Signs

I love all the signs everyone has in their homes. I only have a few and I have had them for some time now. I want more but that will have to wait until I find a new job or hit the lottery one. Oh wait a minute that would require playing right? It's funny because like the stars signs used to be hard to find now they are everywhere. I also hope to buy some blocks with our names on them one day.

This sign hangs in my utility room over the door way where my washer and dryer sit.

This is hanging over the closet door in our foyer. It's one of the first things you see when you walk into our front door.

Last but not least this is hanging over my bay window in the kitchen. This is my favorite saying.

Hopefully soon I can buy some more to add to my collection.

Donna

*** Seeing Stars ***

I have collected a lot of things over the years. Some I still have and some are a thing of the past. One thing that hasn't changed is my love of stars. I started collecting stars about 10 years ago. Some I no longer have but I still have a nice collection.  This picture is actually the header picture on my blog. The stars are actually ornaments I bought over 6 years ago. 

This star over the shelf is in my utility room. When you walk in my back door this is the first thing you see. 

This is the biggest star I own. It's on the wall over my mantel. I have plans to paint it black when the weather warms up.

This is my lamp that has all my favorites stars, crow, and a willow tree. I found this little crock at a craft show and had to have it because of the star.

I also like plates here are a few of my favorites that also have stars on them. 

I love my basket tree. It not only has a star on the top but it also holds my patriotic baskets.

Here is a cute little star I have in my kitchen window.

My place mats that match my curtains. Sorry I didn't make these I bought them.

This popcorn popper and candle holder  are a few of my older pieces. I love the stars on them. I took the candle out so you could see the star.

These are 3 of my favorite stars. They are my star baskets. I just love them.

I have this basket hanging in my bedroom. I fell in-love with it and it had a star.

I actually have two of these star holders. One is in my foyer the other in my half bath. They look just alike and so do the grubby candles hanging from them. I ran out of ideas to make them look different. Maybe I will paint one black.

Last but not least. My patriotic Boyd's Bears. They are loaded with stars.

Are you seeing stars yet? Even I didn't realize just how many I had until I started taking pictures. I have a lot of little stars for ornaments but they are already packed away. I'm always on the hunt for more to had to my collection.

Donna

The S Challenge

Tammy over at countrygirlathome was challenged to write 10 things she loves that begin with the letter H. She said if anyone wanted to try to let her know and she would pick a letter. Well, it looked like fun so I thought I would play. My letter was S. So here is my list.

1. Summer - It's my favorite time of year. 
2. Surprises - I love getting something for no reason
3. Stars - That might have to be in a separate blog. I love stars. 

4. Scrap booking - It's my favorite hobby and I have plenty to do. I'm having a hard time getting motivated these days.

5. Sleeping in - I love having teens because they like to sleep. Which means Mama gets to sleep in some days.

6. Spending time alone with Ray - I miss my children being young but the advantages of them being older are also nice.

7. Steaks on the grill

8. South Carolina

9. Sidewalk Parties - I live in a great neighborhood. When the weather is nice we seem to all congregate in the yards and hang out. The adults catch up and the children run from yard to yard playing.

10. Swimming Pool - We have a nice pool out back and I love to just sit by the pool and relax. 

I didn't stop at 10 so here are a few more.

11. Snowmen

12.Santa's

13. Sundays

14. Soaking in a hot tub

15. Sweet Tea

16. Squash

17. Soup

18. Spaghetti

19. Salad

Last but not Least

20. Sitting at my computer blogging. 

This was a lot of fun thanks Tammy. If your up to the challenge go visit her blog I'm sure she would love to give you a letter.

Donna

My Favorite Room

It feels like forever since I last posted. I have been so busy doing nothing if that makes sense. I feel like I could just curl up on the sofa for a couple of days and watch some movies. I'm ready for some snow or Spring I hate the in between. I'm not much for cold weather but love a good snow. Unfortunately we haven't seen anything here but cold weather. I wish I had pretty snow pictures to share but instead here are some pictures of my favorite room.

MY KITCHEN

    

The kitchen is divided by this long counter with shelves over head. The other side is the eating area. I like the counter space but wish the kitchen were more open. The cooking area can get small real quick when you have more than one person in it. 

