Let it shine, Let it shine, Let it shine!

I am in a good mood today! The sun is shining and things are looking good for a couple of days! The only downside is, bathing suit weather is coming and I am not prepared! As you may have noticed, I quit talking about my weigh ins, actually I quit weighing myself completely. I wasn't making the scale move one way or the other so for now I am ignoring that issue in my life. I am hoping the warmer weather will get me moving a little more than usual and I will be able to make some headway on the weight front, and back for that matter! Today I have to let a friends dog out a couple of times, she lives within walking distance, so I am going to take advantage of that and get some exercise in. A little here and a little there. I am also going to move the outdoor furniture out of the garage and get the deck arranged for the upcoming good weather. I look forward to the possibility of eating dinner outside one day this week. A little pick me up. Plus, there is only room in the garage for Les motorcycle which has been back from storage for a few weeks now. I need to clear a space for mine, I can see taking a little spin this weekend. I'm sure this wonderful weather will be short lived, but it is a much needed boost to my mental health. So, Natures Prozac, work your magic and make my day.

A better life

As most of you know, we have a new addition to our family. Lizzie arrived from her foster mother last week. She is adapting really well, and we are adapting to her. Les was out of town when she arrived, but didn't miss a beat welcoming her. They are officially buddies now! They play fetch, she plays with the "Claw" (his hand) and she curls up on his belly for a nap. Tiki accepted her without much fanfare. He even surprised us by sharing his toys.  She is learning to walk on a leash.. a challenge but she is getting there.  Other than that, life is good for Lizzie Poo!

Poor little Lizzie came from Grand Rapids, where she roamed the streets. Not sure how a dog gets to that point? She is much to socialized to have been born in the wild. She loves people and it shows. As the story goes, she was in the shelter for her allotted time and no one wanted to adopt her. She was scheduled to be euthanized when one of the shelter workers called her foster mother and asked if she would take her. Andrea said yes and Lizzie traveled from Grand Rapids to Shelby Township and was granted a new life. Andrea and her roommate Mara, remind me of my own children. 2 - twenty something girls who love animals and take in strays and even keep some of them. They both work at Petco, as a trainer and groomer. I am surprised Lizzie wasn't a permanent guest in their home, but I think with the brood of their own, they decided they were maxed out. Thus, Lizzies photo made its way on the internet. Where my twenty something daughter saw it and sent it my way. Well, that was it! Her adorable face and 2 different eye colors captured my heart. The wheels were set in motion and Andrea decided by my application that she may have found the perfect home for Lizzie.

It's been a interesting life so far for this little girl, but it breaks my heart to see the photo of her when she arrived at the shelter, and what must have been going through her head. She seems well adjusted now and is grateful for the bowl of food that sits on the kitchen floor. Adopting a shelter/rescue animal is very satisfying and I highly recommend it if you have room and time for one.

Laycee sent a link to me the other day. It was pictures of animals at the Oakland County Animal Shelter. She has a photography class and that was one of her assignments. The sadness in the eyes of the animals is devastating. I want to bring them all home! Hmmmm, maybe my kids come by it naturally. But let’s face it, any human being that isn't touched by their plight, just isn't human!

Take a look at some of her pictures....  http://oudigphoto.ning.com/profile/layceeschmidtke?xg_source=msg_share_url

And take a look at Lizzie on the day she arrived at the shelter, and the day after she arrived at her new forever home. A fabulous life includes a pet!

Saving Money...

I love the thought of saving money, but it is like the Meijer commercial. We save here and we save there and then we buy something stupid, like in the commercial, an ant farm, and there goes the real money we saved. All in all, you spend what you earn! Unless you are very well disciplined, our culture begs you to spend on what you don't need. I don't know anyone who hasn't bought something that they truly did not need.

So I am sure my Magicjack savings will just be spent elsewhere. I am not going to "pretend" I am paying my monthly home phone bill and put it in the savings account. I just will have a little more money monthly that I can spend here or there. I will tell you that I am pleased with the Magicjack so far. No real complaints. I only have one line coming into the house so if I am upstairs, I have to sprint down the steps to answer it on time. Ahhh, forced exercise, maybe one line is not a problem! I ended up putting my cell phone station upstairs next to my bed, so if there are emergency calls at night. I will get them on my cell and be able to hear them. So far, so good. So let me see, where can I spend that $700.00 I just saved this year on my home phone bill?

Special Delivery

Les and I want to announce the newest member of our family. First we had to notify our kids...did so with the following email.




