12) & {pretty, happy, funny, real} vol 59 Mash-Up: Spring, Pebble Beach & Pinterest

By bobbi
February 8, 2013
3 Comments

AND

My computer time is so limited these days that I have to combine posts and kill two bugs with one stone. (I hate killing birds…unless it is that nasty seagull that did his business on my windshield.) So today we have a 7 Quick Takes & {pretty, happy, funny, real} Mash-up. Enjoy!

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{pretty}

I hesitate to post photos of flowers or sunny skies when people are sitting in snow but hopefully it will give you something to look forward to as you wait for spring. It seems to be arriving early in California.

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{happy}

I can’t tell you how happy I am to have Brian feeling better and cancer free! As I mentioned in yesterday’s Theme Thursday (Cari rocks!), Brian and I had the opportunity to go out to dinner at Pebble Beach (where Brian works.) It was much needed outing after Brian’s surgery and all the stress we’ve been under lately. I love the Spanish Bay Inn there and they have a great restaurant called Sticks. It is a tradition that each evening The Bagpiper plays at sunset to close the day.

However, our original babysitting plans changed and my in-laws watched the kids instead. To make it easier on them we brought Matthew to dinner with us as our chaperone. I loooove this photo of Matty’s precious face and rosy cheeks. (He had just woken up.)

~~ 3 ~~

Speaking of Pebble Beach, this weekend is the AT&T Pro Am. It is a big deal to the town but as for me, it just mostly means everything will be super crowded so we won’t venture far from the house this weekend. There are a number of “stars” and athletes on the Peninsula but unless they happen to stop by Target in the next day or two, I’ll not be seeing them. (Although there was that time I sat behind Kevin James at Mass. ;-))

~~ 4 ~~

{funny}

As I mentioned earlier, I have not had time to blog much this week. But Matthew offered to help me out.

~~ 5 ~~

{real}

I finally took down the Christmas wreath on our door this week and put up our Valentine’s welcome sign. How is it possible that both Valentine’s and Lent start next week??? I am still in shock.

~~ 6 ~~

More {real}

Remember when I mentioned a couple weeks back that the kids got lice from school? Well, we went through the treatment and got rid of the nasty things only to go back and to school and get reinfected. It lands out a number of kids had it without knowing and it was being passed back and forth. Thankfully, the school took care of things now. (It still baffles me that we even have lice in our day and age!)

So now we are on Round 2 of the lice war and on Tuesday I just broke down and sobbed. I mean I cried my eyes out. Not so much because of the lice, but it was finally the straw that broke the camel’s back. With Brian’s illness, and cancer, and surgery I was uncharacteristically calm and unworried and dry eyed. But you know how it is, you can only stay strong for so long until you’ve got to get it all out. I thought all the crying I did at Sybil’s death was enough but I still had more in me. Now I am feeling back to myself and the lice war seems to be ending, although I still spend over 2 hours each day going through the kids hair with a nit comb (Bella’s long hair is the worse) to make sure it stays away.

On top of that, the washing everything in hot water that touched their head is insane and this is what my house has looked like all week. The dirty piles were far outweighing the clean piles but I am finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Praise God!

~~ 7 ~~

Once I get all the laundry done I’ll work on something for next week’s Making it Count Tuesday. Actually, let me ask you a question about that. Originally the link up was called Pinning It Down.

It was hosted by Sarah at AmongstLovelyThings.com and Pam at EveryDaySnapshots. It encouraged people to make or do some of the things they pinned on Pinterest. But then there was the concern about breaking copyright laws and not giving the right people credit for their work etc.

They changed the link up to Making It Count with the idea being to…

“Simply start with any one of those fabulous ideas you’ve found online or on Pinterest. Then, do it. Make it. Cook it. Create it. Take it from the screen, give it life and let it bless your world. When you’re done, snap a photo, write about it and share it with us. Make your time online count!”

However, with their busy schedules, Sarah and Pam couldn’t host anymore. I offered to take over hosting duties and Sarah gladly let me but she warned me that participation dropped off once they switched from Pinning It Down to Making It Count. And once it moved blogs, it really dropped.

My question to you, after all that, should I go back to a Pinterest themed link up and just require links to the original site (rather than their pin link)? It could be a Pinterest Party or something. Or should I make it more general? For example, a link up to share something you did creatively (cooking, crafting, photography, a school project) whether the idea came from an online source or not. Please give me some ideas or let me know if I should just leave it as is and give it time to build up again. Thanks in advance!

