Band Tiles

I took photos of all the muscians and made them tiles too for Christmas - I hope to paint all these later!

Art Tiles

My new project is Art Tiles. I'm making these for Christmas presents and they are turning out pretty good. They are transfers onto Tumbled Italian Stone and are 4 x 4. I'm spraying them serveral times with varnish so I hope you can use them as coasters too. I love new projects!!!!

It's Christmas!!!!

I decorated the house today - minus the tree - we'll get that this weekend and worked on my "Art Tiles" for Christmas gifts. It was a wonderful day and "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas"!

Best of My Day: Lighting the Candles, Lighting the Fire, and cuddling up with Tatiana and Matilda in my Chair!

It's a long story

But I won't go into detail yet! Let's just say the "Rudolph" Red Van wouldn't start on Saturday and it's been doing that. We were packed and ready to come home so Kenny was sort of forced to make a decision! Soooooo, I got a new (well, new to me) 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan! I love love love it and it's dark blue with stow and go seats and all the gadgets that I love. Leather seats and butt warmers! A sunroom and DVD player (which I'll never see because I hate riding in the back seat). So now Mom and Dad have the red van - it started right up after we got back from Car Max with the new one! And I wasn't going to let Kenny take it back - I've waited a long time on a new van but I think I did have to sign a paper saying I would drive it for 10 years!! I'll get a photo up soon and need a name - I'm thinking "Bluebird"

Best of the Day I got my new Van: Duh, "Bluebird"!!!!!

Don't know how I missed this one!!!

Nana and Emma - what funny eyes you have Emma!!!!

Let the Christmas Season Begin!!!!!

OK, I'm tired of Turkey and ready for Santa!!!!!!! Natalie says!

More Florida

More of the Family - Andrew with his "thing" he built! My "Sissy" with Mom T, Mom and Dad relaxing in their chairs, The "Sallee's, Chris, Christy, Andrew and Emma, Uncle Joe with Natalie - I think this is the first baby he has held!, Uncle Kenny, Emma and Tatiana, and finally Nana Claiborne with Natalie!

This says it all

This is how we all felt after all the great food for our Turkey Day!!!! Natalie and Opie...

Thanksgiving in Florida

As Emma sets the Thanksgiving Table (out by the pool?????) - there's just something not right about this - G-Ma holds Natalie - and G-Pa smiles over her - this is their fourth great grandchild - Mom is Tess and Dad is Leon who is serving our great country in Iraq.

The Day Before Thanksgiving

Ah - Wednesday - the grocery shopping and cooking day! My last two Pecan Pies are in the oven right now and it is smelling good! Lots of other cooking going on and we're all ready for the big day. We all went out for Mexican last night and it was great and got to see almost everyone. We even snuck in a little nap this afternoon too because we got up way too early! A couple more pics - Kenny and Baby Natalie! More photos tomorrow.

A new Great Neice

This is Natalie and her mom, Tessa. She is our new great neice and very sweet and beautiful. Nana (that's me) even held her and gave her a bottle - but no diaper changing! I've never done that in my life and see no need to start now. We are in Florida with the family and it's so great to see everyone. I'll be posting more photos this week and lots of stories! And I know I beat my sissy, Kathy posting this because she was sleepy and I'm still up! And I even blogged on dial up! kful to be together.....

Tatiana says Happy Turkey Day!!!!

Ready for Florida

All packed up, babies had their bath, and we're tired but leaving tomorrow for Thanksgiving in Florida with the family. We're looking forward to seeng everyone. We had a great weekend at Beluga and I sold all my CD's - well, we only burned 15 but at least they are selling and I could have sold more last night. So, when we get back I have to do some more! Our hope is to sell them and make enough to go back in the studio and do another project. Sure hope we can do that. A very Happy Thanksgiving to all......

The weekend is here

I have really tried to take it easy today. I was so sleepy last night I - it finally all hit me this week. I'm pretty much ready for the Florida trip except last minute packing. Now let the Beluga weekend begin. Hope we have good crowds - I know a lot of people are already going out of town but we'll have fun I'm sure. The girls and I did play ball and monkey in the back yard - this consists of throwing the monkey for Matilda and just chasing Tatiana around with the ball! And it's a BIG yard. It's still very cool today and I'm loving that. But there is a warm up coming on the weekend but it finally feels like Thanksgiving! Everyone have a good weekend and I'll check in later....

