Reflection, months past

Life, where have you gone? I know we had some good times together during the summer months. Looking back: I remember the end of June found me not celebrating my 25th year anniversary the way I imagined I would. How young we were.

Sitting on a beach writing postcards would have been ideal, without the bikini and goofy sunglasses though. Instead of a margarita a fruity drink would work. Hawaii was the plan, the plan failed.

Because I love my Soldier son so much, (my only son) I promised to for go my celebration for camping. The Man was down with that, what an inexpensive way to celebrate. Soldier son would be home on leave for two weeks. Being with nature can be beautiful in itself. What's the harm I thought. We could have some time to ourselves maybe sneak away into the woods for a long hike together. Boy was I wrong. The 4th of July weekend was the wrong time along with people (my brothers) tagging along. Could have and should have been fun. First half of the day at a crummy campsite (boat dock makeshift camping) without running water nor flushing toilets, there were moments of cohesiveness and relaxation. Solder son became the fire starter. Setting up a house of twigs. 

Laziness was found swinging in the hammocks by others. The Man did deserve to kick back a bit.

Night fell, sleep was needed but there would be none to be had. Drinks were pouring heavily, craziness was all around. Boom, boom, boom, all night long. A couple of fights broke out as well. Nature, where was nature? It was nice being back with my brothers once again, but their scene happens not to be this old gals scene at all. Soldier son wanted to hit the road at day break for he was not having fun as well. The rest of the weekend would be far to hot. The state of misery and sleep deprivation would make it quite difficult to stay pleasant. My younger brother could feel my discomfort and was very understanding and knew I was planning to leave. Always make reservations for a holiday camping weekend months in advance, they let you do this online now, go with those who camp as you do and respects the night and quiet time.Above all campground with rules a sundown. State Parks have this.

.Back in Ohio and our kind of fun begins. First up a well deserved and needed nap, later that night see a movie. Next on soldier sons list Waterpark, yes he would not go without his parents. Top it all off Family cookout. Perfect.

July also held a birthday celebration of Katie doodle. No fancy cake this year, took her out for sushi and bar hopping, Followed by a family gathering. Kt is a no fuss kinda girl and I believe and hope she enjoyed herself.

It is fun to look back  remember and document these moments, pictures captured during these moments make me smile and say I did have a summer and a little semblance of life outside of work. My days and nights flow into each other and the moments I have for fun are far and few. Seems as if I am strapped to a sewing machine majority of the time I spend awake. Time off is difficult to find and puts me behind in work when I do take it off. The proof of moments spent with the ones I love are in photos taken with love by me. A picture is worth a thousand words. I will always have a camera by my side and capture every moment handed to me. I say action, lights, camera, shoot.

It was a sad and distressing August and may be difficult to document. We wanted August to speed by, sadly it dragged it’s feet in turmoil with others. (Next post)

Winter is slowly but surely creeping up on us putting the heat behind and the holidays with loved ones in the forefront. I am catching up for these new pages of my life.

Dog Days of Summer

By the end of May the temperature reached into the 90 degree mark. I found it very difficult to keep a smile or even to concentrate. Hell was upon us here on earth. I knew something would have to be done to make my work conditions bearable or I may have to give up the idea of my shop within the dry cleaners. The last week of May saw me leaving work as early as 2:00 barely spending 4 hours in the shop. I had a client who left with the remainder of her alterations all because she was too sweaty to pull them on. What to do? How would I get the work done needed to make a pleasant working environment? The Man works, he could help me out but that would not happen without a lot of grumbling. I may work around the clock, he only wants to put in his 12 hours and be done with the day. Thank goodness I was about to have a visitor Memorial Day weekend. My younger Brother Dominic. Dominic has a construction business and was coming to town to paint my house in trade for a couple of old vehicles we had inherited.  

My Brother, his lady helper and live in Margarita. Yes this is her name, for real. They are a team of sorts. I hadn’t mentioned to him my predicament, I didn’t know how long he could stay in town and I did need my home painted. The week past by and the days became hotter. In casual conversation I explained I didn’t think I would keep the shop and why, in this conversation I explained what I would need in the way of repairs in order to be semi comfortable, which in turn would generate and keep clients coming thru the door during these dog days of heat. I said “I wish the Man would help me out, the last thing he wants to do is come home and labor with tiring work so I will either have to suffer or move on.” My Brother needing money as well said “Sis, I will stay another week to repair your shop or anything else you need taken care of. I have no other business at the time. Let me help you.” We agreed upon an amount and within a few days walls were built, a portable air conditioner purchased, paint and new flooring happened. For three days the couple worked on the house and in the evening the second shift began, all but one night I helped and even the Man pitched in setting the air conditioning unit in place. All the work being done was a bit consuming and what I thought would be a week turned into two and a half. I got to know my Brother once again and fought on occasion with his lady. Never ask a sister to go against her Brother. I just don’t roll like that.

