Drivin' 55

The last few days have been a lot of fun, spending time with my grandson, daughter and family. I can't tell you how if feels to hold this little guy in my arms...I think it's the closest thing to heaven on earth. Really. Today, he smiled when he saw my face and made my heart melt into a pool of tears. Ahhh.... :) As you can see here, he must live with my constant kisses. It's just beginning, Jack, as you will have a lifetime of Grama kisses to deal with. One of his favorite games with Grama....baby exercises. One and two and one and two...touch the feet to his tummy. One and two and one and two...baby feet clap together. One and two and one and two, baby feet in baby mouth. He loves it!

Today marks the second day of my headache. It all began at the restaurant last night when the sudden onset of my aching head developed. Quickly, I popped two Advil and drank a large glass of water. Two hours later, I noticed it hadn't gone away. Another tow Advil with another large glass of water. Much to my surprise, I dozed off around 10:30...early for me. Now I don't know if the Advil surging through my blood stream had anything to do with my dreaming cycle last night, but, my gosh.....dreams galore! Nice dreams for a change! Nothing was chasing me last night. No squirmy snakes to freak me out! Just nice pleasant dreams. The saga continued into early morning when Fred kissed me on the cheek. He asked me if I still had a headache. I guess the pillow over my head to keep the early morning dawn away from my peepers was the dead giveaway. This time, I asked for three Advil. Back to sleep and more dreams. My furry little boy, Will, couldn't stand the fact that at 9:30 this mo...

Do you ever wonder how anything new could possibility be created for the scrapbooking industry when you are sure that we have just about everything known to man already available for us? It never ceases to amaze me how people's creativity is endless and honestly, thank goodness for creativity, otherwise we would be scrapbooking to candlelight and using scissors to cut out embellishments! One of my favorite vendors at some of the big shows we did is Spellbinders . Stacy Caron is an example of endless creativity and boundless energy. I just love her dies because they are so unique and different. Soon to be released at this summer's CHA (and oh, how I wish I was attending this summer) are the new and exciting Pierceabilities . These are so different and amazing that I simply cannot wait for them to hit the marketplace. Not only is this a die cut but it embosses, too! I am blown away and want one NOW ! It's true that I do not possess any patiences whatsoever.

Having a new baby in the family, I have the explicit pleasure in showing him off to anyone that will stand still for more than a second and a half! Jack is such a cutie pie, who wouldn't want to oooo's and awww's over this little doll. Last week, we stopped by his Uncle Steven's house. One of his friends, who will be unnamed for reasons you will understand after I tell this story, came out to the car to meet Jack for the first time. Being the good baby that he is, Jack was asleep in his car seat, when the friend opened the car door to see the baby. I was surprised to hear that said this single friend made all the appropriate comments regarding Jack. "Oh, he is so cute." "He's so tiny!", and finally, the last comment..."When do they open their eyes? Like at 6 weeks?" After the laughter stopped and I wiped the tears from my face, I said, "He's not a kitten. Babies open their eyes immediately after birth!" Obvisiously, t...

What do our names mean? And beyond that, where do they come from? Ever since I was a young child, I remember wanting to know the meaning of my name. Imagine how surprised I was after reading the family Bible that my name meant "bee" and it was a derivative from the Hebrew language. Why did my Catholic parents give me a Hebrew name? Time to further my knowledge. Back to the Bible to learn that Deborah was the Biblical prophetess who summoned Barak (hmm...Barrack?) to battle against an army of invaders. After the battle she wrote a victory song which is part of the Book of Judges. I'm liking this name more and more! One day, I asked my mother how did she come to name me Deborah? Did they love honey? Did they secretly want to be Jewish? No, none of those silly ideas were true. Turns out that Mom wanted to name me Carol but my dad really was enamoured with Debbie Reynolds! To this day, I meet so many other "50 something" Deborah's, Debbie's o...

One of my favorite flowers in nature is the simple, sweet, and delicate daisy. Its simplicity makes a statement. No other flower can sit front and center in any one's decor like the daisy. It simply does not conflict with a upholstered sofa or comfy chair. Its elegance is clear. Not to mention, daisies are my daughter's favorite flowers. She carried a Gerber daisy bouquet on her wedding day. Tom Hanks brought a very sick Meg Ryan a bouquet of daises in the movie You've Got Mail. She simply replied "Daises are such friendly flowers!" That about sums it all up. I captured this lovely flower in Rock State Park last month. After playing with my camera settings, I discovered that my close up setting gave me the photo I wanted.

Something strange happened to me about three years ago. I developed the love of NASCAR. Yes, "roundy-round" as my friends refer to it. What precipitated this new found addiction is beyond me. Perhaps, it was the fact that both my husband and son participated in an event at Atlanta Motor Speedway one pleasant autumn Saturday. When I picked them both up, they were giggling like little 10 year old boys. The excitement of taking a lap in a stock car at 150 mph had them both just reeling. Riding in a souped up Mustang on a dirt track had them wanting to trade in their cars for this lovely lady. It was then, that I realized it was not just "roundy-round" but the conquest of man vs. machine at insane speeds around a track on a Sunday afternoon. When the NASCAR season began that following February, I picked a driver based on very technical and statical information. The winner of Daytona in 2006 was the 48 car driven by Jimmie Johnson. It was that simple. He would ...

Being back in Georgia has been a lot of fun for the both of us. Fred and I have spent real quality time with our kids and grandson, Jack. He is such a little angel and of course, perfect in every way. No, I'm not prejudice at all! This photo was take last week by his Grampa Fred. His little shorts are way too big for this little guy as Grampa pulled them up under his little armpits. My rendition of this fashion statement was Jack looked like the little old men on Miami Beach!

Little Jack met his paternal great grandmother for the first time last week. My mother-in-law, Jane, will be 85 years old this September and resides in La Fayette Nursing home. She is originally from The Netherlands, yes, she is a little old Dutch lady. She suffers from Alzheimer and although she remembers many things, her short term memory is very fragile. Often, when my pregnant daughter and son-in-law visited her, she would tell her grand daughter that she was getting so fat! Erika would say, "Oma, I'm having a baby." My mother-in-law would look at her with her bright, glistening eyes and say "Really?". Being a new mom, Erika made sure to ask her pediatrician if it would be safe to take little Jack to the nursing home which is why he was just introduced at 4 1/2 weeks old. Today, we visited Mom in the nursing home. Her first comment was "Where is the little boy? He is so cute!". Suddenly, she began to look on her recliner for a little stu...