Tink!!!!!

My Grandmother - Lillian Elvira Paris Auten and I had a very special bond!  I was born on her 72nd birthday!  Here we are celebrating my 1st birthday and her 73rd!  She was a strong, independent woman and feared nothing!  She was the matriarch of our family and held us all accountable....all 3 of her sons and daughter in laws and 10 of her grandchildren!!!    She moved to Sunnyslope, AZ in 1943 while two of her three sons were serving in the military and her oldest son started a grocery store.  She bought all her furniture and lived in a little gingerbread cottage with crystal door knobs, beveled glass in the windows and a swamp cooler.

 

She was a seamstress extraordinaire and people would come from miles around to have her make them custom clothes.  Sometimes I would be there when her clients came and I would have to be quiet as a church mouse while she would measure and plan and create beautiful clothes for beautiful woman.  If I was really good I got to play with the scraps from the left over fabric!   She had a sewing machine but was never without a needle and thread, often pinned to her dress as she worked around the house.  She only bought and used these special needles that were pure silver and had a real gold head.  They were the finest and produced the best handwork, said she.

 

I spent most Saturday nights with her and we would go to church together on Sunday mornings.  Later I worked at a bank near her and would stop in EVERY.SINGLE.DAY to check on her.  I know she looked forward to that, living alone and not seeing well.  She would always ask me to thread a few needles for her to use as she could not see the tiny hole to thread them....I would make her several and she would pin them to her dress.

 

She passed away on her own terms right before Mothers Day in 1975.  When we were clearing out her little cottage her dresser was emptied and went to live in Flagstaff in my Uncles cabin.  My Uncle cut the legs off of it and took off the mirror so it would fit.  They used it constantly and when he passed away my Aunt gave it to me (2010). 

I had so many recurring dreams about her and once was a study at college about the dreams I had and the interpretation....me and one other guy who had PTS.  What a study we were!  The 'professionals' said that my grandmother was my spiritual guide and that she had so much more to teach me and that is what my dreams were for and once I learned it all I would no longer have those dreams.  I never want those dreams to go away and I still have them!

Once some jewelry she gave me came up missing!  Kristen, Steve and I tore the house apart and could not find it!  I was DEVASTATED!  We had a lot of workers in the house and hated to think the worse but gone it was.  We checked ebay, craigs list and every pawn shop in SD with no results. I prayed and prayed and prayed to bring it back to me but it seemed impossible to think it would

About a year later I went in my closet and looked up on my shelf (which had been torn apart looking for that jewelry and accessed by me every day since) and there was the jewelry right in my sight in a plastic box.  I got down on my knees and cried and almost hyperventilated.  I could not believe my eyes!  I don't believe in a lot of things 'on the other side' but that was definitely something that could not be explained.

So in 2010 - about 5 years ago, we drove it from Flagstaff to San Diego, taking out the drawers and squeezing it in the back of my Lexus SUV.  When it got here I scrubbed it down inside and out and put it in Adam's old bedroom to keep the boys clothes when they spend the night here.

Just last week, I decided to take out all the boys clothes and sort them as they have been growing like weeds and outgrowing clothes they only wear once in a while.  I removed everything and was sorting when I heard 'Tink' near the dresser. 

When I walked over to the dresser and pulled out the drawer I found this:

 

It's hard to see but is a tarnished silver sewing needle with a gold head with thread that was almost falling apart - again with the tears!  How it could have survived the move from Sunnyslope to Flagstaff in 1975 and from Flagstaff to San Diego in 2010 and 5 years of my boys using it is beyond comprehension!

 

I just had to put it in a special little frame.....



And I put it in my office by some of my favorite things, including the picture of Steve and I kissing under the Eiffel Tower in Paris!  Paris....get it???

I know she is with me - always in my heart, teaching me and sending me messages....I love that and never want it to go away.

Patriotic Week: IRS, DAR, USA!

Well, we made it....another painful year of tax prep and processing completed!!!! 

We were able to mark off our list the looming deadline of this annual process! 

I am really a patriotic person but this process needs an overhaul!!!

 



 

So the rest of the week we had time for some other important and more fun things to do!!!

 

 

 

Boys Baseball....Dylan making some incredible plays on the field.....

 Brody's batting is hot hot hot!

 My photography is horrible; but at this months DAR meeting the speakers were Military Button Collectors....here is one that George Washington wore during his inaugural - with provenance....very impressive.  The lady that owns it has collected since 1951 and said when she bought this it was her birthday, anniversary, mothers day, valentines day and Christmas for several years....I can believe it!  It was an honor just to see it!

 She had so many different displays and all nicely done.  She told us all about the Grand Review - which I have to admit I had never heard of and was mesmerized by - and also buttons from the GAR....I love buttons but my knowledge is so small on all of this....for more about The Grand Review - click here:  https://www.grandreviewparade.org/

 I was lucky enough to win the button guessing contest and this little beauty came home with me!

 My Thrifty Finds for the week.....clock for clock collection - I think I need one more and then will be complete.  A cranberry glass for the guest room collection and a fairy for a future fairy garden I hope to put together soon.

 Speaking of gardens - we got ours planted this week!  All kinds of lettuce, tomatoes, yellow Patty Pan squash, zuchinni yellow cook neck squash, basil and garlic!

 On a whim, Dylan decided to take up surfing and yes he was up on the first try.  He is so agile and has great balance....I take no credit for that kind of dna!

