My great blogging friends...

Thanks to all of you for your kind comments concerning my mom and my health issues. You're the best!

I did finally go to the clinic today. Woo hoo! Been threatening for quite some time! The PA I saw said my lungs sound fine, but are probably just a little irritated from the secretions they're having to put up with. He was a little more concerned with my sinus pain and low grade fever. So, he prescribed an antibiotic which I've begun to take. I expect that this will take care of my problems, and I'm so glad I decided to go in.

I haven't been doing a whole lot while I've been under the weather. I did watch a scad of movies over the weekend: Pride and Prejudice (the four hour version), Persuasion (the 80's version), Jane Eyre (the Toby Stephens version) and Night at the Museum (with the kooky Neaderthal guy).

I've been trying to keep up with my 29 Faces challenge. Here are the latest...

Maybe I can dig up some new grandkid photos. Well, here's an assortment of kids and grandkids... :)

Here's my sweet son, Josh. He's growing out his head hair a little.

And here he is with Nathan and Starry.

This is what Micah calls her Walmart Freak Show. She's wearing Sully, Hazel's sticking her tongue out, Adele is saying something, and the little boy with the brown hair is Micah's nephew, Max. Audrey is in school. Micah babysits Max a couple of days a week. She's a brave gal and doesn't mind doing this sort of thing...most of the time!

Jordan and friend Andrew, clowning around.

Adele takes her superhero job very seriously. The binky makes the outfit. (Not to mention the slippers!)

I don't remember what Audrey was so excited about, but this is the only recent photo I have of her, lol.

Yup, Sully (aka Bubba) is always this sweet. I think he's the spittin' image of his dad, and seems to have his dad's temperament. He's a blessing!

Well, that's all I have for ya at the moment! I hope you're all well and happy as a bunch of clams.
Have a shalom filled week! :)

The crud...

I've been sick since January 28th when I posted about Mom going to heaven. I thought I was getting better about a week ago, then after working the weekend things began going downhill again on Monday. At that time it seemed like the flu (which I'm assuming is what I had) turned into something in my sinuses. My sinuses aren't hurting really bad; just enough to bother me a bit and I'm a little head achey. I seem to keep getting a little fever each evening (like 1 degree). I took 2 aspirins yesterday and 2 just now. That's about all I've taken. If I'm still feeling cruddy on Monday I guess I'll give in and go to the clinic. I know my insurance won't cover the visit, so I'm being cheap. I can afford it, I'm just being stubborn, plus, the clinic is so crowded since everyone has this junk. But two weeks is long enough!

Okay, now that I've whined, here are my latest faces for the 29 Faces challenge, then I'm going blog visiting!

I also checked out a bunch of movies from the library, so I'll be having a marathon at some point. :) (Oh, yeah. I managed to get to the library book sale, no matter what!)

Hope everyone is staying well!
Love and shalom to all!

Art work catch up...

Howdy!

It's my working weekend, so I'm pretty pooped, but I wanted to catch up on recording the artwork I've swapped lately. I hope everyone is doing well. I'll probably do more blog reading and such after I get through work tomorrow.

Okay, now I'll start looking through my photos and slapping them on this page as I find them. :)

These four were for a Pick-a-Theme swap. Each person in my "group" asked for a specific theme for their card.

"Rooster"

"Bird in a birdbath"

"Cats" and "Nature"

 This one was for a Make Me Happy swap where you make someone happy by drawing what they ask for. These are one-to-one swaps. This gal asked for a drawing of Aki, a singer in a Japanese band. I'd never heard of her, but I Googled her name and found a photo for reference.

 Then there was the "Cars" swap. I know, I know, they're WONKY. That's the best I can do...

 For another Make Me Happy (MMH) swap a guy asked for a bobcat.

 And yet another MMH. She asked for a Beatrix Potter character.

 I'm just beginning a 29 Faces challenge. We simply draw a face each day. I haven't done one today. I'll probably wait til Monday and do several to catch up.

I was down to just the 29 Faces challenge and our usual monthly 5x7 acrylic on canvas swap, but today I added a bunch of inchies swaps to my list. My friend in the UK (she goes by the name of Noodlerabbit on the swap site) comes up with so many cute ideas for swaps that I can't resist. :)

Everyone have a great rest of your weekend!
Shalom.