Okay, I just heard the washer buzz so my blogging time is up. Time for another load. Have a great weekend!

7 Downton Abbey Quick Takes: Season 3, Episode 4 & Fun Downton Links

By bobbi
January 30, 2013
3 Comments

Photo Source

It’s always a joke around here that when I link up with Jen’s 7 Quick Takes, I am usually around #150, and that’s on a good day. I swear there are bloggers that never sleep who post their Takes before I’ve even finished my Thursday night viewing of something intellectually stimulating like Duck Dynasty. So I am going extreme and posting on Wednesday afternoon! I am officially #0! Although, knowing me I’ll post this and forget to link up until Sunday morning. Oh, well. Let’s get on with it.

Spoiler Alert! – If you have not watched Sunday’s Episode 4 of Downton Abbey, skip to # 3 or 4!

~~ 1 ~~

Last night I was finally able to watch Sunday’s episode of Downton Abbey. Everyone warned that it was a heart breaker. Oh. My. Gosh. They were not exaggerating. Let’s just say I was finally able to have that good cry I needed!

I will have to go back and rewatch the episode to remember the storylines that were shown because Sybil is dominating my memory right now. And seriously, as I sit here and think about losing your spouse, I am crying again… and then when Cora was sitting alone with Sybil and told her lifeless body, “You will always be my baby,” I could hear my mom’s voice telling me that. I could hear my own voice as I say it so often to Bella. Oh, boy and now the tears are flowing freely again. I’m making up for lost time.

Since I obviously can’t handle a commentary right now, I will instead share a few Downton Abbey links that you may enjoy.

~~ 2 ~~

Here is a video tribute to Sybil and Tom with the song “The Weight of Us” by Sanders Bohlke.

~~ 3 ~~

Yesterday the Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey Season 3 Blu-ray and DVD were released. I ordered my copy and I’m debating whether I will watch the remaining episodes right away or wait and enjoy the suspense as I watch with my friends on PBS. Since I know this is not the end of sad storylines maybe small doses will be better.

~~ 4 ~~

The other night Downton Abbey won Sag’s Cast Ensemble Award. Here is a photo of some of the cast. You can hardly recognize Ms. O’Brien and Daisy!

Photo Source

~~ 5 ~~

My sister sent me this link, knowing that I would love it.

10 Downton Abbey Inspired DIY Crafts & Printables from EverythingEtsy.com.

My favorites are…

…the Downton Abbey inspired headbands and…

…the Downton Abbey bingo.

~~ 6 ~~

Lastly, for those of you that love Facebook and Downton, you may enjoy these DA episode Facebook recaps from HappyPlace.com.

Here is the recap for Season 3, Episode 1. The rest of the recap links are below.

Facebook Recap for Season 3, Episode 2

Facebook Recap for Season 3, Episode 3

Facebook Recap for Season 3, Episode 4

~~ 7 ~~

I hope you enjoyed these! I’ll meet you Sunday night for the next #DowntonPBS Twitter party. (9 PM PT) 🙂 (You can find me here.)

7 Quick Takes (1/18/13) & {pretty, happy, funny, real} vol 57: Downton Abbey & Hospital Visits

By bobbi
January 18, 2013
6 Comments

Hosted by Jen.

AND

Hosted by Like Mother, Like Daughter

~~ 1 ~~

A Mean and Cruel Trick – It’s just after 12:30 am and I am reluctant to sleep in an emty bed again so I am distracting myself by working on my Quick Takes & the {pretty, happy, funny, real} that I never had a chance to post yesterday. Brian has officially been in the hospital for a week now. He went in the ER last Friday and if all goes well, he will be released tomorrow (Fri.) Actually, we thought Brian was going to be released tonight. We were running around the house getting everything nice and pretty and the welcome home decorations up when Brian called and said he wasn’t coming home tonight after all. They wanted to keep him one more night to monitor a concern that popped up at the last minute. I completely understood the why but we were none the less bitterly disappointed.

I returned to the hospital to have dinner with Brian and watch a movie but when I had to say goodbye another night instead of bringing him home with me…well, I had to bite my tongue so hard that I nearly drew blood in order to not completely lose it in the hospital parking lot. I think that is why I am still typing so late, I want to be so tired that I knock out when my head hits the pillow and I don’t notice the empty space beside me.

I know, I know, I should be looking at the bright side of things, that he is alive and well and will be coming home soon…that is another reason why I am typing. It always perks me up so let the uplifting begin.

