Jumping to conclusions can cause you to...

...slip and fall...

...and perhaps strain your 'start-of-a-good-day' bone!

Accck!

Don't you hate when that happens?

There's been a lot of stuff going on in the family lately...

...and the other morning I awoke to the sound of a text message alert.

"I can't look," I told Mr. Jenny.   "It could be this, this or this..."   and I proceeded to enumerate a whole bunch of bad things I imagined.

Mr. Jenny got out of bed, walked over to the dresser and picked up the cell phone.

 

"Don't tell me.  Oh no.   Oh geez.   Oh, man!   What's wrong now?"  I took a deep breath preparing for something bad.

Mr. Jenny squinted a little bit and read the text out loud.

"Have a peaceful day, Jenny," he recited, as I flinched from imagined bad news.

"What?   What did you say?   What?"

"Have a peaceful day, Jenny," he read again.   It was from a friend back east.   Three hours farther into her day then I was.

"Wow...ummm...that was nice.   Geez, I ...ummm...guessed I jumped to a bad conclusion there, didn't I?"

And then we went back to bed.

And I did, indeed...have a peaceful day...when I got up for real an hour later.

Alphabe-Thursday Letter K

Good morning class. Welcome to round six of Alphabe-Thursday!

We will be kicking up our heels for the letter:


Please link directly to your Alphabe-Thursday URL (if you don't know how to do this let me know!) and please continue to visit the five links before and after your link and leave a comment. Minimum of 10 links visited please. You can visit more if you like, of course.

If you have any difficulties with your link, please make sure to include the number of the link when you e-mail me. It is really difficult for me to find you easily otherwise.

If you have any questions about Alphabe-Thursday or problems doing your link just post it in a comment or send me an e-mail. I'll do my best to help you as quickly as I can.

The McLinkey will be live from 1:00 pm MST time Wednesday afternoon in an effort to assist our lovely "friends across the pond" and continue through 10:00 am MST time Friday morning!

And remember.... link back to this post, you need to be registered as a follower of my blog, PG posts only, and visit at least 10 other students (perhaps the 5 students before and after your post). The links will stay live after the final post deadline has passed so you can even wait and visit over the weekend or whenever you have more time.

Please share your killer "K" post now!

Unnecessary serving objects...

Accck!

I think I'm out of control.

My new kitchen actually has cabinets.   And drawers.  

And trips to the garage to take serving dishes, coffee mugs, the toaster and cereal off the metal shelving wedged in beside Mr. Jenny's Jeepster will be no longer required.

Seriously.

I.

Have.

Cabinets.

And drawers.  I think there are 9 drawers in my new kitchen.

Ahhh.

Bliss.

I haven't, technically, finished moving  since we don't have to be out of our current house until the end of February and we're taking our time!

So, technically, I'm not sure how much extra room I'm going to have in my cabinets...

BUT...

In my quest to find used furniture at garage and estate sales to fill up some empty spaces. I find  drawn to serving dishes.

And coffee mugs.

And toasters.

But mostly...serving dishes.

Mr. Jenny keeps asking, "Don't you have stuff like that already?"

I keep saying, "Shusssh.  I'm just looking."

Although...

A few days ago I purchased a pink pyrex divided serving dish.   Ah.  It's a beauty. 

 

And a few days before that I purchased some amber pyrex casseroles.   Ah.   They are quite lovely, too!


I find myself drawn, with wild abandon,  to unnecessary serving objects!

I just hope I don't buy so many they end up back on metal shelves in the garage again.

ha!

Marriage Counselors are coming in smaller packages these days...

Really.

A few days ago we had all the Grandlittle's with us and were hauling yet another pick-up load of stuff to the new house.

Mr. Jenny was cranky.

I was cranky.

The Grandlittles were NOT cranky.

But...

Mr. Jenny and I had a teeny/weeny little tiff.

It was more a dispute...really.

And I was right.

And he was wrong.

But...

He thought he was right.

And I was wrong.

Our very rare arguments are characterized with silence and a slight coolness to each other.

No yelling.

No throwing shoes at each others heads.

Even though I think that might be more fun.

I didn't even think the Grandlittle's noticed it.

I was wrong.

The littlest Grandlittle, Mo, picked up on the slight discord.

When we left I climbed into the back of the crew cab with the two littler kids and told the oldest girl to sit up front.   With Grandpa.

I figured that would teach him for not knowing that he was wrong and I was right.

ha!

After a few minutes, though, Mo reached up and put one little hand on her Grandpa and the other on my arm.

"Grandma," she said in an absolutely syrupy voice.  "Grandma.   Let me just TELL you how SORRY Grandpa is."

Mr. Jenny looked straight ahead.

"Ahem," she cleared her squeaky little soprano voice.  "Ahem!   Grandma!   Let ME just TELL you how SORRY Grandpa is.   Right, Grandpa?"

