that aging is not for wimps.
• You realize that a stamp today costs more than a picture show did when you were growing up.
• You refer to your $2500 stereo system as "the hi-fi."
• You run out of breath walking DOWN a flight of stairs.
• You smile all the time because you can't hear a thing others are saying.
• You start beating everyone else at trivia games.
• You start video-taping daytime game shows.
• You still have a photographic memory but it no longer offers same day service.
• You tune into the easy listening station...on purpose.
• You wonder why you waited so long to take up macrame.
• Your back goes out more than you do.
• Your childhood toys are now in a museum.
• Your friends compliment you on your new alligator shoes and you're barefoot.
• Your insurance company has started sending you their free calendar...a month at a time.
• Your lack of pep is often mistaken for patience.
• Your new easy chair has more options than your car.
• You're a walking storeroom of facts...you've just lost the key to the storeroom door.
• You're awake many hours before your body allows you to get up.
• You're good at opening childproof caps - with a hammer.
• You're not grouchy, you just don't like traffic, waiting, crowds, loud music, unruly kids, barking dogs, politicians and a few other things you can't remember.
• You're on a TV game show and you decide to risk it all and go for the rocker.
• You're sitting on a park bench, and a Boy Scout comes up and helps you cross your legs.
• You're sure everything you can't find is in a secure place.
• You're the life of the party...even if it lasts until 8 p.m.
• You're usually interested in going home before you get where you're going.
• You're very good at telling stories - over and over and over and over...
• You're well cared for - long term care, eye care, private care, dental care, Medicare.
• You're wrinkled, saggy, lumpy, and that's just your left leg.
• You've met so many people that everyone you meet reminds you of someone else.
• You've seen it all, done it all, heard it all...you just can't remember it all.