~~ 2 ~~

{pretty}

In the evenings, when we visit the hospital we love to look at the Fountain/ Fish Pond they have in the lobby. A portion of the ceiling is a dome with a huge sky light. You can see the moon and the stars on a clear night.

When I took Brian’s hospital bag home to wash his clothes I found his miraculous medal he always wears. I have been wearing it since then, waiting for the day I can return it to him.

~~ 3 ~~

Downton Abbey Spoiler Alert – (If you have not seen last Sunday’s episode, skip to the next Take.) After the kids are asleep I return to the hospital to watch TV or a DVD with Brian. We were able to see Downton Abbey together and what an episode! I haven’t even had a chance to write my comments but here they are in a nutshell. I’m glad Matthew stopped whining and just used the money to save DA, although I had to laugh at the size of their possible “downsized” home. Thomas may be a snake but I would not want to get on O’Brien’s bad side. Cora was making such strides. Why did she get whiney again and not give O’Brien a chance to explain herself? Edith, oh, Edith. She started out as a nuisance but after her better side came out when she was working with the wounded soldiers, I was really hoping she’d find love and happiness. Although it wasn’t a complete shock, I was truly upset to see her hurt. I just hope #TeamEdith does not become #TeamHavisham. And what is going on with the whole Bates situation? I sure hope there will be some kind of resolution by the end of the season and it better not be that Bates actually is guilty. It is bad enough that I accidentally saw the mother of all spoilers with another storyline and you know how much I HATE spoilers! As much as I try to put it out of my mind it sits there taunting me as I watch. Oh, well. I am too addicted to stop now.

~~ 4 ~

Movie Night – Instead of TV, Brian wanted to watch one of his religious movies so we viewed God’s Mighty Servant: Sister Pascalina Lehnert, Secretary of Pius XII . It is the story of Sister Pascalina Lehnert (1894-1983) who was the personal confidant and secretary to Pope Pius XII for 40 years, when he was the Papal Nuncio in Germany, and then after for his whole Pontificate. The Pope had great confidence in her wisdom, energy and loyalty, and she became known as “the most powerful woman in the history of the Vatican.” The movie was in German with English subtitles, so it was good that no kids were with me, but I really enjoyed the movie and found it both interesting and moving.

~~ 5 ~~

Too Many Tears – This week has been difficult on the kids not having Brian here. Bella hasn’t been sleeping well. The other night Andrew woke up twice crying. Tonight John-Paul woke up crying calling for Brian. And whenever someone comes through the door Matthew runs over calling, Daddy, only to find it isn’t him. I can’t help but wonder what a child must go through when a parent dies and they’ll never walk through the door again. How do they cope… okay, now is not the time to ponder that one. (Remember, Bobbi, uplifting.) We’ll move on and since it is nearly 1:00 AM, I better wrap this up. I leave you with photos taken this week. Thankfully we did have a few happy moments too. 🙂

{happy}

When the kids were unable to kiss Brian goodnight at the hospital they would send him a photo saying goodnight. That made him happy.

The kids were excited that their daddy would be home soon but it made it difficult to change the sheets with three little monkeys jumping on the bed!

~~ 6 ~~

{funny}

I made the mistake of leaving my food on the table unguarded and Matthew discovered the joys of chips and guacamole and took over. (It was so tasty because I used BC’s recipe.)

Later, he washed down his meal (and himself) with a glass of milk.

~~ 7 ~~

{real}

Today Andrew’s class made a Get-Well Booklet for Brian. Each child drew him a picture. It was incredibly sweet!

Here is the picture Andrew drew. It has two cats (that he wished he had but his mother is allergic!) and our two fish Rocky & Spike.

Lastly, Bella, my cartoonist, made a Welcome Home sign for Brian featuring all the kids. I love it. 🙂

Okay, I think I can go to bed now. I can barely keep my eyes open. Have a good night! (or day!)

7 Quick Takes (1/12/13) & {p, h, f, r} vol 56: The Cancer & Surgery Edition

By bobbi
January 13, 2013
4 Comments

Hosted by Jen.

AND

Hosted by Like Mother, Like Daughter

~~ 1 ~~

{pretty}

The view from the window of Brian’s hospital room.

