Timeless Things

Christmas Time Is Here

2011-12-14T21:35:00.004-06:00

I posted this picture on Facebook the other day because I truly adore Christmas ribbon candy! I also love the tins of hard candy because they always remind me of my maternal grandfather Pilar and of my paternal grandmother Ursula. I haven't put up my Christmas tree or decorated my home except for the opening that separates my kitchen from dining room. I've had a lot of challenges this past year with my health and I've learned that I am truly a chubby rubber ball that keeps bouncing back.

I am so excited to try and get into my garage tomorrow to get my tree out of the box. Yes, its a fake tree but its a revolving tree! They are truly grand. Sadly, I am severely allergic to real trees but I would give anything if I weren't. Nothing can replace the scent of a real tree. Another reason I am excited to get in to my garage is that Marshall and I are having a yard sale on Sunday. We are going to get rid of everything that we haven't unpacked from our move last year. It's been a year since we moved to our home and obviously I haven't needed anything that is inside those boxes!

I just had to post a picture of my favorite Misfit toy. I've never known why she is considered a misfit! Maybe its because she doesn't have a nose. Anyway, Marshall and I watched Rudolph even though we have the DVD but its just not the same if you can watch it whenever you want to! I've always felt that they should show Rudolph a bit later in the month but you can't fight programming I suppose. About ten years ago, Marshall bought me the set of Christmas ornaments of all the characters from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and I was so thrilled when he presented the large box to me. He always does stuff like that!

I'm recovering from a fall I had a couple of days before Thanksgiving at my sister's house. I actually fell on the front steps at her front door. I have a stress fracture in my left ankle and I popped my left elbow out of joint which hurts like the dickens when I bump it on something. I didn't sprain my ankle left or right, as I stepped down, my toes almost met the front of my leg. Ouch. I am still not able to walk barefoot or with out wearing my orthopedic crocs wedges. I know it will heal but my gosh, I wish it could have happened at another time!

I can't wait to start visiting some of your blogs as I have been out of the loop for so very long. I miss everyone but sometimes life interrupts enjoyable pleasures and you have to put those aside for a while. I hope that when I come to visit, that I will find all of you doing well and doing what you do best and that is making someones day extra special with your words and pictures.

Holiday Wishes

Deanna

The Swing

2011-09-09T15:31:00.007-05:00

I've been on a swing since September 5, 2010. It's been a wild, painful and finally, a ride worth having gone through. I've been up and down but the down was something that I ultimately was able to deal with. No one knows their breaking point. Some of us are brought there. Most of us do not want to ever find out what is down there at all. I am so happy today. That is all that matters. I will just go on because I don't ever want to say that I let my swing stay down. With Mr. Timeless at my side every step of the way, I could only go up, up, up!

I'll be back to blogging again next week and this time hopefully without a little blip in my path. I am anxious to get to your blogs to see what you have been up to!

Everything Has Been Like A Tornado Around Here!

2011-05-07T19:27:00.004-05:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. We sort of celebrated by watching The Ten Commandments. I have never missed a single year since it started showing on television so it has become a family ritual. Of course, I could buy it and watch it when ever I want to but it's not the same as being around your family in the living room, snuggled with a blanket and pillow and eating snacks!

I suffered at slight set back with my eyes. I can tell you that I am honestly am sick and tired of this. I've made my peace with God. I don't want to be hospitalized for this again. I'm fighting back hard because if I don't, I will wither up and die. This past September, Marshall and I were going to start painting and adding things to our new home. I was so excited because I was finally going to have a two week vacation to enjoy making my home lovely. Then my corneal rejection started the first week of September. Agony for six months. Done! I am so done! Several weeks ago, I told myself that no matter what, I was not going to let anything take me to the bottom again.

For six and half months, my life felt so out of control and no matter how much I pretended to be "okay"...I wasn't. Only two people know the depths of despair that I went through. I am putting this out here because I have made close bonds with some of you and because you have always been truthful with me about your situations, I am going to be truthful with you as well. What felt like hell these past seven months have really made me appreciate the life that I have. The life that God has given me is beautiful. I have been given two gifts, faith and patience. I know I do not have to explain that to you.

I love this photo. It looks like what my life has been for a while.

These photos were taken in Dr. F's darkened exam room. I was in agony. I could barely keep my eyes open. I had to lighten the photos because you could barely see my face.

A week later, Dr. F notices a big difference in the way my face in free of pain. Eyes are opened a bit wider. My rosacea is visible but is very much under control. It is almost completely out of my eyes.

Friday. I can look up without flinching or wincing in pain. Driving has been without pain. I don't gasp anymore when I am next to an extremely white car. I don't have to wear double sunglasses. Headlights in the morning do not make me scream in pain.

I think that taking control of my life was paramount to my eyes healing. I think I had given up. How sad. Two weeks ago, I went to have lunch and shop a bit with my sweet Patricia (Vintage Linen Treasures) and I struggled with myself whether or not to share what had been my despair. She asked that one important question and I knew that it was time to share. She may never know the relief I felt in releasing what I had held in for so long. That she was there for me when she and her family had just lost a family member, made me love her even more. I hope that she knows how much I care about her.

So, on to the fun part! Even though I can't get time off for any kind of vacation due to my missing almost five months of work, I am taking my time to start my plans for painting and decorating our home for the next three months. I have started painting. Ladies, if you can afford it, hire someone to paint for you. I forgot how tiring and taxing it can be. I painted my parents home once and I don't remember being so exhausted and so very sore. My knees are so bony so it's really difficult to work around the baseboards to try and cut in the paint down there.

I'm starting in the dining room.

I wanted a soft dove gray. I have that cute tulip chandelier from Ironside that Marshall took out of layaway for me. He totally surprised me! He was going down to make a payment and when I got home from work, it was sitting on the carpet in the living room. I love that man!

Anyway, I'm going for shabby chic cottage in my home so I really wanted that gray with glossy white crown molding. Well, off we went to Home Depot and bought the mini samples of the choices we picked. We slapped the four samples on the wall. I had to really look at them carefully. I already did not like the Glidden paint color. It looked like a baby blue. It was weird. The Behr sample was awful. It made that section of my wall look like one of those metal warehouses you see alongside the road when you are traveling through a small town. The top left Martha Stewart color was really nice but way too dark for what I wanted. I decided that I would use that color to paint one accent wall in Marshall's bathroom. Our last sample was another Martha Stewart color. It was love at first roll.

We decided that we would have to leave those samples on the wall for a couple of days to see what they look like in different light.

How did I get the word "Cool" on there twice? Trust me, that lower left color was definitely not "Cool."

I sent these photos to my friend Steffi in Germany and she says, "Deanna, I love your tan walls. Why are you painting? It's a great color. Looks like coffee with milk in it." and by God, she was right. Except that my walls are not tan. They are white. I had not noticed that the photos had made the walls take on a different color than what they actually were. You can see the difference if you look at the photo above with the four spots of color. That is the real color.

I could already imagine my walls being offended by being called "tan" instead of "Glass of Milk."

The Martha Stewart paint we decided on. It's gonna look GREAT!

Bedford Gray.

The house? It looks like a tornado hit it and I finished painting the dining room today. Now to put everything back in it's place. Arrgh!

Good days...they are a comin'!

Deanna "Fightin' Back" Nelson.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-20T18:37:00.002-05:00

the Peeps Show.

Timeless Love

2011-04-08T22:00:00.005-05:00

It's been a rough week for me. My eyes have been in a lot of pain but we have faith that all will be well one day. With Heavenly Father and Marshall holding me, I am comforted. Marshall loves Jesus. Deanna loves Jesus. It's quite simple. It's
"Timeless Love."

Mrs. Timeless Is Gonna Shake Her Groove Thing!

2011-03-30T19:26:00.011-05:00

Do you think if I danced like this.......(I'm still laughing)

Mr. Timeless might buy me this?

Shabby Heaven At Ironside

2011-03-28T19:34:00.015-05:00

Me, sitting in the car

It was time for another shopping excursion, so Marshall and I got in the car and headed over to Ironside. It's a wonderland in there!

There are over fifty vendors and each one is unique. You will see some vintage oriental pieces, Victorian, Neo-classical, really a bit of everything and the prices are fair but some are a bit out of my reach. It's quite a walkabout and as I get overheated when I shop, I always carry two bottles of water in my purse!

I really think that they currently have more than fifty vendors...it sure seemed like it to Mr. Timeless.

They had this adorable vanity chair outside for $36.00 and even though I really wanted it, I had to pass it up. I try to stay on a budget and usually I make the rounds of the whole store before I go and choose what I am going to bring home. So it was, "so long sweet chair."

Loved the beaded lamp work on this piece. Not my taste but I can appreciate that to others, it is a work of art.

This lamp was just lovely.

I have found two of these fruit stands at Salvation Army. Too pricey here at Ironside!

Are these dolls just too sweet? They kept asking me to take them home but Mr. Timeless said "We have no room at the Inn."

We then strolled into a dark space and when we looked up, we saw these beautiful chandeliers. I want one for my guest bedroom. We currently have a ceiling fan in there and I am anxious to get it down. They have quite a selection to choose from. I couldn't take too many photos of them as my eyes are pretty sensitive to light but I did manage to snap these two photos for you.

Pretty crystals.

Of all the stuff in this photo, the one thing I was looking at was the darling white table. Did I take it, no. It was out of my budget darn it!

I love doilies and my dear friend Patricia (Vintage Linen Treasures) would have been able to tell me if this was hand made or made by machine. She deals in lots of vintage linens and is an expert, making sure that she only buys handmade items.

I wanted this vanity with the cute seat from outside but drat the luck...too expensive.

Ooh La La...these frames are so dreamy! I saw some that were priced at $130.00!! That is ridiculous in my book! You can easily buy old mirror frames at salvage and thrift stores for less. I know that these are already finished but come on!! $130.00!! NO WAY!

I do not believe in shoplifting I do not believe in shoplifting I do not believe in shoplifting

Eek! A basket full of precious doilies!!

Frothy aqua curtains for my guest bedroom. MINE!! I have only one set of windows in that bedroom so these will do just fine. They look like a 1950's prom dress.

I loved that they had shiny gold and silver thread running through the ruffles and tie-backs. $40.00 and well worth it. They are truly vintage.

More frothy lace tie-backs. They simply are just too lovely.

I fell in love with this gown. It had such a lovely shade of lime. I would probably look like a chubby kiwi in it but gosh darn, it's too stinkin' cute!

A little box of vintage material.

Do you see that chandelier? It's on layaway. Yep. I want it for my dining room. It will be Easter year round at the Nelson home..hahaha! Mr. Timeless had no comment.

He did however, like this bed very much. Wouldn't you? Yeah, I knew you would! I'd feel like a Queen in this bed...ahhhh, one can dream can't one?

Matching upright dressers for your Queenly bed. They are really pretty but wow, expensive!

Okay, this is one piece that I was totally in love with as soon as we walked inside. I didn't even want Marshall to look at the price because I knew it would be over $100.00. Can you imagine serving hors d'oeuvres from this stunning crystal drops dangling so beautifully piece? Again, I do not believe in shoplifting, I do not believe in shoplifting....etc

Pretty glove boxes and they were pretty reasonable at $9.00. They were on sale for that day only so I'm sure they went home with some lucky lady.

One last tempting Shabby frame that was over $100.00. I just cannot seem to fathom that paying that much for a frame is fine and dandy. I know it's a find, it's something that we Shabby seekers hope to find on a treasure hunt but I would rather buy one-hundred dollars worth of groceries than a wooden frame. Some things are just not worth what they are asking for. Unless of course you really absolutely cannot live without it. I can....I don't want to but I will....lol!!

