I'm Back!

Hello Gentle Readers...

Who used to say that? Miss Manners? I think so.

After an extended absence, I'm back. For those of you who don't know, my dad was diagnosed in November with a variety of cancers and passed away on March 13. His funeral was held on March 18 and 19 in Alabama where he was buried near his late girlfriend. Personally I think my dad was too young to go but I had no say in the matter. Rather than send sympathies I asked people to purchase themselves flowers or a plant because my dad loved to look at flowers. So please be sure to treat yourself well. I'm pretty sure we all go 'round only once.

For some reason, I have The Spring Cleaning Fever! You might think this is because it's spring but I'm one of those people that only gets The Fall Cleaning Fever. So today, I'm rushing about the house, taking down curtains and washing them (twice because they still look dirty!), scrubbing floors, dusting things (don't you LOVE Swiffer dusters? - I absolutely HATE to dust, such a waste of time) and making a stab at all things dirty in general. I sat down here for a rest because my back is killing me after all the vacuuming.

I just finished vacuuming Star and I'm not kidding. The poor thing sees the vacuum coming out and she comes running. Since she was a puppy I taught her that the vacuum is NOT to be feared. The vacuum is our friend! Obviously, she took this lesson to heart. She likes to be vacuumed and what person hasn't thought "why not just vacuum the source of all this hair?" DON'T WORRY! I'm terribly careful about her ears, etc. I pretty much just do her back and sides and she seems to think it has something to do with grooming. If I get the vacuum out and DON'T vacuum her I get the doggy evil eye. That is NOT a pretty thing coming from a golden retriever. :-)

That's why I thought she'd be a natural for the Bissell box dog and asked my whole Homestead email list to vote for her one week. I have to tell you only 21 people voted for her and she didn't win. :-( Maybe I should have included a picture of her being vacuumed. To tell you the truth, I don't have a Bissell vacuum, but I do have a Bissell carpet cleaner. I won't use that on her though, it's hot water! :-) Anyway, maybe BISSELL SHOULD READ THIS AND SEND ME A FREE VACUUM TO TRY ON HER! What do you think about that?

I took 3 projects to stitch on in the car while I was gone. Not a lot of stitching got done, I should tell you right up front. I did stitch a little on the April tree which is a red, white and blue number. Lighting in the hotels was pretty poor and for some reason on the road I couldn't concentrate. In fact, I pretty much looked out the window. Spring has begun in parts of Kentucky with daffodils at the side of the road.

Maybe I'm in the cleaning mood because I have a semi-big-ole birthday rearing it's ugly head at me this week. In case you're wondering, I'm halfway to dead. You figure it out, I don't want to mention it. All I know is I keep realizing I haven't done a lot of what I wanted to do in life. So this August I'm going to Yellowstone. That's right! Me and my hubby. ROAD TRIP! If you're really lucky, I'll take the computer and post pictures along on the way.

Okay, that's it for now! Check back another day for more in my exciting life! Theresa