Mr. Jenny paused for a very brief second and then sighed.

A few times.

"Okay, Grandma!   I'm really sorry."

Then Mo continued.   "Ahem!   Grandpa!   Let ME just TELL you how SORRY Grandma is.   Right?   Grandma?"

Geez.

Geez.

Blush.

I knew this girl was precocious but a marriage counselor at six years old?

Wow.

That just boggles my mind.

Our argument was put aside until Mr. Jenny and I went to bed that night.

"Ummm," Mr. Jenny said.   "I think you were wrong but it's okay and  I'm not mad about it anymore."

Grrrrr.

Grrrrr.

"I thought Mo said how SORRY you were?"

"She said that...not me," he replied.

Sigh.

I can't wait to call little Mo and have her make Mr. Jenny apologize again.  

Kidding.

Just kidding.

Kind of.

ha!

Saturday Centus - Week 144

 

Welcome to week ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR of Saturday Centus.

I love this picture.   I purchased it from an Etsy store called Gothic Crow some time ago.  That shop says it's 'on vacation' but she had given me permission when I purchased it to use the image on another blog I had thought about starting. Her image did not include the words which I modified for a 'button'.

 

This image is very powerful for me personally.  I thought it might be interesting to try using both the picture and the words for the prompt this week.

 

Number of words:  106 (including the words 'The dark side of the stars..."

Style of writing: Any

Additional Pictures: Any

The regular restrictions apply: PG, no splitting of the prompt, play nicely and visit the other entries, any style or genre of writing you prefer. Please display my link button or just a hyper-link back to Saturday Centus. Be careful to link your SC URL to the Linky and not just link to your main blog.

E-mail me directly with ???'s or ask your question in a comment and I will do my best to get back to you as soon as possible.

Feel free to link up any time between now and next Saturday...

Painted Alphabet - Letter J

Jumpin' Jiminy! 

What a busy and fun week this has been.

I made two "J" signs this week.

I really like them both.

12" x 12" 

 

This one is pretty different for me.   I really like it's kinda/sorta mod look.

 

16" x 15"

These are all hand-painted and available in my Etsy shop...you can see the mini link at the top right of my blog or click on any picture for a link!  No stickers...no stencils...my designs.

 

This post is linked to Alphabe-Thursday's Letter J.   To read other J offerings, just click here.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Hot Tomatoes?

This little poem is linked to week 143 of Saturday Centus.   To read other offerings, just click here.

I’m an Arizona gardener

unwilling to admit defeat.

I try and grow almost everything

in spite of the searing heat.

My spinach comes pre-wilted.

My corn comes already popped.

My carrots and beans

are parboiled.  It seems

I have a talent for producing

already hot potatoes!

(and pleaseohpleaseohplease)

Let’s not talk about tomatoes!

I guess not a total waste,

to pick fresh tomatoes that are already paste!

I’m an Arizona gardener

and I might have to admit true defeat!

Which works out well ‘cuz each Saturday

there’s a farmers market

(obviously high altitude grown)

on the corner of every street.

Alphabe-Thursday Letter J

Good morning class. Welcome to round six of Alphabe-Thursday!

Today we will be juggling the letter:


Please link directly to your Alphabe-Thursday URL (if you don't know how to do this let me know!) and please continue to visit the five links before and after your link and leave a comment. Minimum of 10 links visited please. You can visit more if you like, of course.

I am still behind visiting but working my way through the letter "H" right now.  I promise I will be by as soon as I can.

If you have any difficulties with your link, please make sure to include the number of the link when you e-mail me. It is really difficult for me to find you easily otherwise.

If you have any questions about Alphabe-Thursday or problems doing your link just post it in a comment or send me an e-mail. I'll do my best to help you as quickly as I can.

The McLinkey will be live from 1:00 pm MST time Wednesday afternoon in an effort to assist our lovely "friends across the pond" and continue through 10:00 am MST time Friday morning!

And remember.... link back to this post, you need to be registered as a follower of my blog, PG posts only, and visit at least 10 other students (perhaps the 5 students before and after your post). The links will stay live after the final post deadline has passed so you can even wait and visit over the weekend or whenever you have more time.

Please jump up and post your letter "J" now!

Alphabe-Thursday Letter I

Good morning class. Welcome to round six of Alphabe-Thursday!

Today we will be improvising about the letter:



Please link directly to your Alphabe-Thursday URL (if you don't know how to do this let me know!) and please continue to visit the five links before and after your link and leave a comment. Minimum of 10 links visited please. You can visit more if you like, of course.

I am only one week behind in reading now!   Just letting you know that I'm surely, but slowly, catching up! 

If you have any difficulties with your link, please make sure to include the number of the link when you e-mail me. It is really difficult for me to find you easily otherwise.