Well that ends our stroll through Ironside. We had a great time looking at all the lovely furniture and decor. Not sure where we will be heading too this week but you can bet we will come home with something pretty!

Deanna

We Have A Winner For Our Jelly Bean Contest!

2011-03-27T15:52:00.005-05:00

First, I would like to say "Thank You" to those of you who played our Jelly Bean Contest Game. Mr. Timeless and I had so much fun doing this and we were so pleased with the amount of players who decided to give it a go!

We have 2 Winners! Actually we have one winner! Christine or also known as Xinex, emailed me and let me know that she is one in the same. Sorry about the mix up!! Dear hubby and I just went down the list of emails as they were sent and that's how the mix-up happened!

The Nelson and Nelson accounting firm counted exactly 1426 Jelly Beans.

This staggering amount didn't even fill up the entire apothecary jar! Amazing!

The lovely winner is:

Xinex (a.k.a.) Christine of

Christine's Home and Travel Adventures with a guess of 1472 Jelly Beans

Congratulations and I will be sending you an email and a reminder to send me your mailing address so that we may send your lovely gifts in time for Easter!!

Thanks for playing and making this a fun activity for us!!

Hippity Hoppity!

Deanna and Marshall

Jelly Bean List of Guesses. Winner Announcement on Sunday

2011-03-25T16:36:00.008-05:00

Here are the 29 Official Guesses from the lovely players

1. Donnie - 517

2. Shelia - 325

3. Marsha - 959

4. Candy - 183

5. Tricia - 216

6. Claudia - 489

7. Mary Isabella - 660

8. My Susie Q - 352

9. Becky K - 542

10. Pat - 600

11. Deb @ Paxton Valley Folk Art - 1057

12. Xinex - 1472

13. Christine W. - 1472

14. BJ - 632

15. Karena - 395

16. Carol - 1000

17. Betty - 275

18. Jenny H. - 512

19. Jillian - 546

20. Bonnie - 468

21. Maryjane - 798

22. Wanda - 300

23. Deb @GSG - 1019

24. Irma - 365

25. Debbie@HannMeDowns - 634

26. Linda A. - 499

27. Tara M. - 407

28. Taz - 1010

29. Simply Debbie - 813

Good Luck Ladies!! The end is drawing near. You still have until 10:00 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday, March 26th) to send in your guess!

Love,

Deanna and Marshall

Goodbye Elizabeth Taylor

2011-03-23T17:12:00.010-05:00

Goodnight Velvet. Now you can be with your beloved Mike (d. March 22 1958) and with your darling Richard.

300th Post Giveaway/Jelly Bean Contest Nearing It's End!

2011-03-22T15:25:00.003-05:00

The last days of my 300th Post Giveaway/ Jelly Bean Count Contest is nearing it's end! It's been so much fun reading all of your guesses and Marshall and I are eager to start packing the four gifts destined to be shipped to one lucky player just in time for Easter! Remember, you still have until Saturday, March 26th 2011 - 10:00 p.m. Central Time.

Remember dear friends, you don't have to be a follower to play but you must have a blog.

Deanna

Goodwill and a Quick Barbeque

2011-03-17T22:32:00.001-05:00

Hi everybody! I'm sitting here feeling quite fat and stuffed. Marshall and I barbequed this afternoon and I ate two hamburger patties and a hot link slathered in honey barbeque sauce. I didn't want to dirty up the kitchen so we agreed to cook outside. It was truly a lovely day. San Antonio started out with dark grey skies but around two o'clock the sun burst through and even though it was still a little cool, it was a most perfect day for being outdoors.

Yesterday, Marshall took me to Goodwill, the movie star Goodwill that is. Yes, I have seen some stars hanging out here. I don't approach them but they have been known to smile or chat with ya! This particular Goodwill gets all the high falutin' stuff. It is close to the Rim and the Dominion (where some Spurs and golf stars live ) and a Desperate Housewife lives nearby. We strolled around there for an hour or so looking at this and that. Truth be told, I was looking for anything hobnail. Usually Julia's Attic (Junior League) has hobnail and it's very pricey. You can find hobnail pieces at Salvation Army for a song but not at Goodwill...at least here in San Antonio you can't!

(Dingbat moment #1) Did you see that? I am clearly blind because there sitting in front of my round face was something hobnail and it even wasn't priced with a Julia's Attic sticker! I could just kick myself!

I was laughing as I walked down the holiday aisle because I really thought I'd find some cute vintage Easter decor. No, I was wrong. It was Christmas time at the Goodwill!

I'm not kidding...I couldn't find squat for Christmas decor at Christmas time! They used to always have Christmas decor dripping down the aisles. I was really surprised this past December that I hardly found anything worth mentioning.

I saw this doll waaay up on the display shelf and I fell hard for her dress. I don't collect dolls because I find some of them kind of creepy but I thought this one was really lady-like and charming. I have no idea how much she was. I was afraid to look! She was quite tall. She may have come up to the top of my thigh (I'm 5'2.) Marshall said she was scary - shorthand for: "She ain't comin' home with us!"

(Dingbat moment # 2) I found these cute plates and I separated them because there were so many. I thought, "oh, these could be really nice dessert plates." I took the picture and a lady asked me a question and I forgot about them. How stupid is that? Don't answer, I know! Hopefully they will still have some left on Saturday. There must have been about twenty of them. I was going to take these six....aaugh!!! They were only .99 cents!!!

I don't know if any of you remember a blog (I must have been blog hopping) where the authoress had these exact peacocks and she hated the copper look and decided to spray paint them. One was a pale pink and the other was white. She had them displayed over the bed in her guest room. Well, I have been looking for these elusive critters which is totally crazy because I used to always see them hanging about but now that I wanted them, they were no where in sight! Ta-da! Found them, bought them. Gonna paint them. Hope they turn out as pretty as they looked on that lady's blog!

No trip is complete without a baby nursery planter! I have so many that I'm embarrassed to say how many I have! I now have two of these sweet elephants which I call "Ellie." I don't see them too often but I was lucky enough to have a sister who keeps an eye out for them when she goes to Goodwill or Salvation Army.

After I put my "pretties" away, I started making the patties and threw them and the links on the grill. It was nice being outside. We had some Mockingbirds in the oak trees singing away and one of them had a really pretty sing song going. I just didn't want them to poop on my burgers!

I had to take a picture of my two little roses in my rose bush. My two rose bushes are wild and I have trouble getting in there to trim back the stems. This particular bush had pale pink little roses when we first moved in last April so Marshall and I were really shocked to see that the roses are coming out yellow with some red streaking on them. Is this normal? I hope you talented gardeners out there can tell me how this happens. Our other rose bush hasn't shot out anything yet but we definitely remember the roses being very hot pink. I'm waiting to see what color flowers will come out of that bush!

Here is the second little rose right behind the first rose. Aren't they sweet? I'm still wondering what happened to make them come out yellow. I guess I'll Google it!

Here I am ready to start putting everything together for supper. No dishes to wash! Yea!

Well, I'd better hippity hop on to beddy bye. My eyes are getting droopy. Don't forget my Jelly Bean Count Contest! I'm giving away four gifts to one lucky winner!

Have a great weekend my friends!

Deanna

Pink Saturday. Pink And Green and A Sweet Little Leprechaun

2011-03-11T17:00:00.013-06:00

Happy Pink Saturday and Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! I had a dilemma that needed fixin' before the 17th and boy was I surprised ! I will be going to a Women of Worth luncheon on the 17th and I needed to find a lovely sparkly pink shoe! With the help of a little girl Leprechaun named Greenie Greentoes, I was able to find just the right shoe for the luncheon!!

I practically swooned when I saw these elegant cuties! Look at that color. It's like pink cotton candy isn't it. And that jewel in the center is just too much! They sparkled but not enough!

Then I found this adorable ruffled shoe and I thought "Dang!! Those are really feminine and so GIRLY!! EEEK!!" But still...I want sparkle!

Then this pair came prancing in and I my heart just went "BA-BOOM BA-BOOM BA-BOOM!! How can you turn down a strappy pink shoe...I ask you!! HOW??? But still, it didn't sparkle or glitter enough for me. Hmmm... will I ever find a sparkly glittery shoe?

Pink glitter started flying around and I immediately wanted this pair. The very thought of having a darling glittery shoe with a lovely little dainty white ruffle around it was just too much!! My big Southern heart just about gave up and I almost flatlined!! /\/\/\_____(no heart beat)

A thought came into my head as I was lying there in a comatose state..."Hey, it's going to be St. Patty's Day and I'm thinkin' Pink but I should be thinkin' GREEN!! Then all of the sudden Green glitter started flying around and in came this fancy in your face sparkly green shoe!! Yowza!! That's closer to what I had in mind. I want everyone to notice me for sure!!

Suddenly, as I was truly oohing and ahhing over the green glittery shoe, the room became silent and an audible sigh was heard from my mouth as I saw a cute little Leprechaun strolling in with something in her hands. It sparkled, it glittered, it caused my heart to go THUMP THUMP again and then she handed them over to me and I just about screamed in delight!! They were GREEN, THEY GLITTERED AND THEY SPARKLED!! Finally, a shoe with OOMPH and it sports a cute SHAMROCK!!! Oh little Leprechaun...you know what I like!! I found my gold..uh, er, GREEN at the end of the rainbow!

Greenie Greentoes, a sweet little lass!

Hope everyone has a wonderful St. Patrick's Day and a fabulous Pink Saturday! Thank you Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for such a wonderful idea to add "a bit O' the Green"

Deanna

Don't forget, I'm having a Jelly Bean Count Contest and the winner will be receiving four wonderful gifts just in time for Easter! Click here for more info!

A Fabulous Giveaway from the Talented People at PAFA

2011-03-10T05:51:00.002-06:00

Good Morning! I would like to let you know that the members of PAFA (Primative and Folk Artist's) are having a fabulous giveaway!

21 gifts and 9 gift certificates will be given away! You simply must take a gander at all the prizes. You will have a swoonfest for sure!

Click on the button to find out about how to enter!

Deanna

I Love Pinwheels

2011-03-08T13:38:00.006-06:00

Pinwheels spin with colors that sparkle
in the skies.
Around they go, up and down, by and by.
Children running as fast as they can, holding
their pinwheels high in the sky.
Oh, to be young again, to feel the air rush
by as I run with the pinwheel in my hand.
Watching the colors change as they spin.
Feeling the sun on my face, freedom of
running place to place.
Pinwheel spin as fast as you can, for time
is short, and the winds of change will come
about.
Children will soon grow up, and leave their
childhood dreams behind.
Pinwheel, with you arches bowed, catch the
wind and fly away home, where timeless toys
are there, and children who never got to grow
up, will run in the wind with you in their tiny
hands, spin with colors that sparkle in the sky
forever catching the wind by and by.

By the way, don't forget to join the fun at my Jelly Bean Count Contest. See previous post for details. Have a fabulous Tuesday!

Deanna

JELLY BEAN COUNT CONTEST

2011-03-06T18:43:00.013-06:00

My newest thrift store find: A bunny plate. I will display it later this week as I want to hang it in my guest bedroom. Isn't it sweet? It's a Salvation Army find! $.99 cents!

Well here we are...finally!! Marshall and I got very busy with the jelly beans and made sure that the accounting firm of Nelson and Nelson had the correct count on the all the candy and we got an exact match twice over.

THE GAME: Jelly Bean Count Contest. You do not have to be a follower to play but you must have a blog. The End date is Saturday, March 26th at 10:00 p.m. Central Time. Winner will be announced on Sunday, March 27th. In case of tie with an exact match, the Nelson and Nelson accounting firm will place the players name's into a hat and draw the single winning name.

If no exact match total is submitted, the closest guess will be the winner. You will have three days to send your mailing address to me so that I may send your gift in time for Easter!