My shop now, where there once was not a room, we now have total privacy and a sound proof room, I kid you not. The floor is cleaner, the ceiling has tile, and the walls are painted white, creating a brighter work environment bouncing the light around the space without shadowing my work. The best part of all, the portable air conditioner and a fitting room you are not afraid to take your shoes off in. I will admit there are days the air conditioner does not help me. When the humidity is high and the temp outside reaches into the 90’s. The curtain remains closed to cool the fitting room to at least 85 the lowest I was able to achieve on these extreme days of heat. I still ran fans 4 at times to generate a reduction in heat, this only seemed to blow the hot air around. One task accomplished at least. Clients could enjoy there fittings and be able to get there clothes pulled onto their bodies for the intended alterations needing done. Monies still made.

The customers of the http://drycleaningstationcolumbus.com are all very impressed in the room I now have and often express how nice it was for the owner to do this for me. I can’t help but wonder what they truly are thinking with this statement. For 17 years the fitter before me was allowed to suffer the summer heat without relief and they think I ranked higher that he would put up the monies for me. Who can say independently operated? I can. My response with these statements at times are. Thank you I (emphasis on I) had my brother build this room for me and you the client, I am so happy you like the work we did. Employees of the cleaners had hoped the improvements would spill over into the rest of the space, said to say it has not happened and never will. When you are close to retirement you hang onto profit, you don’t reinvest in a business you intend to give up. I felt guilty for their suffering for I no longer was. I am however over the guilt, they are not my employees nor my responsibility. SO SORRY for your suffering.

My home projects over, my Brother hit the road and headed back to Indy. A big Thank You Brother. We plan to hook up again for a vacation on the fourth of July. This will prove to be a test of our new found relationship. This is the year I am determined to reunite with all my siblings, those who have found their way back into the fold and those who are being shunned for others personal reasons. Family last till we are no longer, I say forgive and embrace. We are older and different and years have pass us by.

SIBLING DUTY: TO LOVE AND FORGIVE AS THE ELDEST SISTER, I PROMISE TO DO SO! 

an Uncle gets to know his grown Nieces. what could be better?

God’s Gift

God gave me the gift of the love from my children, and a Man who is the best Father and husband he can be. Believe me, we are a handful at times with big personalities. I was honored with the company of my oldest and youngest daughter on Mother’s Day along with my cutie granddaughters. I spent the morning uncovering gifts hidden about from the Man. Each gift I stumbled upon was a true surprise and unexpected. Started out with reaching for a cup for coffee only to find a box of Ghirardelli chocolates, and ended with several gifts of jewelry, each placed about the house to find as I cleaned and baked a cake for the day. My favorite, this lovely sterling silver with a turquoise resin base. Jewelry is always a nice gift and I love contemporary casual designs. My gifts started coming two days before. I arrived home to find a package from Cali girl, a framed picture (holding it in upper pic) along with a lovely picture card awaiting inside. Later that night a doctor client pleaded to stop by for a quick fitting. Knock, knock, I answer the door, there she stands holding a gift. Cali girl had set up for her to deliver this gift to me.I had wondered why my Cali girl seemed so desperate to contact her. Too funny, and so sweet of her to take time out for me on a Friday night. Inside the gift bag she delivered was a gift certificate for Botox or whatever cosmetic procedure of my choosing. I have yet to use this gift. I am patiently waiting till Cali girl can come home for a visit, hopefully in November so she can view in person the results. I am really not vain but as we age, why not, every girl needs a little tune up and these procedures do not last long, so I wait for her visit. I miss my Cali girl daily. 

The cake baked and frosted all from scratch waited begging to be eaten. Cherry cordial devils food with maraschino cherry frosting. Yummy. The youngest daughter planned dinner and was not allowing me to cook. Her gift to me.

 

Dinner first, daughter dear  then we will let them eat cake. It is sad though I have racked my brain and I can not remember the meal prepared for me this day. I remember making out the grocery list for the Man to fetch so we could have this dinner, but poof, gone out of my head. The cake however was scrumptious.

Time to relax and allow others to pamper me. This is a hard task, for I tend to take the lead and control these events. Glass of wine? I thought, yes please, and then I spied the remnants left from Soldier son’s previous visit.Dude vodka, a lemon lime flavored vodka, had to have a glass just for him, poured and uploaded photo to his phone letting him know he was present with me. I just can’t help myself doing these little things in hopes of making me feel better not having all my loves present at these special times. It truly helps me and warms my heart keeping the sadness at bay. It doesn’t matter if anyone else finds it endearing or funny, for i laugh to myself and at times outloud.