~~ 2 ~~

It has been a crazy last few days and I am actually typing this now in the hospital as Brian is trying to rest. Here’s the scoop in a nutshell. Brian has been sick on and off for awhile. He had a few infections but antibiotics took care of them. However, he was still getting pain in his stomach and sides. On Friday he was scheduled to have some testing and procedures done to check everything out. They found three polyps (an abnormal growth of tissue) and were able to remove the two small ones during the procedure. The third was larger and suspicious for cancer. He would need to schedule surgery in the next week or so and have it removed and analyzed.

He came back home that afternoon but by the evening he had a high fever and severe chills. He went to the ER and they suspected a perforation from one of the procedures. They kept him overnight. In the morning his fever was down and the chills stopped but he was still in some pain. They decided to do surgery right away and take care of all the issues he’s dealing with. So tomorrow/Sunday morning at 7:30 AM (PT) he is having surgery. Please pray that all goes well, that he recovers quickly and that the polyp is not cancerous. (Update: It was cancerous but the surgery removed it all.)

~~ 3 ~~

As a side note, my sister BC called me Wednesday night and said she and my other sister JC wanted to make a last minute trip from So Cal to spend the weekend with us. I told them that we’d love to have them. I told her that Brian had some tests on Friday but he was scheduled to be back at work on Saturday so that wouldn’t be a problem. Little did I know I’d actually be sitting in a hospital room on Saturday instead! The Holy Spirit must have prompted their trip because he knew I could really use their help with Brian’s unexpected situation. And thanks to my sister BC’s generosity, she rearranged her work schedule so she could take time off and stay here to help me with the kids while Brian is in the hospital. (His surgery’s recovery time is 3-7 days.) I told Brian God was making arrangements for us before we even knew we needed them!

~~ 4 ~~

{happy & funny}

I haven’t taken many photos this week but I borrowed these that my sisters took while I was in the hospital with Brian. I am incredibly happy to know the kids are in good hands while I am busy.

Matthew is exclaiming his new favorite phrase, “I did it!”

Andrew was having a blast.

My sister said, “This picture was taken before Matthew had his feet in John-Paul’s food!” (JP was not very pleased!)

My sister said, “Matthew could not believe Captain America was in the house!”

~~ 5 ~~

{rea}

This is an old photo but I brought Brian our favorite small icon to his hospital room. I asked Our Lady to watch over him and Our Lord to give him strength and peace of heart.

~~ 6 ~~

At 9:30 PM tonight Brian received the strength he needed at that moment. Our parish priest came by to see Brian and give him Anointing of the Sick. I am so glad I happened to be there so I could join them in prayer. Brian was really touched and I know it gave him peace.

~~ 7 ~~

Speaking of peace, I am not sure what is wrong with me. Normally I would be completely stressed out over all this and dramatically picturing the worse case scenario as a funeral scene plays through my head. (Remember when I thought Matthew was going to die?) But strangely, I have not been worried at all. I have been praying but haven’t freaked out once. (If anything, I am freaking out because I am not freaking out.) I told my sister that either God is pouring buckets of grace down on me or I am in a huge state of denial. I think I’ll go with the grace. At least it has allowed me to stay upbeat with the kids so they are not worried and just think daddy is having a reeeeeally long doctor visit.

Please keep us all in prayer and for those already praying, thank you so much! I’ll keep you posted.

UPDATE: An Update on Brian (1/15/13)

7 Quick Takes (1/4/13): New Years, Boy Bands & Hobby Lobby

By bobbi
January 4, 2013
3 Comments

Hosted by Hallie for Jen.

~~ 1 ~~

Prayers Needed – For those of you who may not know, Jen the host of 7 Quick Takes, was in the hospital yesterday with bilateral pulmonary embolisms in both her lungs. As of late last night, she was released from the hospital to recover at home. Please remember Jen and her unborn baby boy in your prayers! (UPDATE: As of this evening, Jen is back in the hospital. It is unknown when she will be able to return home. Please continue praying.)

~~ 2 ~~

Happy New Year – Well, it’s 2013 now. Can you believe it? How was your New Years? It was pretty quiet here. For the first time in a long time we didn’t go to So Cal to see my family again. (We were just there for Thanksgiving.) We thought it made more sense to split up our two big trips down there and go in spring instead. I hated not seeing them but I didn’t mind not having to pack and travel.

Instead I stood up and spent New Years Eve watching the Dick Clark special and Ryan Seacrest. Well, actually I recorded the shows and started watching at 11 PM and fast forwarded through 75% and just watched some of the bands/singers that I like.