ONE (1) GUESS PER PLAYER. EMAIL YOUR GUESS TO: deannaglory@gmail.com.

Subject: Jelly Bean Contest.

Leave your guess and please leave your name, blog name and blog address.

Let your friends know, I'll be glad to welcome them to Timeless Things.

Feel free to take my Jelly Bean Contest button on right side bar to place on your blog. It's not a must but it spreads the fun! Add this link: http://myloveaffairwiththriftshops.blogspot.com/2011/03/jelly-bean-count-contest.html

START COUNTING!

How many? The apothecary jar is larger than you think!

There's more than ten but less than a million!

Do you have a good guess? By the way, I didn't eat a single Jelly Bean!

I did eat this though, I can't resist a hard as a rock Peep!

Looking inside....still not sure how many are in there? I'm not telling!!

Pink Bunny Peep and Blue Bunny's lips are sealed shut!

Are you counting all the Pink Beans? How about the blue ones?

A little peek at the first gift. Can you guess what it is? I'm not telling!

GOOD LUCK MY FRIENDS!!

Deanna

An Easter Suprise So Stay Tuned

2011-03-04T14:35:00.007-06:00

Celebrating Easter a month early as you can tell by my decor and songs! I love bunnies and candy so stay tuned because in a couple of days I am going to post something pretty terrific! Yes, it's an EASTER GIVEAWAY!

I'm celebrating my 300th post (actually happened a month ago)

Don't forget, come back on Sunday 5:00 p.m. Central Time and I will post the game and a hint of the fantastic PRIZE!

Update: The Jelly Beans will make their appearance at 6:00 p.m. instead of 5:00 p.m .....see you here!!

Hippity Hoppity,

Deanna

Recap of Sunday Night

2011-03-02T15:22:00.005-06:00

A little kooky recap of last Sunday night's shenanigans.

Introducing the Nebulizer family, Nebbie for short. Deanna "Wheeze-a-Lot" (left) and her husband Marshall "Cough,Cough Aack!" (right)

Due to the lack of nourishing food since Wheeze-a-Lot's mother went back home to Lubbock on Sunday, the Nebbie's decided to look for the can opener and slave over a hot microwave oven instead.

WE MISS YOU MOTHER!!

THANK YOU FOR TAKING SUCH GOOD CARE OF US.

WE LOVE YOU!

Yanna and Katty

Gee Wheeze!!!

2011-02-24T17:49:00.001-06:00

(8:30 p.m. Wednesday.) Hey gang, I'm heading out to the garden store tomorrow to buy these here flowers for my backyard......((((RECORD SCRATCH!!!!!!)))) this post had to be cut short last night as I became overcome by crud!

(5:27 p.m. Thursday afternoon. ) You all know that Marshall has had the crud. My nephew Abram gave Marshall the crud. Marshall gave me the crud. Mother had the crud before she arrived here so all she has now is a nagging cough. Last night Marshall and I thought we were going to die. Okay, that's too dramatic. Imagine yourself in bed, trying to cough up crud and blowing your nose until it just wants to come off. You start to feel that the room is so hot and humid, yet the air is set for 69 degrees. Imagine yourself having to leave your husband in bed and beat a hasty retreat to the sofa for some peace and quiet because you think you just can't stand the coughing, wheezing and sneezing anymore. Then you realize once you're alone in the living room, that it's you as well that is doing all the coughing, wheezing and sneezing. You start to feel that you are strangling. Your albuterol spray is not doing it's job. You go back to the bedroom and throw yourself in bed only to hear your husband babbling something about wanting to go outside and kick the back porch light. Is he delirious? Is he in the throes of a raging fever? He opens his mouth to speak but all that comes out is "wheeeeeeze!" Oh, oh!

By now I'm thinking, dear God, I have to get us to the doctor! We both call in sick...he's been out for a week and neither Marshall nor I has had one good night's sleep. I've been out for three days. We call our beloved physician who sees both of us and they tell us to get there as fast as possible. We drag ourselves to the shower and get ready and we are on the road in less than twenty minutes. Poor mother, she was so worried but she stayed behind because we didn't know how long the wait would be since we were just dropping in and Dr. H was going to be leaving early today.

The results:

Deanna: Bronchitis, Tonsillitis, Ear infection in right ear and asthma.

Marshall: Severe Bronchitis and asthma

The Meds: Zpak, stronger Albuterol, Singulair, Cheratussin with codeine and a brand new Nebulizer.

Can you throw in a pickle and a side of mustard with that?

Mrs. Black Thumb will be attempting a magical trip to the Home Depot Garden center on Saturday . Stay tuned.

Vicks on your feet really works!

Love you,

Mr. and Mrs. Crud Cakes

Feeling Good

2011-02-21T18:32:00.014-06:00

Feeling like a little girl today. I have the sliding glass doors to the backyard open and the San Antonio air is nice with a cool breeze blowing inside. I'm looking past our greenbelt to the subdivision across the way. It's such a nice view and since we are on a cliff side, we get to see the rooftops of some of the houses.

Lately, our favorite thing to do in the afternoon is to watch the enormous US flag that is atop a thirty foot pole in front of the first house that was the model home for that subdivision. It flutters so beautifully as if in slow motion or when there is a good breeze like today, flies straight out so mighty and brave. We never get tired of looking at that flag. It's nice to not have a living soul behind us to mar the view. It's like being out in the country but not.

Poor Marshall has been sick with the crud and mom and I are slathering him up with Vicks Vapor Rub and making sure he's only eating broth and drinking plenty of water. His poor ribs are aching from that nasty cough and poor mother is just barely getting over her terrible cold herself. It's nice to

have her here taking care of us but I try to keep my distance from both of them as I do not want anything to happen to my eyes. No pink eye or irritation for me thank you very much! My chest is starting to feel "cottoney" as if I have some of that yucky stuff in there. Blah!

Anyway, about feeling like a little girl, I have an enormous tank of energy and I guess because of the past five months of being so depressed about my eyes, I want to run barefoot in a field of wildflowers, jump on a trampoline, roller skate without killing myself and I want to go ride horses again. I want to grow some tomatoes, plant some peonies and can some fruit preserves. I want to finish decorating my guest room, post my "I didn't finish decorating for Christmas this year due to my eyes making me want to jump off a cliff" pictures. I have a ton of unfinished projects that I am ready to tackle with renewed fervor. Last week was the first full week that my house was extremely clean without any of my silly clutter. Like my dear friend Bonnie said, and I quote;

"I love order in my life. The gift of organization is one that is almost a self made gift because it requires continual work but the desire for it, is a gift. To have order is a spiritual gift because sometimes without it, you cannot see beyond your mess long enough to progress."

This is so true Bonnie dear. Aren't we all happier when we can come home and not have to do housework because we took the time to do it before bed the night before? I can play today....I did my housework last night! Okay, mom did it. I cannot tell a lie.

Deanna

Bonne St-Valentin

2011-02-13T14:44:00.004-06:00

I see that you write, each one of you taking precious moments from your lives and record it in your personal blogs. You share the inevitable sadness that occurs in life. You share the splendor of your happiness, the wonderful artistic talent that you have been blessed with. There are those whose talent and ability for writing is so exquisite that I marvel at what they have written. I absorb it. I turn it over in my head. I understand what I read. And I am thankful.

Over the years in reading so many blogs, I have come to the conclusion that this web of blogging has become an important part of my life. I've been so blessed to have a large handful of you who have become so dear to me. The support, the love and the prayers that go out to show that we care for one another is a phenomenon to me. Even if ten years pass and I have ceased to be blogging, I will never forget you. The only thing that would keep me from here would be blindness or death so God, let me cheat those two things for many more years.

I just want to let you know, that you are oh so very special in my heart. This year, on Valentines Day, I want to wish you, my friends, a day full of happiness, wellness and love. You deserve it.

Your friend

Deanna

Two Men and my Two Eyes

2011-02-11T19:46:00.008-06:00

Five and a half months ago I started to lose my right cornea. Not once but twice. Today, Friday. February 11th 2011 8:44 p.m. marks the first week that I was completely pain free, total clear vision and left with a faith so strong that nothing could never make me let go of it. Never, ever do I want to re-live these past five months! NEVER. The two men pictured above have earned my trust and with their hands, which were guided by the only love of my life, God, have done their job. Never have I seen two men work and go to battle for their patient like these men did for so many months. They do not work together as each has his own practice but both men did everything humanly possible to save my graft. They succeeded. We won the battle. Dr. F (suit) is my main opthamologist and Dr. M (coat) is my corneal transplant surgeon. Both in their own right, are the most remarkable men I have ever met.

If you have a team of doctors such as I do (6), and they do not communicate with each other...you have missed a great deal in life. Not only did they keep in touch on a weekly basis but they also kept in touch with my dermatologist who fights to keep rosacea out of both eyes and with my primary physician who sees Marshall and I together. I love my doctors and my dentists. I love that they have shown with their actions and words how much they care about me. I was ready to lose my mind but I just couldn't or wouldn't go there. That would have meant losing faith and I wasn't about to let the Man upstairs down.

Now I can see colors clearly. I can now drive safely and with confidence. I can see to cook (Marshall says take out is just fine!) and I can start BLOGGING again full time!

Thank you Dr. F. and Dr. M. for giving me my eyesight back. I hope I never have to use my own blood for eye drops ever again as I thought that was really disgusting!!

Your ever thankful patient, Deanna

The Kindness of You, With Deep Gratitude From Me

2011-01-27T21:54:00.005-06:00

I think it might be safe to blog twice a week now. I'm not out of the woods yet but I have some good guys fighting the eye war on my behalf. Pain has decreased a lot since last week and even though I still have some cloudiness, it's much clearer than what it was two weeks ago.

Thank you to some special people who sent me gifts during this awful time and I mean it when I say that you all were more than thoughtful and caring. We were humbled by your kindness...truly. Especially the "stalkers" who came out to send me a little treasure to cheer me up.

Thank you Kathy, Renee, Steffie and Janelle and a special thank you to Tristan Robin Blakeman from Enchanted Revelries for sending me the most divine, gold sparkly vintage tinsel. You are fantastic!

With my deepest gratitude,

Deanna

Our Golden Moon

2011-01-18T13:42:00.003-06:00

The moon three days before Christmas and all was going well. We rushed out of our back door to take a picture of the moon. It was magnificent. She had had two weeks of no pain, and her vision had cleared up much to her happiness. Three days before Christmas, Deanna suffered another round of painful corneal rejection. We now have drops made from her own blood and another drop that is compounded especially for her condition. She wanted to enjoy the holidays but sadly, things took a turn for the worse. Hopefully this week, will be the turning point in whether all the medicine she is taking has halted the rejection and get her on the course of proper healing.

She has severe blood vessels criss-crossing the surface of her eyes and didn't want to show them at this time. She is thinking of you all and wishes you well.

Mr. Timeless

Gumdrop Wreath

2010-12-19T22:01:00.006-06:00

Click Here For Instructions To Make This Sugary Sweet Wreath

I'd been wanting a lovely sugary Gumdrop wreath for a long time but always put off as one of those projects where I would need to devote a long day in trying to create it. I was Google-ing Gumdrop wreath and came across a great website called Craft Elf. It was here that I found instructions which were as easy as pie, where a nerd like myself could make this lovely piece of decor without mishap! It calls for 4lbs. of gumdrops which may be a bit costly but my goodness, just look at it...it's worth it! I will be heading over to the grocery store tomorrow and will begin working on it tomorrow night. It's never too late! I have to have one for my living room. Hopefully I won't be regretting this and feeling that I've gotten in over my head when I'm swamped with gumdrops!!

Deanna

Shiny Brite!