Gifts Momma,(as the grandbabies call me at times still learning grandma as my name, for sometimes they even call me Mom.) You may think I am crazy, but the best gifts in my mind are the things you need and keep intending to buy but for some reason you use this money for things that are not a necessity. My oldest often gets frustrated when helping me in the kitchen, knives are not sharp, glass measuring cups no longer have readable lines for they are faded. Need I say this was her gift to me? Utensils I needed to replace and some I have always wanted to buy.

I was so tickled, some of the items were just too funny, for I had always wanted to buy a few she purchased and never did.

So, we had good eats, good company, phone calls from those who could not be with us.

I cherish these moments, for as time goes by and my children's lives change as their children get older my moments with them will become different. I know this, for my Mother’s Mom day has changed as far as the things I do now from years in the past. It doesn’t help I live in another State and our relationship is in a different dimension. I love you Mom, sorry if I disappoint,  you are special to me, for you are my Mom as I will always be my adult children’s Mom. We only have one Mom who remains the Mom, Matriarch, glue that binds, holding Families together.

A child's love is the Greatest Gift of All Cherish This

The end of May hits hard with heat from hell and a Brother’s visit which turns into a 2.5 week stay, story to come. Hope you stay tuned.

Stepping back in Time

 

This memory is embedded in my brain helping me through those days of weary and stress. Time has past since this trip to Cali with many events of Family gatherings and a rekindling of a lost relationship with a sibling who was one of my best friends during our teenage years blossoming again. The end of April brought me home to a wonderful surprise. (I know this was many, many months ago. It is also something I would like to document and just have not had the time to do so.) I stepped off the plane to be driven to see the Grandbabies where low and behold, my Soldier Son was hiding waiting to surprise me. I laughed and cried at the same time, how nice of him to journey home to be with his Family. I couldn’t stop smiling, and it no longer mattered that my time clock was off from travel. God had blessed me, seeing me safe on my Cali journey to be with my Cali Girl and kept me safe for my journey home to be with my three for the celebration of our Savior Jesus Christ.

We dyed our eggs for the next days hunt. This was the reason I went for the visit. Oh how it is all coming back to me now. Easter Sunday was a great day with our first egg hunt with the babies, with the in laws help of filled eggs from a rained out hunt they had planned to have.

With Easter behind us May would quickly approach bringing Mother’s Day two weeks later and my work room screaming for me to get busy on the Prom dresses needing their special touches for the right fit to be worn for a very important night. So many to tend to, and I had a heavy work load, along with the prom dresses. I felt a bit overwhelmed. Wanted to be back in Cali at this point playing.  

Six of over a dozen I altered within a months time. I had a few favorites that sewed up easily, a few drastic changes were made creating headaches and in the end making nearly no money, due to the time spent on the alteration. Dresses were not the only headache I had at the time. I also had promised a big job of reupholstering and creating new cushion covers for a boat. Most definitely did not charge enough for that job. I Would not have made this deadline if the Man had not pitched in and helped me out. Thank You to the Man. Love you long time.

beforeafterhell dress

boat cushion project over 15 cushions and 30 yards of suede cloth was used. The reupholstering was quite tough and a lot of the arm cushions had the oddest shapes. Tore apart each cushion cover making notations on each piece in order to reassemble hoping I remembered the order and direction correctly. The date kept getting pushed up by the client putting more pressure on me to find time I did not have. Heck it was rainy and cool in May who was taking a boat out? In the end they loved the job and paid me extra, for they realized I underestimated the pricing for I was not informed of the reupholstering jobs. Good clients. Will I except this kind of job again? H to the big fat NO!!

May arrives and still I am a bit overwhelmed. Two jobs, my shop, and the work load continues to be heavy from the shop I help out. http://alterations-station.net  Employees working on an hourly wage can and do take time off for vacations when there are other employees to pick up the slack. This hard work would prove to be needed for the extra income (little did I know) would be ear marked for home improvements at the end of the month. Now to fit into this schedule as well the tear apart of a BCBG dress, salvaging the fabric to up cycle it into a skirt. I put this customer off long enough and the job needed to be done. I was very pleased with the outcome and also skeptical of restitching the label back in to a garment that had been changed. I did the label reattachment any way due to the fact the fabric had come from the styling's of a baby doll dress constructed by BCBG manufacturers. Fit was to a tee and the customer did not mind she had to wait over a month for her new garment. 

