Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone!

I'm working on a scene from Nova Scotia. It's not one of my best paintings. (That's putting it mildly.) I will finish it, though. I will learn something from the experience and I can always use the back of the paper to try something else:)

I finished a biography of Johnny Mercer yesterday. It's excellent. It's called Portrait of Johnny by Gene Lees. Mr. Lees doesn't particularly care for the music of my generation, but I won't hold that against him. I like the music of his generation:) Mr. Lees writes well. He's a lyricist, so he gives you an insider's point of view. He was also Johnny Mercer's friend. I'm caught in Johnny Mercer's spell. I ordered a copy of the documentary that Clint Eastwood did on Mercer. It is supposed to have a bonus disc with Mercer's watercolors on it.

I just started a book by James Lee Burke. Barnes and Noble was having a big sale. Jim and I took advantage of it. He's reading about Sherman's march to the sea.

I guess I'll pop over to your blogs to see what you guys have been up to.

Gratitude Friday

I have one word for you: V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N! Woo-hoo! I love this time of year! The weather is perfect, so we'll do some hiking. We're flying down to Tucson for a day to see Jim's dad and stepmother. I'm going to do some more baking. The cookies I baked last weekend were consumed by students:) Best of all - I have time to paint! Yes, paint! And I don't mean paint the walls (although they could use it).

I would like to wish all of you bloggers a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year! Thank you for being my friends in the blogging world!

Gratitude Friday - A Day Late

I'm thankful that I had such a nice visit with my mom. She went back to North Carolina on Thursday. I miss her already. She'll be back in the spring.

Sherry, This Post's For You

Have you ever heard the song "Born Too Late"? Sherry, you were born too late! Here is my dad when he and my mom took some kind of boat trip probably before you were born. I know I'm biased, but I think he was pretty cute and still is!

Gratitude Friday: She's Here!

My mom is here visiting from North Carolina. She hasn't lived here in 17 years, but when she visits, the phone rings constantly and she's busy running around with old friends. It's so much fun having her here. She really revs things up for us. We went for a nice walk this morning. She may be a little older than I am (I'm not allowed to reveal her age), but I'm the one who has to try to keep up with her. A couple of years ago, we had a pedometer war. Guess who the winner was? It's like being around the energizer bunny.

I'm very grateful that she flies out twice a year for a visit. She's my mom and my buddy. Jim is crazy about her. The cats and dogs love her, too. Life is very, very good!

Our Guest Bathroom

Here are some photos of our guest bathroom project. We painted, tore out the old tile, installed new Italian porcelain tile, hung one of my paintings, got a new shower curtain and bath mat and tah-dah!

We install the red oak baseboard tomorrow morning and this project is finished just in the nick of time. Our deadline was my mom's arrival on Wednesday. I can't wait to see her.

I'll post another photo after we install the baseboard.

Gratitude Friday (A Little Late) Thank Heaven for Little Girls

I'm grateful to Jim for having two children. I don't have children, but because Jim does, I get grandchildren! They are terrific. Jim's son, daughter, her husband, Jim's stepfather and Jade and Lucy (our granddaughters) came over for Thanksgiving dinner. It was so much fun. Jade is 7 and Lucy is 1-1/2. They were both born on April Fool's Day. During dinner, Jade's dad asked her what she was going to do in the school talent contest. Jade said, "I'm going to play the trombone." I asked her if she knew how to play the trombone. She said, "Not really." I thought that was so funny. I admire how brave she is at the age of 7 - brave without being obnoxious. She is one of the nicest people I have ever met. I'm looking forward to watching her grow.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!