2010-12-19T05:58:00.003-06:00

Click Here to Visit

I have been visiting the site for many many years and I have loved the ornaments that I've purchased from Christopher Radko. I still need the musical tree (you can actually listen to the Christmas tree and Santa figurine) but I can wait till after Christmas for it! It's a sweet site and I know you will love it as well. Remember the Jolly Santa Candelier? You can still have this sweet decor added to your home. We used to have the Bubble Brite Candelier but I have no idea what became of it. Remember those darling Bubble Lites? They have them available! I have a set but as I have a pre-lit revolving Christmas tree, I'm not able to use them this year. For those that love nostalgia, this will definitely bring back memories from the past. I was debating on whether I was going to use tinsel on my tree but in the end, I chose to throw a bit of it on to give it a bit of sparkle! Tinsel nowadays looks so much different from the tinsel of the past. Vintage tinsel had weight and shined so much more that the mylar tinsel they now sell but still, it's better than having no tinsel at all!

Walking Down Memory Lane,

Deanna

The Sugar Plum Tree

2010-12-16T19:03:00.001-06:00

HAVE you ever heard of the Sugar-Plum Tree?

'Tis a marvel of great renown!

It blooms on the shore of the Lollypop Sea

In the garden of Shut-Eye Town;

The fruit that it bears is so wondrously sweet

(As those who have tasted it say)

That good little children have only to eat

Of that fruit to be happy next day.

When you've got to the tree, you would have a hard time

To capture the fruit which I sing;

The tree is so tall that no person could climb

To the boughs where the sugar-plums swing!

But up in that tree sits a chocolate cat,

And a ginger bread dog prowls below-

And this is the way you contrive to get at

Those sugar-plums tempting you so:

You say but the word to that gingerbread dog

And he barks with such a terrible zest

That the chocolate cat is at once all agog,

As her swelling proportions attest.

And the chocolate cat goes covorting around

From this leafy limb unto that,

And the sugar-plums tumble, of course, to the ground-

Hurray for that chocolate cat!

There are marshmallows, gumdrops, and peppermint canes

With striping of scarlet and gold,

And you carry away of the treasure that rains,

As much as your apron can hold!

So come, little child, cuddle closer to me

In your dainty white nightcap and gown,

And I'll rock you away to the Sugar-Plum Tree

In the garden of Shut-Eye Town.

Eugene Field

My Christmas Recipes

2010-12-15T16:24:00.006-06:00

Let's get Baking!

The Kids: Brad and Johanna - US Army.

Afghanistan Bound Next Week. Our Prayers Are With You Both. God Keep You Safe In His Arms.

Wow have I ever been busy! I'm out of my cocoon of pain and praising the Lord that most of my vision has been restored! I have been busy non-stop since He placed His healing hand on me and I feel like a re-birth of spirit.

We had relatives stay over last week and with that came the sadness that comes when your loved ones leave. My beloved cousin Doreen from Dallas and her half-sister Johanna and boyfriend Brad. They are both from the state of Michigan and came to visit us here in San Antonio before being deployed to Afghanistan next week. The kids (I still see them as kids) are so brave and I wanted to give them a week to enjoy before being shipped out of the country. We baked, ate all of our treats and made some wonderful memories. I learned how to make Buckeye Balls from Johanna and Brad so Doreen and I filmed ourselves making Buckeye's. We had a blast and this just reminded me that on my December Days blog, I had posted some of those recipes. I will be busy the rest of this week so I wanted to share some of these goodies we made with you! There's nothing like being in the kitchen with loved ones. Lot's of love and a whole bunch of laughter!

You simply must try this recipe. It is so delicious with a nice cold glass of milk. Easy to prepare and no messy kitchen to clean up.

A Little Shopping in Fredericksburg

2010-12-07T22:05:00.006-06:00

Hi there, I hope you all are doing well and having a wonderful time getting ready for the

Christmas holiday. I've had a long rest and I am praising God that my eyes are at last showing signs of healing. I've gone through a lot of soul searching and I have to say that those prayers you all sent have been heard. Today was one of the best days I've had since October. No pain. That's all I'm going to say about that. It's been rough but I see a light at the end of the tunnel.

I went to Goodwill last weekend and found this adorable little guy for .99 cents. Seems that nursery planters are abundant around the holidays. I've got to curtail my passion for these cuties but people just won't stop giving them to me!! (Like I really want them too!)

(Out of sequence since I stupidly forgot to load this photo but Laurie Patridge was my girl ideal. Story further down)

Fredericksburg is a German heritage influenced city with so many quaint historic homes and non-stop sight seeing. Trade Days is a favorite venue for everyone within a hundred mile radius from Fredericksburg. Here, you will find everything from fifties chic to Shabby chic. There are just too many booths too look at in one day so it's best to stay for two days. Every vendor is friendly and they will chat with you about everything. Yep, the photo above is Mr. Timeless Things favorite building. It really is very charming.

Is is hilarious or what?

A Christmas tree made from antlers? Uhhh...okay. Not my style but I'm sure John Wayne would have loved this tree in his man-room. Marshall thought it was very Shabby Chic. I thought he was nuts.

I saw this and had to have it. Isn't it sweet? Why can't this art form come back? I just adore storybook art.

I was looking for my Barbie lunch box that I used in elementary school but found this one. I watched The Partridge Family not because of Keith but because I wanted to see Laurie (Susan Dey) with her long hair and try to put together outfits that resembled hers. She was my idol. My sisters and I used to put long beach towels on our heads and kept them in place with bobby-pins so we could be: Me - Laurie Patridge, Cyndi - Marcia Brady and Laurie had loooong hair so she didn't have to wear a towel. She could be Cher, Marcia and Laurie Patridge whenever she wanted!

Ooh la la!! I wanted to lug this whole bed set home but my little car would have probably tipped over from the sheer heaviness of the furniture! I had to be physically removed from the bed. I'm still suffering from separation anxiety! I mean can you imagine having this bed? I would feel like a Princess!

I was still drooling but able to take a photo....(swoon!)

(My doodle at Macaroni Grill. I'd spent most of my days with my eyes closed since October so I thought I'd poke fun at that awful period. Goodbye to pain!)

Well that's my short post of what I've been doing. I have more thrift store finds but I will have to post those this weekend. Oh and my little Shabby tree is decorated but I have yet to take photos if it and my big tree. Hopefully I can get those on here this weekend as well. Have a great rest of the week my friends!

Deanna

Wishing You a Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-20T11:20:00.006-06:00

I hope you all have a splendid holiday this week! May you share your bounty with your loved ones and those who are in need this season. I am taking a week off from blogging so that Marshall and I can spend our first Thanksgiving holiday together in our new home. I'm sure I will have gained at least ten pounds by the time I return! God bless you all and may He keep you safe if you are traveling this week. I will be back with some thrift store finds in ten days!

Love to all,

Deanna and Marshall

Lost Maples, Found Peace

2010-11-18T18:17:00.013-06:00

Marshall and I drove to Vanderpool on Wednesday morning to visit Lost Maples Park. He took me because I think he wants to make sure that I see and do everything I've had on my bucket list. We are living prayer to prayer these days. Some days are a virtual Hell and somedays, He gives me the strength to put a smile on my face. I have not felt right about crying..almost as if I shouldn't be doing that.

One of my Blogger friends sent me a beautiful email the other day and I will quote a portion of her letter..."Deanna, you should never have guilt about shedding tears. Our Lord suffered on the Cross for our sins. He must have shed tears as well. He asked "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Deanna, He bears our griefs and carries our sorrows. Through your tears, you show the Lord that you need and want Him. He has the power to heal. Praise Him always even when you are at your lowest ebb." Well, I fought hard not to cry because this was just so thoughtful of her to send that to me. Crying makes my condition worse but sometimes, the tears just fall and I know I am in for some horrible hours of stinging pain and decreased vision. For one who used to cry at the drop of a hat, now has to harden herself to keep from doing so. My family feels helpless. I don't want them to feel that way. This is my struggle and only the Lord knows the outcome. I will follow but there will be some tears along the way.

He has set the path for me so long ago. There have been rough spots along the way and some parts of the path that have been pebble free. I should always thank Him for the lessons learned from the large stones that cross the path of my life.

I've seen his glorious works.

Everything that He created has a purpose.

He used His majestic hand to create beauty.

He must have loved every color in the rainbow for He can make many colors from seven.

He is strong. He is ever present in my world. I give Him praise and thanks.

He knows me. He guided my hand and my eyes to capture His wondrous gifts.

He lives Above me. In me. I am never alone because with His right hand, He saves me.

His arms give me comfort. In prayer, I am close to Him. He envelopes my soul with love and warmth.

He knows when I am tired and when I have had enough. He allows me to see His hand reaching out to me. His light touches me.

We are many in this world but today it was just the three of us. Marshall, myself and our Lord.

He, who is Almighty, can break though the hardest wall of grief and sorrow and send us a message of Peace. "You are not alone. I am here."

I look upward and marvel at the azure sky, feeling my sorrows drifting away.

He comes near again. He is reaching out toward me. I didn't know how much I was loved. Does He know how much I love Him?

Dry my river of tears O Lord for you know that I can no longer bear the sting of that pain. I can sustain the hurt through silence because I will sing your praises when the hour is dark.

My sight is lost for now....lying dormant until you say..." I heal thee" I rejoice in your will. I will not question anymore.....

.........for you have shown me that You are never away from me. Your love is upon me. You have set the seal of your Cross to shine in my presence, a promise to me that you made long ago that I, would one day be with you.

I wait the day until I can be with You. I am closer to the end of my path and O how blessed lovely it will be to see the other side.

I hope Lord, that you will place a maple tree in my little peace of Heaven. It will be my Tree of Life. For every leaf that I turn, will be proof of the Earthly life you gave to me. I hope that it will also bear the proof of my enduring love for You. Without You, I would have not have weathered the past three months. Thank you for this day that we spent with you. I am eternally grateful. Today you gave me laughter, grace and peace.

Out of my car window and still the beauty of His creation is upon us. Goodbye Lost Maples, until next year.

Deanna

Your Grace Is Sufficient

2010-11-16T18:32:00.004-06:00

(something pretty for a very ugly three days)

Have had a few rough days (and I'll admit, lot's of tears) with my eyes. I found out on Friday that my left eye is sporting an ulcer on the bottom half of my cornea. Fun. No pain there but the right eye is still not healing properly and has been the main cause for the pain I go through everyday. I have some drops from Hell (please forgive me but I'm just not feeling cordial tonight) and once inserted, I start crying. It's been really hard on my husband and we had a difficult Sunday with the two of us ending up in tears.

We went to see my surgeon this afternoon (two long hours) and we are on step 3 of trying to rescue the graft in the right eye. He decided that if in the next three weeks, if the pain and the decreased vision, halo and haze has not changed, then he will take steps to make eye drops from my blood. This was something that Marshall and I had no idea that could be done but medical science is constantly surprising us. I am just praying that it doesn't need to go that far.

Tomorrow, Marshall is taking me to Lost Maples State Natural Area in Vanderpool. The maple trees have changed colors (they change at the first freeze of the year) so he wanted to take me as I have always wanted to see the trees with all their glorious fall color. I hope I have a good eye day tomorrow but if not, a blur or oranges and reds will do me.

When my soul is heavy You will lift me up;

Lord, You are my refuge and my portion.

So, let the morning bring word... of Your unfailing love;

Listen to my cry, I’m in desperate need.

Your grace is sufficient, Your grace is sufficient,

Your grace is sufficient for me.

If I rise up in the morning and if I run away,

Even there Your hand will guide me, You will hold me.

Though I walk through times of struggle,

Even still You hold my life and with Your right hand save me,

O Your love endures.