Once a dress, now a skirt with shirred waistband and side tie. I would have saved this beautiful embroidered fabric myself if I had tired of it being a dress. Always keep in mind, garments can be restyled into a different garment if you search for a Tailor with the talents and knowledge I possess. Anything's possible.

Work load wrapped up, now a little time to celebrate me. Mother of 4 giver to all. The end of May will send us into Hell with heat, and a brothers visit to remedy my hot working environment.

Hope you, my readers tune back in for the documenting of my past months.

A Month flew by

 

The trip one month ago was a  success. I came home relaxed and happy for I did everything I wanted to. There wasn’t a real time schedule except for the day of the airing of Erienne and Jeremy's’ Shabby Chic wedding on Oxygen, and even then it was mainly a count down. Cali girl had everything under control with food purchased and prepared, only a few items were needed from the grocery store the day of.

Our day began after a short moment spent out on the balcony looking at the weather, hoping the clouds would eventually burn off bringing the sun for warmth. While Cali girl ran an errand I showered anticipating her return for our cupcake bake off to ensue. We will be taking them to the viewing party. Flavors, Devils food with cherry cordial frosting, Carrot pineapple surprise with cream cheese frosting. Cali girl loves making cupcakes and loves to eat them as well. You could say it is possibly her favorite dessert. I have to admit they are so much fun to make and take less time than baking a cake. Let’s begin baking. We don our aprons and away we go. Cali girls mini tripod came in handy for our photo shoot. It was too much fun, we kept getting distracted.

Cupcakes are baked and needing time to cool before we slather on the frostings, better yet, get them dressed for the debut of what we all have been waiting for. (The Wedding). One item lacking are serving dishes to present the evenings edibles in. The proper presentation always makes the dullest of food look appetizing. Off to the Homegoods store we go. Cali girl loves this store (will need to locate one in Columbus myself). We were able to find some simple nice white serving bowls and a couple of platters. Everywhere we went we shared our nights event encouraging others to tune in and watch. This cashier who helped us was so nice and seemed genuinely happy for us. I ask, how could she not have been happy with us? We were a little giddy with excitement the whole day and couldn’t wait for 7:00 o’clock to finally come. Time to load up our goodies finally and head to Palmdale where Cali girls sister in-law resides. They were so gracious to open up their home for the party so everyone could view it together on dish TV, cable wasn’t airing the show till 10:00, a little to late for the guest do work and it was also airing in the middle of the week. Table set, let the show begin. Dvr is set to start recording as we wait for our guest to arrive. Some are stuck in traffic, others still at work

Hope they bring their appetites. We take our seats as the copilot takes control of the remote. I have thought from the beginning what a great idea of a dvr, no commercials an hour show watched in less time. Smiles and laughter feel the air. We had no idea how the wedding would be edited nor what the concept would be focused on.  

Happily without regrets the concept of the wedding was focused on the bride. Cali girl isn’t as insecure as the show led us to believe, however, every woman has one or two things they don’t like about themselves. sToribook Wedding needed a story, these things were presented in taping, not enough drama was filmed, so voila this became the story. Cali girl did not mind for she did get those things fixed, something she had been wanting. If you haven’t watched the show, find it and watch. http://www.hulu.com/watch/241466/tori-and-dean-storibook-weddings-erienne-and-jeremys-shabby-chic-wedding Just in case here is the link for your convenience. I smiled from ear to ear while I watched and contained a euphoria for hours after, so pleased with the editing Thank you were definitely needed. The show exuded nothing but love from our wedding couple, you could only hope and wish for such a love. No nicknames for them by Tori & Dean, (such as the bicker son's from the first show they taped.) We packed up our goods with the help of family headed back to the apartment where Cali girl would fire up the computer for live online chat. So curious to see response from viewers. As it turned out, the responses were more than favorable. A lot of questions about the dresses flooded the message boards. When I arrived back home to work I was complimented many times by clients and friends, they all loved our Cali girl and her new husband. Some wished for less focus on her looks, some wished for more focus on my talent with the making of the dresses. I felt they emphasized both plenty and yet not to much. We watched the show at least twice before it was time for me to head back home.

 

 

 

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Without the show would we still have had a wedding? Absolutely, may not have been as grand with all the little details a bigger budget could provide. We were heading in the shabby chic direction with what we had at hand. In our book, Love wins in the end and conquers all even when you don’t have two nickels to rub together. We have witnessed, stood by and supported Two People truly in love. With the opportunity to share this love with the World. An experience of a life time,never to be forgotten. They say everyone at some point has 15 minutes of fame. We were given 43 minutes of airtime. 

                                            

The next and last day in California with this beauty should be fun!