If you have any questions about Alphabe-Thursday or problems doing your link just post it in a comment or send me an e-mail. I'll do my best to help you as quickly as I can.

The McLinkey will be live from 1:00 pm MST time Wednesday afternoon in an effort to assist our lovely "friends across the pond" and continue through 10:00 am MST time Friday morning!

And remember.... link back to this post, you need to be registered as a follower of my blog, PG posts only, and visit at least 10 other students (perhaps the 5 students before and after your post). The links will stay live after the final post deadline has passed so you can even wait and visit over the weekend or whenever you have more time.

Please inspire us with your letter "I" post now!

Packing gone awry...

Darn.

I am an idiot.

And not in a good way.

If you've been visiting me at all lately, I'm sure you've heard me carrying on about moving.

I'm kinda/sorta liking it.

Even though I find myself challenging MYSELF!

About 12 months ago I packed up all the stuff I wanted to keep from our old house.

We moved to a much smaller house and, thus, relegated a whole bunch of boxes to storage.

I gloated and smirked and told Mr. Jenny how organized I was.

I'm not gloating OR smirking now.

Now I'm thinking, 'WHAT IDIOT PACKED THE BOXES THAT WENT INTO THE STORAGE UNIT?'

The reason I'm thinking this is the way said IDIOT labelled the boxes.

I don't think it was me.

Even though said IDIOT used my exact hand-writing and the same exact purple sharpie that I always buy.

There's no way I would have written 'KABOOM' or 'WHO KNOWS WHAT'S IN THIS BOX!!!'

I would have remembered that.

There's no way I would have written 'STUFF' or 'WHO CARES!' on other boxes.

Is there?

Surely I would have been concise and orderly and included a little label itemizing the contents of each box.

Surely someone else spent a lot of time faking my handwriting in purple sharpie because I totally can't recall doing this.

Sigh.

The 'KABOOM' box was half-filled with books and a pan lid wrapped in a sweater.

KABOOM?

Pan lid?  Sweater?

Geez.

Sigh.

It's really irritating when I make things MORE challenging for myself.

Sigh.

KABOOM?

Seriously?

Painted Alphabet Letter I

Here "I" am again with some more painted signs!

The oldest Grandlittle squeeze one sign out this week.   Between dancing, basketball and homework she is quite busy!

Anyway.

Here's her sign for the letter "I".  I think it's really cute.

12" x 12"

And here's the two I painted this week.

These are all hand-painted and available in my Etsy shop...you can see the mini link at the top right of my blog or click on any picture for a link!  No stickers...no stencils...my designs (and my Grandlittle's, too!)

 

This post is linked to Alphabe-Thursday's Letter I.   To read other I offerings, just click here.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Alphabe-Thursday Letter H

Good morning class. Welcome to round six of Alphabe-Thursday!

Today we will be happily discussing the letter:


I hope the Linky Tool works better this week.   I checked from several different computers and could see it clearly.  I don't really understand what was happening with that.   Fingers crossed this week will be smooth sailing.  We have our Grandlittles for a few days and I don't know how often I'll be on my e-mail BUT if you have a problem linking can you e-mail me the correct URL (so I can link it here for you)  E-mail addy is  jennymatlock at cox dot net and please put 'ALPHABE-THURSDAY HELP!' in the subject line so I don't miss that you're having a problem.

Please link directly to your Alphabe-Thursday URL (if you don't know how to do this let me know!) and please continue to visit the five links before and after your link and leave a comment. Minimum of 10 links visited please. You can visit more if you like, of course.

I am starting visiting the F's now.   Geez.   I'm really sorry I'm so behind.   Thank you sincerely for your patience with me.

If you have any difficulties with your link, please make sure to include the number of the link when you e-mail me. It is really difficult for me to find you easily otherwise.

If you have any questions about Alphabe-Thursday or problems doing your link just post it in a comment or send me an e-mail. I'll do my best to help you as quickly as I can.

The McLinkey will be live from 1:00 pm MST time Wednesday afternoon in an effort to assist our lovely "friends across the pond" and continue through 10:00 am MST time Friday morning!

And remember.... link back to this post, you need to be registered as a follower of my blog, PG posts only, and visit at least 10 other students (perhaps the 5 students before and after your post). The links will stay live after the final post deadline has passed so you can even wait and visit over the weekend or whenever you have more time.

Please hop over and post your letter "H" now!

I've been packing up boxes...

... and in the process I came across a scrapbook page.

It was from quite some time ago.

My kids were teenagers...

...all three going through the angst and anger years at the same time.

I was trying to survive as a single Mom by crying a lot and going to 'Tough Love' meetings.

Three pictures were mounted on the cheery pre-printed Christmas background paper.

All the kids looked sullen.

The tree was ugly.