Your grace is sufficient, Your grace is sufficient,

Your grace is sufficient.... for me.

And if I boast at all, I boast in my own faults,

I’ll sing this song my whole life long!

That this enduring fight will be my one delight,

For when I’m weak You are made strong!

Your grace is sufficient, Your grace is sufficient,

Your grace is sufficient.... for me

A lovely song sent to me from my cousin Doreen. Jami Smith is the artist who sings it but unfortunately, You Tube does not have a video of the song. Thanks Doreen. I sing this every morning and I try to remember the meaning of the song when the day starts to turn upside down. Love you with all of my heart.

I want to thank you, Blogger friends, for all the prayers and sweet little emails that you caring ladies have sent me. They certainly make these days a little easier for me. I cherish each and every word.

Deanna

Pink Saturday! I'm Dreaming of A Pink Christmas!

2010-11-13T08:01:00.010-06:00

It's been a very long time since I participated in Pink Saturday but here I am, ready to put up my Christmas tree in my new home. I have some inspirational photos and I can't wait to start shopping for my new Pink tree for my Shabby chic guest room!

So many trees to choose from! Fat ones!

Skinny ones too!

Short bushy and sweet!

You simply must have some sugary pink garland around the tree!

Don't forget the tiny Pink lights! They add such a glow. I'll try some clear ones as well. They give the tree such a dainty glow.

This tree topper is so adorable but I'm on the look out for the vintage mercury Christmas tree toppers!

What is a Pink Christmas tree without a Pink Christmas tree skirt? Isn't this one just as sweet as pie?

And of course, while I'm decorating my new tree, I'll be wearing the adorable Pink Santa Claus hat! I can't wait to show you my tree in my December post on Pink Saturday!

Thanks Beverly, I sure have missed PS! Can't wait to visit everyone and please be sure to visit all the wonderful PS post this weekend at Beverly's How Sweet the Sound!

Deanna

Repost From October 17th. Hays Street Bridge

2010-11-10T21:59:00.014-06:00

Making our days together count. Marshall took me to the Hays Street Bridge. It was something I had wanted to see this summer when it was renovated. He surprised me. He was loving and gentle that day. He doesn't want me to go blind. I understand that. Our relationship has shifted. He is my rock.

The neighborhood is seedy but we didn't notice that until we left. We were in Wonderland.

It was early and the sky so blue. I had to wear my special glasses. I couldn't see much but oh how glorious the air was! Birds chirping and a train went right underneath our feet. Marshall held on to me as we leaned over to view the train. If I had been wearing a pleated white dress I could have played Marilyn Monroe. The wind it created made us sway back and forth.

He was thoughtful and quiet. Snapped many photos of me. I didn't know that until we got home. I usually have to beg him to take a photo of me!

The bridge is so beautiful. Peaceful. We were the only one's on the bridge that morning. It was magical!

I took this picture but to be honest, I was surprised that I snapped what I was aiming for. I didn't want him to help me because I wanted to do it on my own. Aren't the train car metal cutouts adorable!

Taken by Marshall. I was feeling like the "Queen of the World!" and I was singing a song, minding my own business. The cool crisp air making my hair blow and I was soaking up the memory of this beautiful day.

I took this one as well but I surely could not see if I was getting the Tower at all. I trusted my instinct and snapped away. I laugh now because I did take a few pics of the sky a few times!

Deanna

*************************************************

Hi everyone, this is a re-post from my Girl About Town blog. My dear friend JoJo wanted me to post this on Timeless Things because she felt that a lot of healing has happened since I posted this on October 17th. I was not in a good place during the months of September and October. You could say that some desperation had set in. I was in constant and severe eye pain for two and a half months and it definitely took a toll on me. Losing your sight is not something that we ever contemplate but yes, some damage did occur to my right cornea which makes me utterly sad because it's a transplant cornea. I did everything in my power to protect that cornea for two years. An attack of severe Rosacea got to it. It went all over my face, underneath my eyelids and created scabbing over both eyes. Click link for more info: http://myloveaffairwiththriftshops.blogspot.com/2010/10/see-me.html

The angel that departed this earth and left that part of himself to be donated, will never know how much I treasured his gift. I am so sorry. I thank him everyday of my life for that gift. Will his family ever know how much I think about him? Well I do think about him and when the day comes that I see him at the Gates of Heaven, I will tell him "Thank you for giving me a chance at having better vision."

I wanted to lose hope many times but that would be betraying my Lord and I must have faith that my eyes will be healed in due course. We pray that He will give us strength to carry on if it is His will to make me lose my sight. I just wanted the pain to go away. I have peace of mind now. In the words of my favorite Christian singer, Jami Smith; "and when this life is over, I will be free from pain."

I can wait until he's ready for me!

Mrs. Timeless and the Floral Display

2010-11-08T20:44:00.007-06:00

Mr. Timeless and I went to Wal-Mart two days ago. As soon as we walked in, my eyes went directly to this awesome floral arrangement. It was perched above the deli sandwiches fridge and I thought "Oh my gosh!! I must have it!" I grabbed my husband's Iphone and started snapping away. Can you see Mr. Timeless in the above photo and the one directly below? He had run away because he knew what was coming......

I love that dangling orange leaves piece. It gives it such an airy look and my mind was click, click, clicking away as to how I was going to wheedle Mr. Timeless for this arrangement. I called him over. "Haaaayyyy, sweetieeeee. Look what I found. Isn't it purdy...huhhhhhh?" I batted those eyelashes in a flirtatious manner and was excited when he leaned over as if to grab it and I thought.."Wow, he's really going to get it for me!" Bliss, happiness!

He turned it around and pointed to a sticker at the bottom of the vase. "Take a picture of that" he said. My eyes went BOIIIIING!!!! Dang! No amount of eyelash batting or public flirting with my man was going to make him take out the plastic and fork over eighty bucks for fake flowers!

How cruel, how unfair! Whoever made this arrangement to taunt me will pay!!! Mr. Timeless clearly could see that I was really unhappy not to have this coming home with me. There was some pouting, some sniffles, two downcast eyes....."That's okay" I said. "I'll make do with other baubles and doo-dads." I waved a forlorn goodbye to the flower arrangement.

The after Halloween specials for $2.00. Yay.

They were cute. The candy, a few of my favorites. But I guess he forgot that I can't eat sugar. Flowers are sugar-free. I guess he forgot that too!

Toodles,

Deanna

Snakes, Leaves and Toes

2010-11-05T17:46:00.010-05:00

Marshall's Day: A warning about snakes at Silverhorn Golf Club. He saw deer and squirrels instead.

Deanna's Day: Tried to spell her name with oak leaves. The leaves kept blowing away and she got tired chasing after them and putting them back.

Marshall and Deanna's evening: Headed out for couples night at Michael and Angelica house to play Taboo! We've never played so wish us luck!

Toodles,

Deanna

Thrift Shop Tuesday

2010-11-02T18:40:00.013-05:00

Hi friends! I've got some sweet goodies and a few came from two very special family members. I love my shopping excursions and have been thrift store shopping like mad for my guest room. I'm sure it's going to look crammed with all the things I've bought but Mr. Timeless says for me to buy what I please. I think he's still feeling very protective of me and my eye situation..not that I'm taking advantage of that but he tells me that life is too short and he gets a lot of pleasure seeing me unwrap my goodies when I come home from a day of thrift shopping.

First up is the sweet little bunny that I found at Goodwill for .99 cents. I now have three of these little cuties. The white and yellow bunnies are still packed up and I was so excited to find this one. I'm not sure what these are called but they have a plastic body and they are covered with a fuzzy type of fabric (like a buzz cut) on them. Not sure how old it is but it was in great condition. I've passed up quite a few because sometimes their bodies are dented or the fuzz is rubbed off in places. This one is perfect!

Isn't she a little cutie? Yep, she's going in my guest room. I might place her on my new shelf that I bought on this shopping trip.

I have never spent this much money at Goodwill for one item. It's a ceramic tissue cover with roses and I just had to have it! It will go in my guest room for sure! My dad can get in touch with his girly side when he needs to blow his nose! My dad is going to be so surprised when he sees "his" room on his next visit to San Antonio. I'm actually doing this for my mother. I think she deserves the most girliest room on earth when she visits! I laugh when I think of poor dad snuggled underneath my pink quilt and frilly bedding...lol!

I saw this vase and I was a goner! I would love to plant some roses in my back yard but since I have a black thumb, I don't see that happening anytime soon! If I could grow some in the Spring, then I could place them in this vase. I didn't even look at the price tag when I put it in my cart. It must have been less than I thought because I only spent eleven dollars that day.

This darling shelf was hiding behind some Christmas ornaments and I dug it out and thought it was perfect to place some of my nursery planters. Can you believe it was only $2.00!

I don't even have to shabby it up at all. It's got dents and dings galore!

My precious sister Cyndi went shopping the other day and called me on my cell and said, "Sister Sledge, get your buns over here pronto. I have some treasures for you." Vrooooom! I sped the one mile to her house, brakes screeching when I parked in the driveway. She handed me the bag from Salvation Army and I pulled out this sweet little ceramic jewelry keeper. It has two cute angels on the top and I could already envision it on my little side table in the guest room. She is such a dear for always thinking of me!

I saw this frame and grabbed it because on one of my shopping trips with my sweet Patricia (Vintage Linen Treasures) I had purchased two frames exactly like this one. I quickly envisioned the three frames being hung above the bed in the guest room. The print inside will come out and be replaced with.....

.....a photo of my Reysito (little King, in Spanish. He's called that by our entire family.) Etienne is my five year old nephew, the son of my brother Joey and sister in-law Danielle. He lives in Lubbock and two weeks ago we had the pleasure of having them stay with us for an entire week. It was such a joy having our boy here especially during that week because I was having a very hard time with my eyes and he just made each day so much brighter and he unknowingly lifted my spirits. He loves to "snuggle" (rub noses) and give besitos (kisses). He is such a loving little boy and the apple of everyone's eye. Here, he is dressed in my other nephew Abram's clothes that my sister Cyndi bought way back in 1999 when Abram himself was five. I should have posted Abram's photo so you could have seen how much they look alike. I plan to silver leaf the frame so hopefully it will look better than that horrible gold color!

Out of sequence but this is the other gift my sister had for me the the day I raced over to her house. I tell you, she spoils me so! This cute little bloomer planter was only .49 cents. Good bargain Sister Sledge!

Okay, how many of you adore thrift store paintings? I love them and try to find as many as I can. I have quite a collection of floral paintings and a handful of Paint By Numbers paintings. This one whistled at me as I passed by and said, "Hey Chunkarella, take me home!" So I did! I wonder who painted this and where that person may be now. I am going to take it to Hobby Lobby and have them frame the painting

Last but not least, this precious print which I have been wanting for years came courtesy of my Aunt Hope. She found it at an estate sale and purchased this and one of a little boy. It's a large framed print and I just about passed out when my parents sent it to me. I jumped for joy and called my aunt to tell her how much I adored it and to thank her for thinking of me. She is so sweet and thoughtful!

I am going to paint my dining room this weekend so I will hang it up for you to see some time next week. The frame is quite large so it will look marvelous on the wall in the dining room. I can't stop looking at it! I am one lucky lady to have a generous and thoughtful family.

Thanks for stopping by to look at my timeless things! Come back and see me soon!

Toodles,

Deanna

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T17:34:00.011-05:00

I'm so excited today! It's our first Halloween in our new home and we are ready to start handing out the delicious candy! Isn't my candy bucket adorable? I couldn't leave it behind. I was just going to use one of my plastic bowls but when I got to the grocery store there were so many cute candy buckets to choose from so I had to have one of course!