 

Sorry for such a belated post of old news: return home became crazy busy for a month. Hope you enjoyed reliving this event and my take of the outcome.

A break from the same ole same ole

My day is constant with these tools. From sun up to sun down I am in the work room taking just a few hours to play with my Bella and have a bite with the Man. As I type this post I sit in the middle seat on this. The time on my clock happens to be  12:20am from where I am coming from. Almost everyone around me is asleep something I myself should be trying to do. The excitement of arriving in L.A. soon is keeping me from this. You see, today is the day before the big show airs on Oxygen. (Oops at home it happens to be the day of the show. ha-ha) I will be in Cali with my Cali girl watching, hoping the editing of our wedding has been done in such a manner that those who don’t know us will say Wow, how lucky they were to have such a wonderful wedding assembled for them. It really doesn’t matter how many invited guest appear for the preview party tomorrow evening or should I say today, the most important thing is, I am in Cali with the Newlyweds able to see and enjoy their happiness as they witness for themselves what a glorious day they had. Thanks to Tori and Dean. When you are the participant of such a big moment in your life it happens so fast you scarcely remember a thing. April 20th they will see for themselves the fun they and everyone had, hopefully. Even if the show is spun in a different direction, this would be okay as well because the 2 weddings I have watched thus far gave us a glimpse of more of the happy with a touch of drama thrown in to hook you the viewer. The Newlyweds will eventually be given a 3 hour disc along with many photos of the celebration to keep always and to one day share over and over again with their Family.

   ONCE AGAIN, TUNE IN TODAY OR EVEN TOMORROW APRIL 20TH AND YOU BE THE JUDGE OF WETHER YOU WOULD OR WOULD NOT HAVE YOUR WEDDING PLANNED FOR A REALITY SHOW.

 

 

Life Continued

Since the beginning of 2011 I seemed to have ate, slept, and breathed only the special event of the Shabby Chic Wedding in California which happened in December. At least it seems to be true when you open my blog page, this is all you have read about. Trust me, I have had a life outside of the wedding, many things have happened along the way of finding time to share such a wondrous moment with all interested in reading about that day. After the Wedding I had very little time to decorate for Christmas but some how I pulled it off in a day and a half. One of my favorite themes of the year. As I decorated for 2010’s Christmas, I kept telling myself (Less is More due to time constraints). I did however manage to decorate as many rooms as I usually do. I loved how snowy and white the theme this past year held.The Family in town gathered together for Christmas Day along with Soldier Son who was finally home from deployment for a month. We celebrated Christmas Eve so we could visit Family out of town Christmas Day. Thank goodness we made the trip home in 2010 for it would be our last visit with a loved one dear to us, possibly the last time the Man’s Family may be together for awhile, for his Father was the glue and bond of the Man’s Family. I hope this will not end up to be true. They are a lovely group of People I enjoy sharing time with.The proof is in the picture. 

The newly married coupled was missing for Christmas,this was so okay since we had just been with them in a warmer climate and we would see them in Cali girls hometown in January before Soldier Son needs to report back to his assigned base in New York.

Annual Family Portrait looks like this. I you are a part of our Family yet unable to join us for an event, you will be there somewhere via a poster or maybe even a life size cutout of you. This started when our Cali girl was in basic training for the Army and would not be at the Thanksgiving table several years ago. Cali girl however was a life size cutout, even shared the dinner table with us. (Too funny what a blast we had with that). We have a poster of Soldier Son as well, he often can not be with us, this does not stop us from taking photos with the flat images of them as if they were with us. I think they enjoy it, for it is a semblance of how important they are to us and  how we wish they could be with us. 

The decorations remained until middle of January when the whole Family would be rejoined. This was a great time as well, we celebrated soldier Son’s 21st birthday, a few days before he turned 21 for he had to report to base 3 days before the date of his birth. Games were played, drinking games as well as a board game. Pizza was tossed, Dave and Busters visited. I still love the Galaga video game (my favorite). What is yours? Millipede, Centipede or maybe even Pac man? I know, these are so old school. But they are still fun.

Babies were loved.

I ask you how can this love be fake? When you are odds with a sibling or Family member pull out the pictures of the goods times together, let those hurt feelings disappear for nothing is worth losing out on the memories to be made. I look back at January and the fun had by all and I feel so blessed to have these wonderful people in my life to call my own. My Children, my Husband and the next generation, the Grandbabies. What fun we had as a Family in January. But we also had our share of sadness too. Mentioned in previous post. God Bless the loved ones we have lost.

 

Retracing the months left behind! A years blogging or journaling contains 12 months of happenings, not 4 days written over a 3 month period. I hope you won’t mind.