      

This is the eating area. I love the big bay window and if you look closely you can see Ms. Pretty in her favorite spot. This table is one of my favorite things also. I wanted this style table so bad but couldn't afford a fancy one. My husband saved money until he could buy this table for me from Hill's Department Store. That was over 13 years a go. It means so much to me because I wanted it and he bought it. I had chairs to match but over time they broke and I bought these white and painted them black. When I look at this table I see many years of memories and that makes it worth more than we ever paid for it. I find myself wanting to go back to more simpler times now I want things that have meaning. Thanks for stopping by and looking at my kitchen.

Donna

OH HAPPY DAY

Ray went back to the hospital today and he got his meds and was told he was approved by the drug manufacture. Not sure how long but thankful for any help we can get. I am just so happy I don't have to worry about this for awhile and hopefully a job with benefits is around the corner. I am just thankful God heard our prayers and answered them. 

Donna

All in the Name

When I decided I wanted to start a blog the hardest part was coming up with a name that wasn't already taken.  My daughter Jessica wanted me to use basket case but it was already taken. Some days I am a basket case but I also love baskets. So we played around with words and came up with ~Never So Simple~ because nothing is ever simple here. Losing my job not only meant losing that second income but it also meant losing our health insurance. I couldn't afford cobra it cost more a month than what I receive from unemployment. I had no choice but to let it end.  My husband takes 1o different meds a day 3 of which are to prevent rejection. One of his meds alone cost over a thousand dollars a month. We went to the hospital and applied for financial assistance only to be told we have too much money coming in with my husband working. We are living pay check to pay check as it is and then you want to add a thousand dollar prescription. We have filled out applications for drug assistance from the drug manufacturers but we are still waiting to hear back from them. If we can't get some help and soon we will be forced to move out of our home because we will have to pick between paying the rent or buying his meds. I know there are many others out there like us. I think it's so sad we live in a Country that will not give you help when you are trying to help yourself. I asked them what are we supposed to do I didn't choose to lose my job or choose to lose my health insurance only to be told I am sorry there are a lot of people out there just like you. Sad part is if my husband loses his kidney then they will be right there giving him any and everything. I'd rather lose my home than to see him back on a dialysis machine. As I said nothing in my life seems simple and that's how Jessica and I came up with the name. Simple or not I will not let this beat us we will figure it out. I just hope that if our Country is going to change it will make sure people can afford health insurance and their meds without losing their homes and life savings. I know we have been blessed in the past and I take nothing for granted especially this blog I have to vent on. :) Thanks for listening.

Donna

A Few of my Favorite Things

I have found the older I get the more I appreciate older items. My husband Ray used to find me some goodies in old buildings. Here are just a few of my favorite things. Some are new and some are old but I love them all just the same. 

When Ray brought these scales home it was covered in like a black grease sludge. I didn't even know it had a glass side with the numbers on it. The grime was so thick I thought it was just a black back. The other side was missing it's glass.

Here is another set of scales he found me in an old building. It's a little rusty but I don't mind. It still works and I can read the numbers.

Here is one of my favorite new things. I found this small basket tree in Lancaster. It holds a few of my favorite baskets. I hope to share more of my favorite things.

Donna

Eight Years Ago

These are pictures of my husband Ray. These were taken this past summer when we went to visit his brother in South Carolina. Ray is enjoying this Friday afternoon blowing bubbles with his nephew Kyle.

This time eight years ago my husband was at dialysis. Where he spent every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoon for 4 hours. That is until January 16th 2001. It was Monday the 15th and I received the call saying Ray needed to get to the hospital they had a match. Ray was at dialysis so they called him there to make sure he wanted it. I will never forget how happy I was I remember crying tears of joy. I was calling everyone and spreading the news. It seemed like dialysis took forever that day to end. We took the girls to my Mom's and off we went. They had him prepped and ready first thing the next morning. I can still see them putting that  cooler on his bed as they wheeled him down. The kidney worked right away and knock on wood is still working. You just never know how much being an organ donor can change someones  life. If it weren't for that donor my husband wouldn't have been able to sit and just blow bubbles on a Friday afternoon. He has been blessed with a wonderful gift.