Dear Mom...

Some of you may have seen my Wednesday post on Facebook announcing that my dear mom stepped through the gates of heaven sometime early Wednesday morning. She had been fighting the Alzheimer battle for many years as my faithful  step-dad cared for her every step of the way. These are two of the most amazing people I know, and I love them so much.

I think it was Nancy Reagan who coined the phrase, "the long good-bye" when speaking of Alzheimers. That does seem fitting. I've been missing my mom's presence since her emails began to get further apart and then stopped. At that point my wonderful step-dad began emailing me and explaining what she was going through. They live 1,000 miles away and so I flew down to see mom while she still knew who I was. I'm thankful for that visit. I think it was the next year that Bob and I went down to see her, and she seemed happy and healthy, but it was obvious she just thought we were a couple of nice people who came for a visit. It is a blow to lose the last person in the world who remembers your childhood and can laugh and recall old memories. I'm sure most of you have lost parents or a spouse. The loss of someone who shares your history and memories leaves an empty place in your heart.

There's no way around this. We will all die. But there is hope and that makes all the difference. My sweet mama has made the leap from this world, which can at times be beautiful, but which carries so much suffering and loss, to that eternal world where she is safe with her Lord. She loves the Lord with all her heart and I know she's having an exciting adventure. That makes it so much easier to see her go. Our separation is only temporary.

I had many of the same feelings when I lost Bob in the fall of 2013. At that time I didn't want to look at pictures of him when he was older. It made me think of the fact that he had been very sick when the photos were taken and we didn't know it yet. Now I can look at those older pictures and remember the happy times we had when they were taken. Many of them were photos of him holding his much loved grandchildren. Those were good times.

So, I kind of wanted to post some photos of my mom in her youth. She was a fun loving person from the looks of it and I love these old photos of her. Her name is Mary Jane and she's a southern girl. She was born and raised in Angleton, Texas. Although we later lived in Colorado for around 20 years, she and my step-dad returned to Angleton where she lived out the rest of her life and was reunited with her sisters. I'm so glad she got to spend some great years back among her southern kin.

Grandpa, Mom and Aunt Dixie.

My Aunt Patsy and Mom.

Patsy, Dixie and Mom...the three Moseman girls.

 

Glamorous at 16.

She was the drum major for her high school during a big parade in Houston.

That's her on the left strutting her stuff.

Mom on the right with a friend. Mom's friends called her "Bird-legs"!

Age 16, in front of her high school.

Starting to look very grown up.

We lived in Deer Park, a suburb of Houston, when this pictures was taken. Mom captioned it "Mother Hen". This was a very rare snowfall in southeast Texas!  Mom and yours truly.

We moved a lot when I was a child, but mom always made it seem like an adventure!

When Mom was in her 50's and later, she had many other adventures, and I'm so glad she got to experience so many wonderful things. She went to YWAM's Discipleship Training course and traveled to Hawaii to do the training. I am not at all sure of the year that this took place, but that's not really important. I believe as a result of this training she later took a trip to China to do some missions activities. Later still, she took a trip to Israel! She was a major support for my brother James and his family during their many years as missionaries, and she supported my homeschooling efforts for 19 years, paying for all of our curriculum. She loved to serve "behind the scenes". As she got older she told me that God was calling her to a ministry of availability. She wanted to be sure she was available when people needed someone to talk to. She said so many people are too busy to just be available for those in need. She wrote an inspirational newsletter for her church for years. She used her gift of writing in many ways and she had a lot of wisdom from studying God's Word for so many years. She was a true gift to this family and I just wanted to let everyone know how special she was...and still is! She lives on in heaven and we'll all meet again and laugh and dance with our Heavenly Father! I know He's glad to have his little girl home.

We love you, Mom!
Shalom to all!

A quick hello!

Howdy!
I've mostly been doing art and watching the inauguration today. I won't opine too much on politics, but I am praying that God will fill our new president with wisdom, and courage to do the right things for our country.

In the arena of art, I finished a few small pieces.