I'm staying away from all of the candy for health purposes but that doesn't mean Mr. Timeless Things won't partake of a few goodies! I bought him a separate bag of peanut M&M's and he is currently sitting in his recliner, watching Tampa Bay play Arizona. He's also doing his Fantasy Football thing-y which I don't understand at all but he enjoys it along with his 100 buddies!

I wish I could have one but I'm going to be a good girl!

We interrupt this post for this brief message. This photo, Marshall took of me when we were at the pumpkin patch on Wednesday. His photos of me usually include my backside. My front side is insulted! We now resume with our program....

I bought this today at Goodwill for .10 cents! What a deal huh?

The other day I went to Wal-Mart and found this sweet homespun for my kitchen table. As I had said before, I couldn't afford a fancy holiday tablecloth so when I saw that they had bolts of material for a $1.00 a yard, I couldn't resist.

I'm going to have to figure out why I some pics come out this way..Bwah hahahahahha!! Well, I know you will have no problem reading it..hahahahaha!!

Here is my table with the homespun and my favorite peacock placemats. I turned two of them upside down. I like them with the solid color up for the cloth. I had left the back two with the peacock feathers side up so I could decide which way I wanted. I'll leave them down with the solid maroon and green for today. All the little decorations I bought today at Goodwill. Everything was .10 cents! The centerpiece is the one I made earlier in the week with a limited budget. Not a big centerpiece but it works for me!

Well, here I sit trying to cook dinner for me and Marshall and kids are coming in droves up my sidewalk. Toodles for now and have a safe and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! ... I started this post at 5:34 p.m. when the kids started coming and now it's 7:28 p.m. and I'm out of candy!!! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN??? Time to turn out the candles in the pumpkins outside and shut my door. How sad!!

Toodles again,

Deanna Frankenstein

Marshall And Deanna At The Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-29T18:28:00.015-05:00

Hi there! Dear Hubby took me to a pumpkin patch on Wednesday. We had a ball strolling around all alone since we were there pretty early that morning and there was absolutely no one to be seen except for the church people who were there selling spiced apple cider and cinnamon pumpkin bread..oh, it was delish!

When we moved here seven years ago, I always used to pass the United Methodist Church on Tezel on my way to the grocery store and during the month of October, the church youth group helps to harvest the pumpkins and bring them to the grounds of the church yard and they set up the sweet pumpkin patch. I always wanted to stop but the years went by and I never did stop..

....until Marshall woke me up Wednesday morning and said, "I'm taking you to the pumpkin patch at the church." I was up in a flash, nevermind that I was having some eye pain. I raced to take a shower and put my numbing drops in to put my lenses on and we were out the door! Isn't the barn facade just sweet as it can be?

...........strolling around and trying to choose our pumpkins.

Do you think I have too many? Nah!!

White ones, green ones, neon orange ones....too many choices!

Here is where they set up the pricing guide. We took our pumpkins in these cute wagons and put them up against the ones they set up with the prices marked on them.

I fell in love with the white pumpkins...but I stopped in my tracks when I found some very large white pumpkins. Forty dollars was a little steep for one pumpkin so I found smaller white ones...much smaller!

Aren't these so funky...the long one on the right was fifty dollars...no thank you!

We saw so many pumpkins with that strange dribble look to them. They look like candle drippings. I wonder how that effect happens on the pumpkin. I like them like that.

Cute little set up. From here we could smell the warmed spiced cider, which should have been iced cider as the humidity that day was waaay over the top. I started the day with straight hair and left with swirls and curls on my forhead. Darn that humidity!!

I guess people should come with a large wallet. I kept trying to avert Marshall's eyes from the prices by pointing him in the direction of the cinnamon pumpkin bread. It didn't work.

Yep, these are mine too! I love my white pumpkins.

Isn't this little vignette adorable?

Sweet pumpkin patch path. We stopped here and there to investigate all the pumpkins. Marshall had never seen the different types of pumpkins and honestly thought that orange, was the only color they came in. Well, now he knows better!

This was my favorite pumpkin in the patch. The picture doesn't do it justice. It was a fiery orange and you could see it a mile away. Alas, it was very pricey so I had to leave it behind.

Marshall wanted to take the tractor home but I made him put it down.

Marshall: "Why can't I buy the tractor?"

Me: "Where in tarnation are you going to put that tractor?"

Marshall: "Why do we have so many pumpkins?"

Me: Honey, would you like a cup of apple cider?"

Jack the guitarist was getting ready for a bus load of school kids. He was singing "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music. It was sweet and with the setting we were in, was instantly a nostalgic moment for us.

After Jack finished his tender rendition of My Favorite Things, I spun around and saw this pretty calabaza (pumpkin in Spanish) and my heart stopped. "Can I have this one too?" I asked. I got the big stare. I set it down rather quickly. "Ha ha..I was just kidding" I said, hurting.

When I passed by the other day, the pumpkin patch was covered with pumpkins. Even though it was still quite full, I do know that from the time they opened two weeks ago, you coudn't see the ground in front where this cut-out pumpkin was sitting.

One last pumpkin for the road. A little one. I was smitten with it and it had those drippy bumpy doo-dads on it. By this time, Marshall and I were drenched and it was getting hotter as the morning progressed.

I wanted this one but HE said no more...drats!

We saw this extremely huge pumpkin standing by the tree but Marshall put his foot down on this particular one and said "Aucun citrouilles plus pour vous!" For once I agreed. That was one LARGE pumpkin! Where would we have put it?

One last stroll as we got ready to pay for our collection. We both didn't want to leave but oh, that humidity and the heat was hitting a high index. We were both panting as we loaded the car with our treasures.

I wanted the sign but I knew not to ask for another thing..hahahaha!

Thanks for dropping by. Hope you all have a SPOOKY HALLOWEEN!!

Deanna

Movie Watchin' Wednesday

2010-10-27T15:31:00.014-05:00

Click here for "Movie Watchin' Wednesday!

Tonight, popcorn with Splenda sprinkled all over it (fake Kettle Popcorn.) The Mr. will be snacking on tater tots! I could never resist a cute Shirley Temple movie. Yes folks, it's Shirley Temple in; The Little Princess. Get your kleenex ready!

Timeless Things: Thrift Shop Tuesday

2010-10-26T18:19:00.008-05:00

It's Timeless Thrift Shop day! My sister Cyndi (Pookie) loves to buy me planters. When she makes her weekly run to the thrift shops, she always comes back with something for moi! She is so generous and loves to see me smile when she presents me with a sweet planter or a cute knick-knack. She is always thinking of others...what a girl!!

Can you believe that I dropped this vintage pink shoe on Cyndi's hardwood floor the day she gave it to me! It truly made an "I'm broken" noise when it landed and I almost started crying! We picked it up..NO BREAK! Amazing!!! It is a heavy pottery piece.

Cyndi is such a little darlin'!

Eek! Isn't this precious Elephant just the bees knees? I mean seriously, have you ever seen anything cuter than this? Cyndi found this in a little thrift store in a town outside of San Antonio. She said the lady lowered the price when she told her she was buying it for her sister (moi) who loves to collect nursery planters. Thanks sissy!

Here's her little butt. Isn't the backside just adorable with those little blue flowers?

This planter is a musical planter and oh how I love to play it. The music is a variation of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and another tune that I just can't put my finger on. It's a sweet and fast tune and I love to irritate Mr. Timeless Things by playing it constantly! Bless his heart! Cyndi found this one at the Salvation Army.

When I saw these last year at Craftiques, I had to have them. They were $55.00 and I was soooo reluctant to pay that but I begged and begged for them to come down on the price and they took off ten dollars.

"Well, alrighty then," I said to myself.

" Do you have layaway?" I asked.

Of course, said the lady. So on layaway they went. Two months later they were out on parole and packed away for a year until I unpacked them the other day. I had forgotten how sweet they were.

Last year, when they got packed up, I was envisioning them in my Shabby/Fifties Chic room. I still need to find a place for them so stay tuned to find out where they land.

I was at Goodwill about two months ago, before my eyes became intolerable and saw this cat thing. I don't know why but I was smitten. I mean, look at her. She's ugly but not. She is a heavy piece and looks really old but gosh darn it, I just had to have her. She was only .99 cents so I couldn't pass her up.

Her little top comes off. Isn't it sweet?

In early August, Marshall took me to Austin for a quick shopping trip and we found our way to Room Service Vintage, one of my favorite places to find collectibles. He saw this cute maiden planter and handed her to me. I was in love. I didn't have to wheedle or bat my eyes or pledge that I would never ask for anything again. He just said, "It's going home with you, Yanna."

Ahhh...I love collecting planters but there must be a stopping point right? When and where will it end? I have no clue. I try to stop but people insist on buying them for me! Ha ha ha!!

Obviously I didn't know which way was up and which way was down! Pooh! It's a cute treasure isn't it? It's hanging in my guest room which is still yet to be painted in Laura Ashley's Vintage Blue paint. Hopefully when my eyes heal, I can begin the projects I started.

Hope you enjoyed viewing my goodies! More goodies next Tuesday so come back and visit me again!

Toodles,

Deanna

Something For My Table

2010-10-23T20:53:00.005-05:00

I woke up this morning feeling quite happy. My vision is improving. It's a very small improvement but it truly has made my mood change quite dramatically. As I cleaned my home today, I was in and out of both bedrooms sorting out bed linens and started to notice that I have not put out any autumnal decor. I thought about BJ's October 17th (Sweet Nothings) post from several days ago where she found items around her home and made a very lovely wreath. Hmmm, I know most of my holiday decor stuff is still packed in boxes in the garage but I didn't feel like messing around in there today. We had house guests for the past week so I didn't have a moment to think about holiday decor! My brother Joey, my sister in-law Dani and five year old nephew Etienne, came down from Lubbock to visit us. Even though I was having some really bad days, their stay cheered me up quite considerably. Our home felt alive with Etienne's laughter and his sweet sugar's. His snuggles (rubbing noses) was a balm for my "fraidy cat" heart. They left yesterday and my house is silent again. I can't wait until they can come back for a longer stay.

As I finished my housework, I was watching a decor show and of course got in the holiday spirit. I didn't have too much money in my budget to buy much as I had several doctors appointments this past week with tons of prescriptions to fill. Anyway, I wanted the scent of cinnamon, pine cones and pumpkin spice in my home so I got Hobby Lobby happy really quick! Looked at my self-imposed budget and figured I had about twenty-five dollars to play with. Not a lot when you shop at Hobby Lobby so I was hoping for some 50% off sales. Six minutes later I was at Hobby Lobby perusing the aisles. Okay, so I wanted everything in sight but since my purse was in a penny pinching mood, I went to the aisle where the fake pumpkins and gourds were and wow, they were 50% off! The wooden bowl was the most expensive item at six bucks. I loved it.

I fell for these cuties on sight. Not sure what kind of bird they are supposed to be but they sure are sweet. They were $1.99. Not bad. They are really adorable.

I could only afford several of these so I picked out the ones I really liked. They did have a great variety to choose from.

I chose these three. I truly love the shiny pumpkin. It was the first one I picked out from the bunch. The pumpkin with the braiding is just plain sweet and I really liked the tall

gourd pumpkin-y looking one. $3.99 and I think one of them was $2.99. I also grabbed a few autumn looking leaves. Alas, I was short by one but I'm going back to get another branch of leaves tomorrow. I think they were $1.23 apiece.

The decor didn't come with stems so luckily I had some very ugly flowers from an old vase in the guest room and I took the heads off and stuck the stem in the gourd and the two pumpkins. I had placed wet oasis in the wooden bowl so I could stick the ornaments in when I was ready to decorate.

The last stem in, I gathered the items and was ready to assemble them into something....decent looking!

I tried this one first but the lack of leaves in front really glared at me and I got discouraged but figured that the birds looked sweet enough despite the lack of leaves!