Best of my Day - Cuddling in the bed with the Babies this morning with me tea!

Where has this week gone?

Oh my it's already Thursday (1:18 am) and I've been running around all week! Tomorrow I have got to start getting everything ready to go to Florida! All the table decorations, gifts, cooking stuff and clothes! I know it will be HOT there so I've got to dig out something I can wear. Rats, I wish just once we'd have a "cold snap" in Florida! Christy and I would just love that and Kathy would just sit by the fire!!! Tee Hee. I am looking forward to seeing everyone there and we will have lots of blessings to be thankful for. I really really did finish my Trinklein Christmas shopping today and got a very special project started (can't tell anyone!) I do know I have run all over Atlanta the past two days and today some one robbed a bank and put me in a traffic nightmare. They shut down 400 and is was a parking lot so I went around on back roads but it still took forever. So I called my girlfriend Doc and we had a nice talk! Oh, I also read a paperback book until it got dark - never go out in traffic without a book! I learned this living in New York City sitting in the Lincoln Tunnel! Now for the great news: it's RAINING IN ATLANTA! We need this rain so much and even though it won't fill up our lake it's wonderful. It thundered and of course, I had to hold Tatiana because she's so afraid of thunder - Matilda could care less! It's also hot - I've got the ceiling fan on AND my sleeping fan but the good news is a cold front coming right behind this rain and it's not supposed to get out of the 50's tomorrow and 30 tomorrow night - yeah - whoopee - fire in the fireplace (turn on the gas logs!) And I have stuff to make soup and cornbread - yum. Ah, a day at home, cold, soup, packing, wrapping and just enjoying the day - I guess that will be "The Best of My Day".....

Our Friend

See you again soon Ricky.........

A wild string of happenings

I just had to write this because it's almost unbelievable. We were taking Ricky to the Train Station so he could ride down and get to the Airport for his flight. Our friend Sandy was going to meet us there to say hi and bye to Rick. We took a few pictures, said our goodbyes, shed a couple of tears and waved him off on the train. Back in the parking garage we gave Sandy a lift over to her new car so we could take a look at it. Her purse spilled and she was looking for her keys and said oh Claiborne here is your phone - it was not my phone but Ricky's! We all said oh no - he's left his phone. What to do? Mail it (it's the only phone he has) and it could take a couple of days and he knows no ones phone numbers! Kenny said what would you want some one do do and we both said - Let's get to the Airport. We had no idea how we would find him at the world's busiest airport on a Sunday which is the busiest day. Now is when it gets more weird. Ricky had to change trains twice and had delays - he thought he would miss his flight. We couldn't find the exit out of the train garage and we drove around in circles for about 10 minutes. We got to the airport fine but went to "economy parking" by mistake- couldn't find a parking place, then when we did we had to walk like forever to get to the airport. We ran in - found the Delta check-in, explained about the phone and asked "Can you get some one to take the phone to the gate or could we get a pass to the gate". Absolutely NOT he said. Then we asked could you at least page him? He asked his name and we said Rick Champion - the light bulb went off in his head and he told us - Oh, I just checked him in a few minutes ago - the airline had misspelled his name so there was a problem! Well, he said follow me - around to the security check in and a guy standing there said you can't come this way. We saw Ricky in the line checking in! The ticket agent said give me the phone and told the security guy to let him under the rope and he walked over and gave Ricky his phone! When he saw us it was unreal! He could not get out of line but we got to see the relief on his face and we waved goodbye again. Think about it people, the train was delayed so he was not already at the gate - Sandy spilled her purse and was looking in the floor when she found the phone - we just HAPPEN to walk up the agent who had checked him in (there are a LOT of agents) - his name was misspelled so the agent remembered him - and he was still checking in at security! To say there was divine intervention is an understatement. I know it's just a cell phone but it's an important thing and our "lifeline" to our world. Another benefit was Kenny and I had a nice ride together to the airport and back and stopped for a nice lunch together in Buckhead. We are so busy so it was nice just to have time together. Ricky called us after he got to the gate and could not believe we had done that! We are all still shaking our heads - Kenny told him to go buy a lottery ticket - it was his lucky day! Just goes to show sometimes things in life DO go right and we are grateful!