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Boy it's really cold outside. I'm going to be going out of town for the weekend to my friends river house. A group of us go to get away and scrapbook. We all bring food to share so we don't really have to cook and we just relax all weekend. I've had a few stressful days this week and I really could use a break. I hope you all stay warm and have a nice weekend.

Donna

My THREE Hutches

I am happy to say Eleni received a 90 on her project. She lost points because her presentation was not long enough. I'm ok with that because she wrote it all by herself and I think she learns more when I don't help with the writing.

Now on to my three hutches. I guess that's what you would call them. I have a favorite crafter that comes to VA from PA and I love their work. So all three came from the same people. I bought the first stained hutch for my Boyd's Bears  which was for my living room. I bought the smaller white washed hutch for the kitchen. As time passed my collection grew and  I needed another hutch. My intentions were to buy a matching stained hutch. They had some but the color stain didn't match. So I bought the one I fell in-love with. Now at the time DH was not happy because I was to buy a match or two of something new. Well, two of something new didn't fit into my budget. So I bought the blue hutch and was going to paint the stained hutch to match. Hubby would never let me paint scared I would mess it up. :) This was about 6 years ago. I have since down sized my Boyd's collection. When my Nanny passed away in 2007 I inherited her curio clock which now houses my bears. So I have decided to sell one of the hutches.  The stained hutch matches my table somewhat  but I would love to stain my table darker and paint the legs black. The white washed hutch I think I would like to paint maybe a  distressed red or black with the bead board still stained. I'm not sure just yet what I will do with it . Then there is my blue hutch that I just love. I think it looks the most prim out of the three.  

I decided to sell the stained hutch and I already have a potential buyer. :) As I said yesterday I am trying to simplify and down size some. I still have two other pieces of furniture from these same crafters they just don't have a hutch on top. I have a bottom like the white washed and a bottom like the blue. I want to pain those also when it gets warmer. 

This is the clock I inherited. Well, I guess you would say no one wanted it so I claimed it. I love it because it was my Nanny's but most of all the bears don't get as dusty behind the glass. 

Donna

This and That Weekend

I first want to take the time to thank everyone for their kind comments in regards to my last post. Your kind words made me realize I now have so many new friends as well. Blogging and getting to know you all has been a blessing. I wish we all lived closer what fun that would be.

I have found that staying busy keeps me from being so lonely and bored. Friday I went to the grocery store and to pick up my pictures. Saturday hubby and I rode to Williamsburg to the outlets to get him some new shoes for Church. Then on the way back we swung by the house and picked up the girls and went to the mall. I needed some more dress clothes for that new job I am expecting any day now. :) I had a gift card and just wanted to buy me something new. We walked into the Yankee store and they had all the Fall and Christmas scents on sale so I got me a few candles. Then from there we decided to go get a bite to eat.

Now on to Sunday. First we all went to Church. Daddy had to wear his new shoes. :) After Church Eleni and I spent some time on her project. Which I am proud of her because she finished it a day earlier than needed. She seemed rather proud of her Artemis project.I hope she gets a good grade.  She tries really hard in school but doesn't always test well so these  projects usually help boost up her grades.I also managed to work on my pictures, wash clothes, organize my dresser drawers, and cook dinner. Plus I was able to squeeze in looking through the paper for a job while watching a little Sunday night TV. I was exhausted by 11pm.

Today I  did my usual Monday ritual filled  out the form for my  unemployment and cleaned up from the weekend. Went through a ton of paper work and cleaned out a junk drawer and went through a few kitchen cabinets. I am trying to get rid of unnecessary clutter. I had a bad habit of stacking things up with the intentions of going through it. Well, today was the day I went through it. I am trying to simplify my life so I have more time to do the things I enjoy. I want to slow down some and enjoy some of the little things. I hope to make the best of a not so great situation. Thanks again everyone for all the support!

Donna

One of Those Days

Today has been one of those days where I feel blah. I have been really missing my job, my friends and co-workers. We used to have such a good time at work laughing and cutting up. I miss that everyday adult conversation. Although I usually hear from most of my friends through the week it's not the same as seeing them. All of my friends have lost their jobs that aren't in the educational or medical field. It's so sad because there just doesn't seem to be any work out there, and if there is a job there are so many people trying for that same job the odds of getting it are slim to none. I spend most of my days online emailing and job searching. Everything is done online now even unemployment. It's easier but not very personable so it's up to you to sell yourself via email or cover letter. I hope things get better but I am worried it's going to take longer than any of us anticipated. 