I wonder if these are supposed to be Chickadees? I have no clue and the package they came in didn't even specify what type of bird I had purchased.

I moved the birds around and this time I liked it. Sorry if the picture came out dark but my dining room is not the lightest area in the house despite the large glass sliding back door. Tomorrow I am going to look for some material to throw on my dining table and maybe add some candle sticks with this little centerpiece in the middle. When I finish the table I will post the finished result. By the way, Hobby Lobby has the most fantastic pumpkin spice scented candles. I also bought a Cinnamon and a Pumpkin Spice room spray. They have the most amazing scent ever! My home smells as if I have been baking apple and pumpkin pies all day!

Have you decorated yet? I'd love to see your handiwork and get some ideas for my own home. I love learning from my fantastic and talented blogger friends!

Deanna

Movie Watchin' Wednesday

2010-10-19T20:41:00.005-05:00

Click here to watch Made For Each Other

Get your popcorn ready and don't forget to add the Milk Duds! Let's watch the wonderful Jimmy Stewart and funny girl Carole Lombard in this sweetly romantic film, Made For Each Other from 1939. Her performances at the New Year's party and the hospital scenes are some of her best and no doubt this woman would have had a very long career in films had she not tragically died in a plane crash in 1942. Mr. Timeless and I will be watching from our bed, snuggled underneath our comfy quilt with lots of popcorn! Toodles!

The Hay Street Bridge

2010-10-17T23:42:00.005-05:00

This is not a photo the Hays Street Bridge. This bridge is over in downtown at the River Walk and is now called the "Selena" bridge.

Click here for a little visit to a sweet bridge with me and Marshall.

Housewarming Gifts Part Deux

2010-10-14T19:46:00.004-05:00

So here is the second round of photos of the Housewarming Gifts. This huge basket was from my sister Cyndi. She knows I adore kitchen doo-dads and whatnots so she packed a lot of goodies in there for me. I didn't open it for almost two months and every time she came over she would ask me to open it. I told her that I still had not had a chance to photograph it because I wanted to put it on my blog. Two dinner parties later and I still had not opened it. I told her that I would open it at our next get together which turned out to be another month later! Sorry sister!

In the basket I found this delicious smelling Paula Deen Strawberry Shortcake candle and oooh it did smell so good! It's all gone now but my house smelled delicious during the months of July and August. I need to go get another one for sure. Have you seen Paula Deen's collection at Wal-Mart? Cute stuff!
Tongs, gi-normous serving spoons, eight in all. Dishtowels (one can never have to many dishtowels) washrags and she had put a sweet note for me in there too. What a good sister!
She finished off with this large serving platter, which I have needed for a long time. Once you move into a home, you start having a lot of company come over to visit, lot's of barbeque get- together happen at a moments notice. My aunt Alicia gave me a beautiful platter (photo at a later date) she brought from Rome, Italy when she and my uncle Bob were in Europe before the Christmas holidays. She had saved it for me for when I got my new house. Marshall and I felt so blessed.

I still have quite a few gifts to post so as soon as I load them on the laptop, I will post again. By the way, Saturday I will take photos of the garage to show you the boxes I have to open. Lot's of goodies hiding in there!

Have a great evening!

Deanna

Blue About A Little Pain

2010-10-13T12:28:00.004-05:00

The last two days have been horrible. My eye felt as if it were being poked by a branding iron. Yep, I cried those two days and I'm tired of it quite frankly. As I lay there on my bed yesterday, I was trying to think of anything that would take my mind off of my pain.

Way back in July, bluebonnets were running rampant all over San Antonio. It's quite a beautiful sight because you can spot families stopping on the side of the road to let their kids out and let them run across the fields of wildflowers, that thanks to the great former First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson, covers the highways and areas of SA. That day in July, Marshall and I had to make a quick trip to Home Depot and as we drove up to the store we saw fields of bluebonnets behind the store and on the hill on the other side of the store. We went in, got our supplies and Marshall stopped the car by the hill and we both got off to take photos of the flowers. Kids were running up and down the hillside laughing and chasing each other. Couples were posing and having their pictures taken by family and friends. Everyone was so friendly and lot's of thanks being said to Lady Bird.
How much do we take for granted, the simple things that life has to offer? Had I known then that my eyesight would suffer two months later, I would have grabbed my camera every day and taken photos of places and people that certainly deserve to be published on this little blog. I remember taking this picture of the bluebonnet, wondering if the color of it would ever translate it's loveliness onto my blog. I hope it does. That day, my husband and I had a very special moment. He looked over at the kids playing and smiled, mentioning how much fun they must be having. It was a very wistful moment for us. Being childless, we take special pleasure in seeing families who are genuinely having fun with each other and sharing great family moments together. Kids and bluebonnets, they do make an enchanting photo. I do have the picture of the kids running on the hill but I'll keep that photo to myself.
I had to miss work yesterday. I really hate missing work. I was in too much pain. Going lens free today to try and calm the right eye. My meds feel like acid when I put them in my eye and my face is constantly on fire from the Finacea and Metrogel I slather on every six hours. I know this will be over someday. I just wish I could get the clarity back in my right eye. I want to see everything again. Even pictures of bluebonnets.

Deanna

Unpacking Some Timeless Things

2010-10-10T19:13:00.006-05:00

Here I am posting my old salt and pepper shaker collection. This is only one box! About four sets didn't want to post so I'll try and re-post them later. These have been packed for over a year so I wasn't sure which ones were in this box. Not sure where I'm going to put them. I have a lovely shelf about two feet long that I might put in my dining room and I think they might just look sweet up there. I was excited as I placed the box on the bed.

I was ready to snap another photo of the box and almost cut my finger and took a picture of my arm instead! What a dork!

Heart beating fast! What the heck is in there?

Aww, I remember these cuties! Little kitties.

I found these and another set like them about a year apart from each other.

This watermelon set is very old and I have had them for many years.

I noticed that this set didn't make it unscathed. The top of one of the shakers cracked but it's okay. It can be hidden.

Gosh, I don't remember when I got these sweeties. I'll have to go back in my blog archives because I think I posted them when I first started my blog. My memory is going and it's due to old age..hahaha!

I had to snag these since my husband Marshall eats ONLY Heinz Ketchup thank you very much! I've had this set for a loooong time!

Here is the other set. I wonder if there are other colors around? All of these shakers are from Lubbock, my hometown. I haven't bought any since we've moved to S.A. ...well maybe one or two!

Mangia, mangia! My godmother Lina from Italy would probably like these little chefs!

Deck the hall with boughs of holly, fa, la, la, la, laa, la, la, la laa! I have more Christmas themed salt and pepper shakers but of course they are still packed up in the garage. I'll have to take you into the garage here in a couple of days and show you all the boxes yet to be opened. Yikes, I'm getting scared! Seems like I'll never be finished unpacking my pretties! It's helping me to temporarily forget about my eye pain so it's a good thing!

Well friends, I must be off as I need to remove my lenses and start the dreaded process of medicine taking. Have a great evening!

Deanna

Dream A Little Dream Of Me

2010-10-10T05:58:00.003-05:00

My brother Joey, sister Cyndi and me, big sister Deanna

Woke up this morning at 4:45 a.m. hoping for a semi-clear eye so that I could go to work. So far so good, Put my hybrid lens on my right eye and seems to be a bit clear so hopefully I can last all day at work. Last night I cried (boo hoo hoo) in my husbands arms and he let me be silly for a while. I guess it's just frustration coming out. One day my eyes were well and then one day they weren't. I suppose that is what makes me mad. It happened so quickly and I feel helpless.

Last night I had a sweet dream. I hope my little sister Laurie doesn't feel left out..(sorry sister!) but I did dream of myself when I was quite small. I remember in the dream that I was riding a tricycle and I had fallen off (how does one fall off of a tricycle?) and my brother came over to pick me up and dusted my knees off. I saw my sister Cyndi crying for me and she toddled over to me so that I could pick her up. I remember rubbing her curly head giving her a kiss on her forehead and she stopped crying and hugged my neck. My little brother kept asking me if I wanted a band-aid and I said no, I was fine. We three then got back on our tricycles and rode around our backyard singing songs that I could not recall what they were when I woke up. As I walked to my bathroom and took a warm shower, I thought about my dream. I fell, I kept going. Big me needs to take a lesson from little me. Get right back up and keep pedaling. As for support, I have it in spades. Mom, dad, Laurie, Cyndi and Joey and my husband Marshall. And I can't forget my dear blogging friends who are unknowingly making this return to blogging extra special. Thank you for your dear emails. It means a lot to me.

Later today, I am going to open a package that holds a collection of salt and pepper shakers that had been in storage for over a year. I don't remember what is in there so it's going to be so much fun unwrapping them. I'll take photos and post them later tonight. Well it's 6:26 a.m. and I'd best be off to work. Have a great Sunday!

Deanna

Our Daily Bread

2010-10-09T11:17:00.008-05:00

Every morning and every evening I am faced with fifty-minutes of this. Bottles of anti-rejection eye drops for my graft, tubes and pills for my rosacea. It's been hard trying to force the rosacea out of my eyes for the last two weeks and my eyesight has not changed so I'm beginning to worry quite a bit. I haven't given up hope because losing my graft is something that I don't even want to contemplate right now. I call this my breakfast and supper meals. I just can't seem to really eat any food right now. Is it weak of me to confess that I am just under so much stress right now that even my favorite food can't seem to tempt me. I woke up this morning and I knew right away, "bad eye day." The haze was so severe that I had to close the right eye so I could see only out of the left eye to walk to my bathroom on the other side of the house. My eyes and face ate their breakfast this morning but I just couldn't seem to consume anything. I'm going to force myself to eat a bowl of tuna later.

My dear friend Patricia called me this morning to see if we could meet for lunch but I knew that there was just no way that I could go out today. It's depressing but I try not to get too down about this. Started a new medicine for the graft today so I'm pinning my hopes on this coming week before I go see Dr. M. If this doesn't clear up the haze and the halo then we are looking at possible signs of glaucoma and I don't even want to think about that. This really sucks! It feels awful to think about possibly going blind in my right eye. As I said before, that's been my biggest fear since I was eighteen. I don't think I'd look good in a pirate patch although I might wear one for Halloween! I told my husband on Tuesday that I hated my breakfast ritual and that I hated my supper ritual. He understood what I meant and before he left for his golf tournament that morning he hugged me and said, "you're going to be fine. I'm here Yanna." I have to believe that.

Later that day, when Marshall returned home from the tournament, he said that he had had a nice breakfast and I followed him over to his recliner and he took out my digicam and clicked away until he found what he wanted. I had to put my special glasses on and I smiled. God in his tender mercy can give us the hard realities of knowing pain, heartbreak, fear, love and hope. My husband, thinking about me that morning, said that as he was about to tee off, out of the bushes and with all the graceful elegance of Anna Pavlova, a beautiful doe walked in front of him and just stood there. Marshall, and the men on his team watched the doe in silence. It turned it's head and looked at them quietly for a moment and walked silently away to the other side of the bushes. Give us this day, our daily bread....He gave us hope. Amen!

Our First Housewarming Gifts

2010-10-07T17:00:00.004-05:00

When my husband and I moved into our new home in mid April, we received many gifts from family and friends. I never did have a chance to post any of them of them here so today I'm going to post three. I'm only allowed thirty minutes on my laptop and then to make things worse, I have to wear special glasses to block out glare since I'm very photophobic right now...ugh! Fiddle dee dee! I'll try and post the rest of the wonderful treasures we were gifted with in the following weeks. The little lamb planter was a gift from my sister Cyndi. She's always on the look-out for them and she has found so many sweet ones for me. I'm so lucky to have her!