Secret Silly Santa

Imagine my surprise when I got up Sunday morning, walked into my kitchen to fix my cup of tea and found "Santa"! Or is it Miss Santa? Or is it - what is it! It's my silly friend giving me one last laugh before he heads home to Las Vegas. It's a good thing I went to the bathroom before I went in there or I would have peed my pants! Ricky is sooooo funny and we have laughed a lot this week. Then we decided it was time to wake up Kenny (oh, yeah, with Santa rushing in and jumping on the bed) Talk about the Nightmare before Christmas! There is another long story about today but just had to get these posted!

CD Sales

Ricky and I burned and packaged CD's from my older recordings and we sold 5 last night at Beluga! We plan on having lots of fun tonight!

The T-Shirt

In 1997 Kenny went to Hong Kong with the University and bought Ricky this t-shirt. He kept forgetting to give it to him but this time he remembered! So ten years later, Ricky got his t-shirt!

The early Thanksgiving

Ricky loves for me to cook "Stuffing" so I made an early Thanksgiving Dinner last night. We are thankful for our friend...

Breakfast in Bed

This is one of our favorite things to do in the morning. We get up, make tea, go outside to wee and jump back in the bed for breakfast. Breakfast of course, is "Rolly Food" (dry dog food). Matilda likes hers on her little bed and Tatiana runs to her "house" to have hers laid out. Now, Tatiana will NOT touch hers until Matilda has finished hers - sometimes the second helping! It's really a fun routine they have and of course, the toys are all a big part of it. I counted FIVE balls in the bed the other night and sometimes you will roll over on a squeaky toy! Poor Daddy is trying to get some sleep in the other room!! But this bonding time for me and the girls is very special - oh, what am I doing? Drinking me English tea, having a cig and reading the emails and news - oh and blogs. Ricky thought this was so funny he wanted me to take pictures to send to England! So cheerio......

This really is the best of my day -Our Morning Time......

Let the "Silly's" begin!

When me and Ricky get together there is something about being silly - I mean really silly - it just happens - on stage, off stage - anywhere. Kenny just shakes his head. It's been 2 1/2 years since we've seen him so we went to pick him up last night and it was so good. There are certain friends that no matter how long apart you are when you get together it seems like only 5 minutes have passed. That's the way it is with the three of us. So, there will lots of silly pictures in the next few days!

Ricky is Here

Our best buddy arrived and we are catching up - will post more and pictures later.....

Best of My Day: My Best Friend

Last Day of Physical therapy

I should know on Monday when I see Dr A but I think I'm done with my physical therapy. Yeah - now - I still have to do it at home with the "Rubber Bands" to strengthen my shoulder. This has really been a long hard recovery and I hope no one has to have this done. It still hurts and I'm sure it will for a while but at least my weeks are not surrounded by going to the hospital twice a week. I have made a nice friend, Lucilla, the therapist. She is from Columbia South America. Her best friend is coming here this weekend so Lucilla, her husband and her friend are coming to Beluga. Ricky is coming tomorrow so we are all excited - can't wait to see our bestest buddy! I'm sure we'll have lots of laughs this week. Also, tonight it is going to "Freeze" - whoopie - 30 degrees - it's already below 40 here. I love winter so much! So all you folks in Florida I'm going to send cold air for Thanksgiving!! Ha Ha... I also know Christy is the only one who will appreciate this! So, night, night and we're all bundled up for Winter Time. Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow.......

Best of My Day: Finishing Physical Therapy - 4 months!

In the Sunshine

I did take this photo of Matilda Mae two weeks ago in Columbus - I love the way the sun hits her face....(Tatiana was still in bed with her Daddy!!)

