April 19th already.....

Here I sit back at home already, I can't believe a week and a day went by and a few of the days are a blur. This afternoon at the hospital we were trying to figure out..."where did we stay last Saturday night..." dad had a good idea that one of us should have kept a journal of the past week. A few of the days kind of blur into each other.

I'm so grateful that the place we did stay at offered us extended/hospital stay rates can't beat $33.00 a night at the Fairfield Inn!!

This was the first Easter our family didn't celebrate together, it was kind of a numb Easter. Although I did enjoy a nice lunch at Red Lobster. Considering the circumstances with mom in the hospital, dad by her side, it didn't feel right to even think about Easter. So, we decided to celebrate when the weather is nice, the ground is dry and a nice breeze is coming off the lake onto the deck where we can all gather. I'm looking forward to that. Hopefully, we can do this before May 31st when Emma leaves for two months to study at Purdue University.

Thanks to sis for this pic of ma sitting in one of her favorite places last summer. I think it's on the bridge over either Nett or Lost River. I may be wrong too, all I do know is this river is in a very remote spot on the Bois Forte Rez....way out there.

I always knew she was a tough, strong woman, but one thing I learned about her this past week is she's even tougher than the toughest narcotic!! Wow, she has one..strong..mind!

Tomorrow is Monday already, time sure does fly. One more thing....the cat survived outside for over a week!

Orbs and Brad the bartender......

If you double click on this image, you will see an orb attached to the upper right side of Brad's head...this is for real. We took these pic's after he told us what to look for....there it is.

He shared with us some photo's taken where the orbs are so strikingly dominant.

Check out this website!!

http://www.ghoststudy.com/a_what_are_orbs.html

Time to come back.....

Here I am!!! Standing in front of my recently purchased mansion in St. Paul, MN - - see the purchase agreement in my hand??? Also, me in my wine cellar and standing at the top of my staircase!

Ha...I wish!! Sure is nice to dream though. These were taken a few weeks ago during a little weekend jaunt to the cities, planned on staying one night and ended up staying until Monday! Had a blast with sis, stayed at the Hyatt Regency and the Double Tree.

This old mansion is called Forepaugh's, http://www.forepaughs.com. As she was showing me some of her favorite sites on Sunday, we drove into the circular drive way of this old mansion and decided to check it out. We ended up sitting in a little 'nook' sipping a beverage and chatting with the bartender, he invited us to take a self-guided tour of the haunted mansion, told us where to take pictures where there's spiritual activity. This would have been on the third floor where the cleaning lady committed suicide back in the 1800's and now she haunts the place.

When we finally sat down for another beverage, the bartender shared the story of the haunted mansion. He said not to be surprised if some of our pictures had 'orbs'. And, sure enough they did. The picture of me at the top of the stair case has an orb if you double click it, it's toward the bottom to the right of the staircase. Pretty cool.

The bartender asked if we wanted to see the wine cellar, of course we did. He also treated us to a free dessert called chocolate deluce, it was delicious!!

Jessa and Chris...Married.. Mr. & Mrs. Mayo!

I know I'm pirating pictures here, but I love these pic's of Jessa and Chris on their wedding day on the beach in Oahu, Hawaii. They look so happy ....... husband and wife in love.

Needless to say, but I will say it anyway......(waste of words I know). I am so looking forward to seeing them next weekend in Mankato for their official wedding reception. I'm hoping they both show up in bridal and groom attire, not cleaned or anything, we all want to see the beach stains and sand.

I hope they keep in mind that they are on their own in Kauai and that they bring back a lot of pic's and video.

Hopefully they'll bring back some of that Hawaiian sunshine and warmth!!

After re-reading this, I seem really demanding with high expectations, like I'm her mom or something.

That's really not the case, just want to see the bride and groom, hug & kiss them and wish them well!

Ohhhh, one more thing.....hope to see another little Mayo on the way soon....?? Scotland needs a sibling I think.... : )

Sis on the Beach....

Yeah .....!! This is sis on the beach in Oahu, HI somewhere. Not sure exactly which beach this is, but I'm sure it's the same beach Jessa and Chris had their beautiful wedding ceremony.

I really like this picture, it's beautiful, she's beautiful. She looks like a native Hawaiian, like she's really in her element or something. Very Indigenous and naturally proud!!

But I think she should've changed into her hula outfit for this pic!!

I had to really look twice when I saw this picture, and think...........wait now, I was not in Hawaii!! Was I??

I know I'm complementing myself but someone has to once in a while.

Tonights dinner....

I had no idea what to make for a solo dinner tonight. Just threw this together and it was soooo good!!

The other night I had a sirloin that needed to be grilled before leaving for an overnight trip. I marinated it for a good part of the afternoon Thursday and grilled it that night and couldn't eat the whole thing by myself (solo again). Wait....I'll back up a bit or as dad say's "back the boat up"!

About a week ago I attended a Tastefully Simple party and bought garlic garlic seasoning blend and a couple of other products . So, tonight I decided to roast cauliflower and broccoli in olive oil, sea salt, fresh ground pepper and the garlic garlic! Oh man that turned out very delicious! So, I took a sweet onion and sauteed it in just a dab of olive oil with a little more of the garlic garlic and sea salt, then added the sliced up sirloin! Heated that stirring constantly until everything was heated consistently and thoroughly, plus I didn't want to lose all of the pinkness in the beef.

I am so proud of myself! This little concoction turned out mouthwatering delicious! And it was so easy! If I had done this all in one sitting it would've been a lot of work and time consuming, but since the steak was already grilled and well marinated and seasoned, all I had to do was slice it up and throw it in the pan with the onions and toss the roasted veggies over that.

There's enough left over for lunch for me and Emma for tomorrow.

Ha!!! this is even way better than Tutto's if I have to say so myself. It would've been perfection if I had some portobello's to add. Maybe next time. This also happens to be totally carb free and heart healthy because I cooked it in olive oil!!

So many changes....

Yes, there are so many changes lately, things going on. Some days, I feel like everything is happening faster than I can keep up! My kids are maturing so fast ... before my eyes...which means of course that I am getting older.

Had a text message today from Gary, "I got a bathtub", I'm like "What?" he said "For my baby"! Sure enough, when I got home from work he had a little bathtub in his room. I took a picture of it, but the camera wasn't cooperating with the computer..so I couldn't download it.

And, Emma is in the process of completing all necessary paper work to attend and be accepted to work on a research project at Purdue University this summer. Sounds like she's pretty much in....she meets all requirements and they want her! She'll be gone all of June and July. Of course, I will miss her terribly - but she's looking forward to it, so I have no choice but to encourage and support!

And me, I'm here as the foundation and support system for my kids. They always have a home here.

I will post the little bathtub picture when I can figure what's going on with the camera and computer.