This is a painting on a tea bag. It's hard to see in this photo. It's supposed to be a tree with blossoms all over it. Tea bag painting is a big deal at the ATC site, but drying and emptying the bags is too labor intensive for me. This may be my only attempt!

 One gal asked me to make a bird painting for her.

I'm working the weekend, so I'd better get to bed. I've been enjoying visiting all of you on my blog list!
Have a great weekend!
Shalom.

Puttin' on my big girl pants!

Well, it may not seem all that impressive to anyone else, but I got a couple of tasks out of the way this morning.

It's that time of year to reapply for school loan repayment plans. I always dread doing it, and it's always a lot easier than I expect. Well, the first couple of years, it seems like, I had some rough spots, but no problem this time. I was a little unclear how to handle the fact that I'm going to make less money in the coming year, but I decided to just let them use the numbers from my 2015 tax return. I only make a small payment, so it will be okay. I might have paid less or nothing if I'd wanted to talk to a real person and ask questions! :)

Next, I traveled over to the AAA website and got some roadside assistance coverage. I've been meaning to do this for a while. Being a single lady, it's good to know help is there if you need it. Of course, I have some wonderful, helpful family members I can call, but I like to have extra backup! Also, it will be good to have for our road trip this summer. I will encourage the kids to do likewise.

While I was at the AAA site I also got an auto insurance quote. It looks like I can get the same coverage for $20+/mth less and the deductibles are half of what I would pay with my current plan. Some of my kids have E-surance and recommend it. I may check it out. Anyone have any opinions?

Now I just have taxes to tackle. This is the first year I've gotten social security. I'm not sure how that's handled. I've sent an email to my step-dad, who's been helping me with my taxes since my hubby passed away, but if any of you have knowledge you'd like to share, please do. Does Social Security send me some kind of form for tax purposes? I know I have until April 18, but I like to get things done as early as I can.

Micah and Adam are looking into the possibility of renting a larger van so I can ride along with them on our trip to Texas for Jordan's wedding. Sounds good to me!

I must have a photo in this post! This is not a great shot of these cards. They're for the "Inchie, Twinchie, Moo" swap. An inchie is 1" square; a twinchie is 2" square, and a moo is 1"x2-3/4" (I think). I finished them with some glossy gel medium after I took this picture, so they're shiny and it brings out the colors more.

Well, I should get to the post office before time to help with the grandkids. I've got a deli meeting at 7p.m. and we have a birthday party on Thursday for some people in the building. I'm bringing the buns! :D So glad they're including me in the helping!

You all have a great day!
Shalom!

Horsin' around...

It's a lazy Sunday in Nevis. The kids and I visited a new church this morning because Micah has some friends there. It was good, but I think we'll keep going to church where we are. Adam said he doesn't like change. I have to admit, I have a strong inclination in that direction myself. The grandgirls are familiar with our Baptist church and they're involved in AWANA there. No real reason to change. In fact, I'm determined to get more involved. The new church was farther away, and I think I would hesitate to drive that far several times a week to be involved in all that's going on. Anyway, it was a learning experience. There are so many flocks one can be involved with. We're all part of His flock, and each small group can be a blessing to someone.

Well, I seem to be into horses today. I changed my header and did this ATC for someone at my swap site:

Five and a half months until my son's wedding! We will have lots of trip planning to do between now and then, plus some clothes to buy. I am not a clothes person, but I don't want to look like a frump when I meet Brooke and her family from Oregon. I know it will be HOT in Texas at the end of June, so cool is the word for clothes. Anyone have a favorite online place to buy dresses? We're out in the sticks here, so it's online or drive 90 miles to Fargo. We may do that. Micah does like to shop there sometimes. I tried to order a dress from Rose Gal, I think it's called. My card was rejected, but I found out from my bank that they block cards from being used on that site because it's in the UK and there is a lot of card fraud there. They offered to unblock my card, but I was a little nervous about it. Any advice would be appreciated! ;)

Oh! Son Josh and d-i-l Jess will also travel from Kentucky for the wedding. It will be a good little reunion!

Well, that's the most exciting thing happening right now. I just wanted to check in with the blogging world.

You all have a great week!
Shalom!