Way too Tired on Monday

I thought the rest would help last night but NO - I am exhausted today and had so much to do. First of all I did the "Puppy Wash" and Groom. It was a really nice day so I dried and groomed them on the deck. We even got through the Nail Cutting without too much wiggling. I usually try and take pictures but I had to keep going. This is about a 3 hour process but also once I get into it, it is a wonderful bonding time for me and Tatiana and Matilda Mae. I am amazed every day how much joy and love they bring to my life. They really are my children and I treasure them so much. We had to to the Vet for Tatiana's yearly shots and of course, Matilda said you're not going for a ride without me! Now our vet is wonderful. We see Dr. Aaron (she is the third generation vet in this practice). They don't even take any new patients so we are blessed to have gotten in there 3 years ago. The only bad part is you can't make an appointment so usually it's a very long wait. Today was over 2 hours. We meet other doggie's and talk to people and I always carry a book! Tatiana checked out great for her physical and Matilda was just glad she didn't get a shot and she kissed and kissed Dr. Aaron! They had on their new clothes from the beach trip and everyone thought they were sooooo cute. It was dark when we came out - still getting used to the time change and thank goodness I had a meal in the crockpot when we got home. Then I tackled my laundry (while watching Dancing with the Stars) and put away all the "weekend gig stuff" like shoes and jewelry. When you change costumes as many times as I do in one night there are a hell of lot of high heels lying around by Sunday!!! And jewelry and hats......so all this had to be put up. I'm totally out of steam now, in the bed, cuddled up with the babies, taken my magic xanax and looking forward to HARD sleep! One more session of Physical Therapy tomorrow - I think I'll be released on Monday by Dr A. Then, of course, Ricky is coming Wednesday so I'll be getting ready for that. Another busy week but hey, when your chores are taking care of your babies, getting ready for a best friends visit and doing your last physical therapy since July - well, that feels pretty good. Everything feels pretty good and I'm thankful!

Best of My Day: Brushing the beautiful hair of Tatiana and Matilda Mae in the sunshine...

ah.....My Sunday Night Rest

Another busy but great week end at Beluga. Lauren was back but still stuggling with her voice. She sounded great anyway and the "Pump" from the crowd is just too hard to describe. LeBron stayed with us this weekend and I said I'm tired of Chinese Food (he loves it) so we went to a new place right down the street called "Shane's Ribs". It was very good and I had waited on Kenny and LeBron all day to wake up so I REALLY was hungry! While I was waiting on them I wrapped the Christmas Gifts to take to Florida. I love to make pretty packages but it's still way too early for me to be in the Christmas Mood. To me it's Thanksgiving morning smelling the turkey cooking and getting ready for the big dinner. Then as soon as you see The Rockettes and Santa Claus on the Macy's Parade - now THAT is when Christmas hits me!!! I love to decorate the day after Thanksgiving but I'll have to wait until we get home. But I haven't done any more Christmas shopping - I'll save that closer to "the season". We did cut the grass today probably for the last time this year so the yard looks nice. I do still have some zinnia's (faded but still colorfull) but it is suposed to get to 30 degrees Tuesday night so that will be the end of that! And I still picked peppers in my side garden today - I can't believe it - they haven't been watered since September! Now, I'll have some peppers for Ricky when he gets here on Wednesday. We are excited about Ricky coming for a visit. There are too few times when a friend like Ricky comes along and even with him living in Las Vegas and us here we have remained close all these years. I treasure that and his friendship. I have a lot to do before Wednesday but I just had to take tonight off and that's just what we did!!!

Best of My Day: Our humble yard which I love to watch Tatiana and Matilda running and running and running......

Christmas Shopping in October?????

I don't like to do this but we go to Florida for Thanksgiving so it beats shipping everything! I just couldn't get in the mood - it was more like a chore. And I went to the Mall - which I hate but needed to go to Penny's. So I got what I needed and got out of there. Maybe I've been shopping at thrift stores and Walmart too much but I just refuse to pay mall prices for a t-shirt! So then I went to Target and Walmart, the Dollar Tree and Kroger! I am sooooo tired right now and my legs are killing me. The good news is I got it all done. We like to take Kenny's parents their Christmas when we go for Thanksgiving so now that's off my plate and I did really good too. Now I get to do the fun part which is the wrapping and making them pretty! I'll do that this weekend - well maybe - it's back to work tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to being at Beluga this weekend. Got another session of physical therapy tomorrow - probably only one more week after this. So I'm going to bed early and try to sleep late!

Best of My Day: Finding the right presents - that's nice....