Dear Kids-

Your Dad and I have been very lonely since you all left home. We miss the pitter patter of 8 little feet though the house. After much thought we have decided to adopt a little girl from China. We passed our home visit and have been blessed with Elizabeth. Your new little sister is 18 months old and adorable. I have attached a picture, we fell in love with her at first sight, and we are sure you will do the same. We can't wait for you to meet her.

Love Mom and Dad



Took less than 2 minutes before the first phone call came in. Would have loved to been a fly on the wall when they all read the email. Now I want to share the photo of our new baby girl with you...

Click on her name....

Elizabeth Schmidtke...AKA Lizzie

Winds of Change.....

OMG- I have just crossed over the line! I color coded my closet! All my shirts are hanging in a beautiful color coded spectrum. From not being able to find anything, hangers tangled, too many clothes to a closet that looks like it belongs to a gay guy. Success!

These are a few of my favorite things

Every once in awhile I daydream about all of my favorite things- It's kind of a bitter sweet thing since I long for them.

Things I love..... (besides my family)

Waking up and having coffee on the deck. The sun shining on me and the birds singing.....

Walking in the warm sand and feeling the oceans cool waves hit my feet for the first time......

Eating dinner outside anywhere....but my favorite is fondue under the banyan tree at DaDa's in Delray Beach Florida. My dream restaurant.

Smelling the wisteria on my front porch when it is in full bloom. A beautiful sight and the smell is awesome for about 3 days.

I love when Tiki curls up with me and he sticks his nose in the crook of my neck and takes a nap.

Chocolate, no need to explain that one.

The first frozen custard of the season at Bob Jo's. Just let's you know that summer is here.

In the spring when you wake up one day and the tree's have leaves on them....it's like a big dose of hope!

A pedicure!

Those are a few of my favorite things....what are yours?

Enjoy your day and take some time to daydream......

Little things go a long way

Just want to share a few things that I have been doing that make my life easier, I hope they will help you as well.

1. I have done this for years, I always make my bed in the morning. It literally take me about 30 seconds and it makes such a difference.

2. Trying to go through the mail daily so it doesn't pile up. As soon as I bring it in I discard all the junk mail and file the bills. I have fewer paper bills since most of them I pay on line. If you don't participate in bill paying on line, I highly recommend it. Saves money on stamps, paper checks, and time it takes to get there. They can no longer say it arrived late in the mail.

3. As I talked about yesterday, I put the laundry away as soon as it comes out of the dryer. This had eluded me for years, I always had a basement full of clean clothes and more times than not, if you wanted something you had to venture down there to find it.

4. For everything I buy, I am trying to make 5 unwanted things leave my house. I have a clothes basket in the basement that I am putting clothes in for charity and when it fills up, I call for a pick up. Other items, I try to go through and put aside for recycling or trash if broken or unusable. 1 in 5 out is a good rule.

5. Don't read the Sunday Paper inserts. What you don't know won't hurt you. I use to thumb through the circulars and find oodles of things I wanted and didn't need. That would send me off to Target, Kohls, etc. for the one thing I couldn't live without, only to buy 3 more things I really didn't need, but they were on sale and I was saving money. Target isn't a weekly stop anymore. Really don't miss it. Plus I now read the paper on line so the newspaper doesn't pile up anymore.

6. I keep the living room coffee table clean. It use to pile up with "stuff" Magazines (which will be #7) reading glasses, nail file, etc. Now I try to have it cleared off every evening and it just makes things feel better. Weird but true.

7. This is a new rule I imposed on myself over the last few months. It is very easy for magazines to stack up with no where to go. I bought a cheap magazine rack at the Christmas Tree Shop and I keep them in it until the next one arrives. I figure if I haven't read it completely within the 30 days between arrivals then I won't. So when the new one comes in, the old one goes out. I try to share with friends or give to my friend who takes them to her waiting room for others to enjoy.

8. Wipe down the bath sink and mirror 2x a day. I keep a role of paper towels and cleaner underneath the sink, and since I am the last one to use the bathroom both in the morning and evening, I do a quick wipe down and a clean mirror and water spot free faucet makes a difference.

9. Unload the dishwasher as soon as it is done. This helps keep dirty dishes out of the sink. Unless a pot has to soak, no dishes in the sink overnight. My friend Joyce taught me this one. Waking up to a clutter free sink in the morning feels good.

10. I put a little basket next to my microwave. Anytime I come across something that needs to go live with it's owner (ie- Marcy, Karlee or Laycee) I put it in the basket and when they come over, they look through it and take their stuff home. This works well with mail, jewelry, pictures, what ever I find laying around.

Well those are my top ten for now. Have a great day...the sun is suppose to shine today.