And very present forlorn.

And in tiny little letters I had written at the bottom of the page, "Not our best Christmas ever."

Sigh.

It was true.

Not. Our. Best. Christmas. Ever.

But...

We survived those years.

Some kids better than others.

And I ended up with a lot of grey hairs and wrinkles.

But I did it.

It's amazing how you can survive pretty much anything, even when you think you can't.

2012 was one of those years for my husband and I.

Major health issues.  Major business issues. 

Lost the health for most of the year.  Lost the business.  Lost the house.

Went through all kinds of drama with foreclosure, moving from a house we (and our entire family) loved to a house we (and our entire family) hated just so we would have a roof over our heads. 

I have lots of funny stories about the bank and the move but I'm just putting my toe into the puddle of telling this story, so I'll save those tales for the future.  

Sigh.

But...

Here it is.

One year later.

Health is improving.

Business is successfully being rebuilt.

And we are moving to a house we really love.

We did it.

It's amazing how you can survive pretty much anything, even when you think you can't.

For twelve months I have been reminding myself that a house is just a house, but a home is where the people you love are.

For twelve  months I have been reminding myself to be grateful for what I have and thankful for what I have escaped.

But now!

Hooray!

I'm smiling and laughing and I'm packing boxes and loading my little white pick-up truck with great joy in my heart.

2012.

Not. Our. Best. Year. Ever.

But I think 2013 just might end up being great!

Saturday Centus - Week 143

 

Welcome to week ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-THREE of Saturday Centus.

This week let's go back to a picture prompt.

Number of words: 100 words

Style of writing: Any
Additional Pictures: Any

The regular restrictions apply: PG, no splitting of the prompt, play nicely and visit the other entries, any style or genre of writing you prefer. Please display my link button or just a hyper-link back to Saturday Centus. Be careful to link your SC URL to the Linky and not just link to your main blog.

E-mail me directly with ???'s or ask your question in a comment and I will do my best to get back to you as soon as possible.

Feel free to link up any time between now and next Saturday...

My Mom turned 80...

...and not just for Saturday Centus.

We're working on moving so I apologize in advance for this haphazard rhyme!  This is linked to week 142 of Saturday Centus.  The prompt is in bold.  To read much better uses of the prompt, just click here.

Ahem.

My Mother turned 80 today...

...so I planned...

A sweet little birthday surprise.

Four lovely Adeline's sang in sweet chorus...

My Mom looked at me in surprise.

She said, "Jenny, Oh Jenny!"

I said, "Mom!  You're upset!"

She said, "I really prefer

...a barbershop quartet!"

I slunk away sadly...

...and I felt very bad.

I had gotten her a chorus...

But of Chicks and not Lads!

(I told you this was bad!   And to be honest...she really liked the Sweet Adeline's!)

Crash course in appliance repair...

...sigh...

A few weeks ago our dishwasher started leaking all over the place.

Suds everywhere.

Big mess.

Dishes all nasty with build-up.

We got the repairman out.

He fixed it.

Or said he did.

But after he left and we washed dishes, it went all over the kitchen again.

Grrrrr.

We called.

He came back.

Said he needed to order a part.

And came to install it today.

He then asked what kind of dishwasher detergent we were using.

My husband showed him.

Ummm...

Ummmm...

Blush.

Apparently you are not supposed to use laundry detergent squishy things in the dishwasher.

Seriously.

Who knew?

Arrrggh.

That was pretty embarrassing.

And the packages of squishy things look almost exactly the same.

And I had no idea I had mixed up the packages when I put the groceries away.

And...

...the switch-up would probably explain the different smell in my laundry for the last few weeks as well. 

Arrrgggh.

Ummmm...

Blush.

Sigh...

If you were to Google 'Heaven'...

...a lot of things would pop up.

Perceptions.

Pictures.

Stories.

Emotions.

Sunday night I think I might have experienced 'Heaven' for a few moments.

Mr. Jenny and I have had our oldest three Grandlittles for a few days.

It was busy times for all us all...

Celebrating my Mom's 80th Birthday...

...with a Sweet Adeline singing quartet...

...doing homework...

...movie night...

...ballroom dancing lessons and basketball practice.

Roller skating with the neighbor girl.

 

 

We were all tired out but happy on Sunday evening.

A little while before we went to bed I painted cherries on their belly buttons...

...I sat in the cozy chair reading books to the six year old.

The oldest Grandlittle played my electric guitar softly...her red hair shone like a beacon in soft lamp light.

I could hear the murmur of the middle Grandlittle talking to her Grandpa.

The rumble of his voice and the sweet soprano of hers made a lovely background melody.

I could hardly contain all the comfort and joy I felt in my heart in those moments.

"Heaven," I thought.  "Surely Heaven could not possibly be near as wonderful as this."