I have decided to get all my pictures organized. When I was a stay at home Mom I was very organized. Boy having a job really did interfere with my free time. :) I am a scrap booker and I love it but you have to be organized. I had over 100 pictures from Christmas not to mention a ton of old pictures scanned onto my computer. I sat down last night and uploaded them all onto Walgreen's web site. They are running a great special so I figured I would get them developed. I need to finish up some projects. Then maybe I will be organized again.

This weekend is planned for me seems I have to help Eleni with her History project. She has to do a poster board on Artemis a Greek Goddess.  We have everything printed out now to get her motivated into writing her paragraph and putting it all together. Hopefully she will cooperate and get it done sooner than later. I have great girls but they both are procrastinators. Well, if I don't get to posts this weekend I hope everyone has a safe and blessed weekend.

Donna

Grandma's Quilt

Several years ago I asked my Mom could I have my Grandma's quilt. My intentions were to hang it  some way. I'm not sure what this quilt is stuffed with but my gosh it's heavy. I couldn't find anything strong enough to hold it. It stayed in a chest for a long time.  Until we moved here that is. This house is great other than the fact it's very drafty and dusty. I was about to go to bed one very cold night and I noticed my hubby all curled up in the bed with Grandma's quilt. I informed it wasn't for use but just looks. He quickly told me to get under the covers and decide for my self. It's so heavy it traps the heat in and you can hardly turn over because of it's weight. All I can say is Grandma's quilt has become a comfort on those cold nights. It's old and needs some repairs but my gosh is it ever warm. My Mom can look at it and tell you where every piece of material came from. They sure don't make them like that anymore!

No matter where I go Abby is right behind me. Sometimes I think I should have named her Shadow. Here is Abby waiting for me to finish taking pictures and there is Ms. Pretty waiting for us to turn the lights back off. I think we disturbed her nap. Abby likes to think she is hiding sometimes. Every since we got her as a pup she hasn't figured out  how to hide all of herself. 

Animals you gotta love them there like our other children.

Donna

Daddy's Girl (girls)

We have been so busy since Christmas.  We also had company from out of town the past two weekends. So you can only imagine how exhausted we all were. Sunday when our guests left we curled up with blankets and watched It's a Wonderful Life. Eleni curled up with Dad on the couch and Abby decided it looked comfy and climbed on. Here is what my living room looks like normally. Yesterdays blog showed everything in it's place and everyone gone. :)

       

 

I must confess I also dozed off in the chair. I love a lazy Sunday.

Donna

My Long Living Room and Mantel

Well, I hope that everyone had a Happy New Year. I haven't blogged in so long I almost forgot how. I have seen on several blogs that a lot of people have been sick you can include me in the group. This is actually the first day in about a week I have felt somewhat like my old self. It started Christmas with the sniffles and I was really tired. Then it turned into a full blown nasty cold. I couldn't sleep for coughing. I still have the cough and my voice will come and go but other than that I feel OK. I'm just happy to be blogging.

My living room seems so much larger with the tree and decorations down. Although I miss the lights I also like having things back to somewhat normal. My living room is so long. We have a fireplace that takes up most of the wall and the other wall has two doorways. One to enter the kitchen and the other to enter from the foyer. Then on the other walls are windows. It's a little difficult to arrange because of the monster TV. I think I did OK considering. My biggest dilemma is the eight foot mantel. I would love for someone to come decorate it for me. I have changed it a million times and I don't think I have ever liked it. 

I have tried pictures, baskets, and nothing seems to make me happy. Everyone always comments on how much they like the fireplace but I think it's missing that WOW factor.

Abby thinks she is a cat she likes to sit on the back of the chair and watch out the window.

Here is the monster TV not very primitive is it? It's my husbands pride and joy. So what's a girl to do. He let's me decorate like I want and I work around his TV. I have pictures of my children to hang on the blank walls just haven't gotten around to it. I had to move things around to make room for Christmas. Well, if you have any mantel ideas I am open but don't forget I'm still unemployed and my decorating is down to a real tight budget.

Donna