 We enjoyed the annual Day at the Docks with the boys....oh what fun we had!

 We decked the boys out in the USA outfits and took it all in....we toured all the fishing boats....

 This is on the Odyssey which is a classroom boat that Dylan had taken classes on...they boys are touching a sting ray....proud gramps in the back.

 These awesome fish captains set up a fish pond for the boys to catch and release....

 They both loved that and boy did those fish bite fast - almost didn't get pictures!

 We have such beautiful bays and docks in San Diego - this festival was at Shelter Island....

Brody enjoyed making some sea monsters at the craft station.....

 And at the end they load you up with free fabulous fish tacos!!!!!

 With our newly purchased minnow nets we stopped off at the pond near our house and tested them out....

 Of course, Nature Boy, nets one on his first try.....we plan to use these on our upcoming RV trip!

We love the USA and all it has to offer.....but let's do the flat tax peeps!

What I planned....what happened.....just smile!

Well, as planning goes I admit I expect to accomplish a lot during a week.  Sunday is when I make my list by day by accomplishment by task.   In my twisted way of thinking by putting most important things on Monday they can slid a bit to Tuesday or even Wednesday but are surely finished by Thursday or Friday. 

 

 It's a weird little game I play fool myself with and percentage wise it works out pretty good (admitting your problem is the first step). 

 

However, as the week goes on I usually get a bit lot testy if things are not getting completed....so in my ongoing quest to' lighten up' this week I had an opportunity because...

 

No matter how I planned....this is what happened! 

 

 So I just focused on little things that made me smile......

The coleus plants by my front door are bursting and beautiful!

 I was looking through some boxes in the garage and found this....Adam's first Disneyland mug that I got him in 1979 on his first visit....he was and is a huge Mickey Mouse Disneyland Fan!

 This will be making a trek to Phoenix soon to go with all his other Disneyana I have saved and given him over the years....

 Our Irish royal family came home from the Irish castle they were at for far too long!  So happy to have them back!

 Our niece and nephew adopted the cutest chocolate lab....Brixton

 Our very special friends Paul and Annette celebrated their 50th Anniversary and I put this together for them.....

 I packed away all the Easter decorations and put on my new thrifted hand crocheted table cloth....love....

 Hard to see but I found the perfect glass compote stand for my coffee table in the living room....

Rocky got his spring/summer cut and looks tinier than ever...he must be at 2 lbs now...have to watch even closer for the hawks and coyotes

So another Sunday rolls around.....do I feel like I took it all in stride and am ok with not accomplishing what was on the list?  Truth be told, no....I am restless....so looking to this for inspiration

Throwing away my list from last Sunday that was unfinished and starting over.....there's a lesson (or many) in here somewhere!

Plan the Work and Work the Plan and other bad habits I am trying to break.....

Truth be told:

 

Even as a child I made lists....my mom used to tease me endlessly about my lists, later my husband and kids would tease me about my lists.....I engrained into myself to plan the work and work the plan.  It worked well with my control issues and OCD.

 

I spent my whole professional career (commodity buyer, tv production assistant, development manager, project manager, Director of IT) using much more advanced lists like this:

 

 So now in my post-professional/consulting world I am finding trying to find the balance....

On the flight home from South America I made a list of things I needed to do....it numbered 143.  Normally I would prioritize the list and then start with the top priorities and then work my way down.....being the convert rebel I am trying struggling to become, I decided to just flutter around and do whatever looked like needed attention....baby steps.....

Good news:  got lots of fun things done; Bad News: way behind in things that needed to be done.  I am not sure if I can keep this up....I worry I might become ADD!

Remember this Thrift Find from awhile back....someone put Krazy Glue on this vintage beveled round mirror and then added a plastic rope.....I just had to save her.  Who would put plastic rope on a lady like this???

 Under estimating the effort I tried many different approaches I found the combination of Goo Be Gone and WD 40 was the best concoction....plus hours of scraping. 

 Hard to see with the light coming through the window but I hung her in the guest room....she looks so happy and clean and sparkles and shines now.  She is much happier now and I am relieved to mark this one off the list.

 I really should not have,  but this week during some consulting work I happened to be near my fave thrift store.....I have wanted to repurpose a dresser like this:

 

So when I found this little treasure for $14.95 that had stickers all over her I thought I had found the perfect piece. 

 

Remember I have 142 things on my list (I got to mark 1 off when I finished the mirror).   hmmmmm....I reverted to my old thinking and told myself I would tuck her away and work on her as #143....old habits die hard.

 

 Oh, and I also found these other pretties....clock for clock project; Beleek shamrock, Chihuahua taco holder for The Addie and Ms. Shannie, George and Martha figurine - just because!  Total for all of this:  $28.80

 

Then I reminded myself to throwing 'Caution to the Wind' and embrace my new found un prioritized list....I decided to work on her first.  After I scrubbed and scrubbed I found such a beauty that I could not bear to paint her!

 Then I dressed her up with my vintage perfume tray, a bronze angel I got in Belgium, and lots of vintage jewelry given to me....

 These pieces are so precious and beautiful to me!  They had been hiding in my closet for years....they are happy to be out and sparkling!

So a few other things got done this week.....but so many other things did not....including taxes...still.not.done

 

I may be enjoying working on my new found freedom of flitting around doing fun things but I don't thing the government will embrace my new found flitting!

 

 

This is one thing on my list I must complete!

 Because I do not want to be on this list!

Oh....and before I go....Happy Easter....my vintage inspiration!