I used to disregard Top 40 music but ever since I tried to increase my walking I needed more upbeat music to keep me motivated. I’m addicted to Spotify and have a number of playlists. One of the songs I like is Glad You Came by The Wanted. I had no idea what they looked like until I saw them on the New Years Eve show.

I couldn’t stop laughing at the fact that these guys I listened to were from a little boy band. Are they even allowed to stay up past 11 PM? The next thing you know I’ll be listening to One Direction. (Oh, wait. I think one of their songs is on my playlist too.) Sigh. How did it come to this? Maybe the Mayans were right.

~~ 3 ~~

2012 Recaps – The blog has the usual end of the year recaps. You can read the top RoL posts of 2012 here. There’s a link-up so feel free to add your Top Post(s) to it as well. I’d love to read them! It’s open through the month of January.

Also, Dwija has a link up for 2012 in 12 Photos. I posted mine here but it was so hard to choose only one photo for each month!

~~ 4 ~~

Shopping Fred Mertz Style – One of my favorite I Love Lucy episodes is “Ethel’s Birthday.” Every birthday or Christmas we always joke that Brian repeats Fred’s line, “What did I give you? I mean, how do you like what I gave you?” That’s because, truth be told, I usually pick out my own gifts. (Yeah, I am one of those wives.) Well, when I was visiting my family in So Cal over Thanksgiving, I went to their local Hobby Lobby. We don’t have one here and everyone had been raving about them so I thought I’d check them out. There were so many cute things and they were having their after Thanksgiving sale so items were super discounted. Here are three things I particularly liked and saved as my Christmas presents.

I love this small carrying case!

(Purchase the complete set here.)

I love this retro metal chest of drawers. I had to stack my journals up in order to make room for it on my bookshelf. I think it reminds me of my youth. It reminds me of Doc Martens and 80’s/90’s alternative music. 😉

(Purchase online here.)

I bought this plaque to hang up in my kitchen.

(Purchase online here.)

Plus with all the trouble Hobby Lobby has been in for fighting the HHS mandate, I was happy to give them my business. In fact I saw on Twitter that tomorrow (Saturday, 1/5/12) is Standing with Hobby Lobby Day so plan on doing some shopping. UPDATE: If you don’t have a Hobby Lobby where you live, you can order online. I added links to the items I bought above. There is also a 40% off coupon for one item and discounted Shipping for today 1/5.

~~ 5 ~~

Source

You Should Have Picked the Toaster – Speaking of the Lucy episode “Ethel’s Birthday,” do you remember the pants Lucy bought Ethel? I found a similar pair at Macy’s.

Now I know what to wear at all those smart dinner parties I give.

~~6 ~~

Twitter Style – Okay, there was one gift I received from Brian that I wanted but did not see beforehand. He bought me the One Line a Day: A Five-Year Memory Book.

I know, I know, like I need another journal. But I hardly write in my regular journal these days and this style is much easier because it is the Twitter version of journaling. I simply record a thought or two about the day, which I can certainly handle. Then when I want to go into greater detail, I make a notation on the entry and expand my thoughts in my regular journal. It’s great.

There is also a version just for moms. This would be a great gift for a new mom who is more worried about taking a shower that week than writing more than a sentence a day.

~~ 7 ~~

Going Sol0 – Okay, I better wrap this up. This weekend I’ll be flying solo as Brian just left for a weekend retreat. It took awhile to convince him to go but I’m glad he did. It will be good for him to get away and spend some time in prayer. Plus, the retreat place is up in the woods so it is a perfect setting to reconnect with God. So please say a prayer for him (and a prayer for my sanity. 😉 )

Oh and be sure to stop by next week for Making It Count Tuesday. For Christmas I made Shutterfly photobooks for my parents and Brian’s parents. I’ll share with you how it turned out. 🙂

Have a great weekend and blessed Epiphany!

Revolution of Love

Do small things with great love.

Tag Archives: 7 quick takes

7 Quick Takes (2/8/12) & {pretty, happy, funny, real} vol 59 Mash-Up: Spring, Pebble Beach & Pinterest

7 Downton Abbey Quick Takes: Season 3, Episode 4 & Fun Downton Links

7 Quick Takes (1/18/13) & {pretty, happy, funny, real} vol 57: Downton Abbey & Hospital Visits

7 Quick Takes (1/12/13) & {p, h, f, r} vol 56: The Cancer & Surgery Edition

7 Quick Takes (1/4/13): New Years, Boy Bands & Hobby Lobby