One day, when I had come back from shopping, I noticed a package sitting by my front door. My heart was beating fast as I walked up to it and realized that it was from my dear Patricia of Vintage Linen Treasures. She is the dearest, the most loveliest ladies that I have ever met. Just being with her makes me so happy and any time that we have together is cherished by me because we both lead such busy lives that I snatch up anytime that I can spend with her. I met my Patricia when she won my 200th blog post two years ago and since then she has become a very special person in my life. We don't get to spend much time together but when we do, we make it worthwhile. She is my shopping buddy and we love to have lunch together. She is the greatest and adore her.
So this is what she left for me. A beautiful quilt and I am currently displaying it over the headboard of the new bed that my parents bought for my guest room..(mom and dad claim it when they come to visit us) and I have turned it into a shabby/fifties-girly chic dream. I'm sure my dad can get in touch with his girly-girl side when he sleeps in there! Mom says she loves it! Every time I look at it, I think of my sweet friend Patricia.

The vase and flowers were a gift from my best friend Sonia and her husband Bryan. She said that she wasn't sure what my decor style would be so she picked this vase just for us. I was really happy with her choice because after Marshall and I took a trip to Ikea, we fell in love with the modern style of decor. I love Ikea! Everything is so inexpensive that we are ordering a dining room table with chairs and a sideboard buffet. I can't wait until Christmas! I was really surprised that Marshall loved Ikea. He didn't want to leave! That's my boy!

Well, that is it for now. I'll share the rest of our housewarming gifts with you at a later date. Hope you all are doing well! Hugs :D

Deanna

I'll Never Forget You

2010-10-06T14:32:00.003-05:00

1955-2010

This was my dermatologist. It's very hard reading this to my friend so that she may type this for me but I think he deserves to be mentioned on my blog. This man went above and beyond the call of duty to try and save both eyes from rosacea invading my graft in the right eye and the infected left eye. This man had been my doctor for three years. He was a Christian man. He prayed with and for his patients for their healing. He was adored by us. He was also my husbands doctor and we always went to see him together. On May 2nd. the Lord called him home. He had just returned that afternoon from seeing his daughter graduate from Oral Roberts and was a bit tired when the family arrived back home after the flight. He was a talented swimmer and a splendid athlete. He loved to run. He decided that he would take a jog and fatally collapsed from a heart attack not far from his home and could not be revived by his neighbor and close friend.

Marshall and I still remain devastated at the loss. Sometimes we just can't believe that he is gone. He was a dynamic man. You see, when you have a man whose morals and dignity are defined by the way he treats his fellow man, that ideal is firmly planted in your mind that this is way we should treat all people. With grace, dignity and a sense of understanding of what their needs might be. He offered us prayer. He never questioned the presence of God. He held our hands and quietly prayed for us. I will never forget that about him. Sadly, his staff could not go on without him and his practice closed. He was loved that much. I called several times to see if they needed anything and I remember Erica the receptionist saying, "Mrs. Nelson, we just aren't able to let him go." I understood that. Marshall and I can't let go either. He left us all but we will see him again and we will hear that quiet wonderful voice of his and that tender smile that would light up his eyes. He truly was a great man.

You are always in my heart DY.

Deanna

See Me

2010-10-05T20:58:00.004-05:00

This is me. I almost lost vision in my right eye. My corneal transplant was in the last stages of rejection and was being eaten up by my severe rosacea that plagues my face. I don't want to whine but only my husband knows how much I cried in pain for six weeks straight and now you do too. And yet it's not pain. I don't know pain. There are other people out there with suffering that I can't even come close to touching. I'm left with a shriveled left eye which hopefully will change appearance after I have my corneal transplant in six months. I usually hide my right eye since it's larger (due the to transplant) behind my bangs. I'm still self-conscious about it and I guess that will never change.

My biggest fright has always been losing my eyesight. When I was in a senior in high school, my vision had deteriorated to such a degree that I was loathe to tell my parents that I was failing my classes because I could no longer see the chalk board. By the time I graduated, I knew that there was something seriously wrong with my eyes. A year later, when I was eighteen, I told my mother that I could no longer go on with my secret. I think mom and dad had some idea that there might be something wrong because I could not see the smallest things on a table like a pen, or a paper clip. Things would just not be in my field of vision and I felt such a gripping fear of helplessness and I started to isolate myself from my family and would stay in my bedroom for hours on end. Well, cutting to the chase, I found that I had Keratoconus. Keratoconus is a severe eye disease that distorts the roundness of the cornea into a cone shape. There is no known cause for keratoconus and in rare cases has been known to afflict family members. My friend Kyra and her mother Lynn both have the disease. Lynn was not diagnosed until 1979 and at that time she says that hardly anything was known about keratoconus. Even when I was diagnosed in 1982, I had never heard of it and I was anxious to find any information pertaining to my new disease. I had a wonderful and very understanding opthalmologist, Dr. L, who has done extensive research on Keratoconus and has published many works on the subject.

Keratoconus starts thinning the center of the cornea and at times the fluid behind it will push itself out of the center and a cloud of haze will appear in the field of vision and eventually a white-ish blue-ish scar tissue will appear over the eye. These are called hydrops. They are not painful but cause discomfort because it makes you feel as if you have swimmers eye times ten. Drops are prescribed to draw out the fluid and eventually the hydrop will heal and vision is restored. I have had five episodes of hydrops beginning when I was nineteen and the last one occurring when I was about twenty-five. I've not had another episode since then..praise God.

Having a corneal transplant can restore vision but I did not have a transplant until 2007 by my very special Dr. M. Until I had the transplant, I had tiny blue contact lenses (not for vanity as they do not change your eye color but for locating the lens in case it fell out) and they gave me enough vision to be able to drive, read and work. I was supposed to have a transplant in 1990 but I chickened out. I was not ready but as I had regrets later, I knew in my heart that the medical world would be even more advance if I waited and as long as there was no danger to my eyes, I would wait. When you have keratoconus, the world looks as if a giant spoon has stirred the room you're in and you see double of everything and it's dropped..like seeing a person in front of you and right next to them is their double. Lenses correct that but transplants have a better effect and longer lasting results. My transplant would be free and clear if I did not have a severe case of rosacea which can have a disastrious effect on a patient's eyes. Recently, my rosacea has gone into my eyes and has caused much vascular damage and roughness which can cause the graft to start to reject. My dermatologist, my eye surgeon and my opthalmologist are working together to save my eye and it's been a very distressing time for me despite my heroic teams effort to give me a positive outlook and their assurance that they will succeed....I know they will. We will all succeed.

I've been out on leave from my job and of course, the old hibernating routine had returned much to my chagrin. I have to work. I do not like feeling handicapped and I despise being out of sync with my daily routine. I went back to work yesterday and since I have a dot of white haze and huge rainbow halos, driving was difficult when I was on a street with on-coming traffic. I prayed heavily that I would not cause an accident but I got to work safely yesterday and today. I had to leave early both times as my eye was waving a white flag of surrender. I am blessed to have such a supportive group of loving friends that have made me come out of my cocoon and have forbidden me to have dark thoughts...ustedes saben, mis amigas, que yo no puedo sin el apoyar, sin los rosarios...mis suplicas habian sido atendidas. Gracias por las oraciones. Las quiero mucho.

I hope to return to regular blogging soon because after many false starts, I'm praying no more curve balls are headed my way for a very loooooong while...I've missed blogging terribly and have missed my special blogging friends.

Mother, thank you for coming to take care of me. I love you so much. You drive over four hundred miles to visit us all by yourself and I thank God that He gave us a loving, caring and one of a kind mother.

Thank you JoJo....you are an angel for typing this for me. You are my happy sunshine and I adore you. You are my sister... truly.

Deanna

Visiting

2010-07-22T05:48:00.004-05:00

Hi there! I've been very busy these past few weeks trying to finish the decorating of our guest bedroom in our new home. It's been great fun going to the thrift shops looking for just the right piece of furniture or shelves to go in there. Lot's of shabby chic going on at Salvation Army these days! We've had a very busy social life since we bought the house so I'm spending less time blogging these days. For the rest of this week though, I'm going to devote my time to visiting my friends blogs. It will be so much fun catching up and to see what you've been up to!

So here I am perusing a friends blog and doing some heavy reading. I'll be posting some thrift store finds this weekend and a tour of Market Square downtown next Wednesday. Well I'm off to visit you. See you soon!

Deanna

A Birthday, An Anniversary and Rain from Alex

2010-07-10T19:30:00.005-05:00

Happy Birthday to Me ♪♫♪ - Oh dear, I'm forty-seven years old this year! I have never felt better or felt more sexier than when I was in my twenties! I thought about my birthday last year here in Blogland and how much fun I had putting together my Blog Party on July 1st and 2nd. I celebrate two birthdates. Legally, it's July 1st but I was actually born on the 2nd. Goof up at the hospital. Anyhow, it's fun to have two dates to celebrate. Mr. Timeless Things and I have really settled ourselves into our new home and I have become a little Betty Crocker. It's been a true money-saver cooking instead of going out to eat. I have been pretty lucky to come up with different things to make for dinner. The best part is inviting our family and friends over to share our table. There's truly nothing like sharing conversation and laughter with your loved ones.

Mr. Timeless Things and I celebrated our sixteenth wedding anniversary on July 7th. We can't do it once though because on July 19th, we will celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary of being married by the church. Apparantly, I can't have just one of anything!

We have had tons of rain here in San Antonio because of Hurricane Alex but not as much as poor Laredo has had with all the flooding problems and devastation. Despite that, I love nothing better than to open my front door and peer out my threshold at the front yard. It's such a lovely yard. Lush and green and ohhh it smells so good! I am so blessed because this was a long time coming. Everyday I thank my Lord above for giving me the most beautiful home and to be it's loving caretaker. It's such a treat to come home from work knowing that I'm pulling up to my own driveway, opening my own fridge to take out some delicious blackberries and have a snack before Mr. Timeless Things and I take our daily hour nap at four-thirty. It's a beautiful thing to be in bed with him, a light blanket covering the two of us, the ceiling fan whirring softly, and hearing the tip tap of light rain with a soft albeit warm, breeze flowing in through the open window in our bedroom. Sleep overtakes us as we hold hands. It's been bliss all over. (Record scratch!) Then we both start snoring!

Deanna

2010-06-11T21:24:00.004-05:00

Hello friends! It's Friday and I'm ready to take you to Sisterdale, Texas. It's about an hour northwest of San Antonio and it houses a wonderful place called Sister Creek Vineyard. It's a rustic but extremely charming building which used to be a cotton gin back in it's heyday. Click on the Girl About Town icon and come spend a few minutes with me in Sisterdale!

Bottoms up,
Deanna

SA-WEET Happy Home!

2010-06-01T17:53:00.009-05:00

This is my new home. My husband's gift to me that will last a lifetime. Seriously, no diamond ring or shiny car need apply here! I'm set! It was a long haul getting here but we did it together. It is the sweetest bungalow and I even got my dream stainless appliances (someone explain to me why we women love those stainless steel appliances!?!) I mean if you look at them closely, they are a bit of a monstrosity. I loved the simple white appliances but something happened to me when I got my home. I became a stainless steel appliance fanatic. Doesn't go well with Shabby Chic but gosh darn it...I'm makin' it work! Stainless Shabby, it will make for a new decor fad.

Here I am relaxing in the back yard on my new patio set that my loving sister Cyndi and generous hearted brother in-law Johnny bought for us a couple of weeks ago. My hubby has purchased himself a new lawn mower, leaf blower and edger. You can knock me over with a feather because I don't have to tell that man to mow the front and back yard. He's really gung-ho and I guess it's partly because of being a proud homeowner. I am so proud of him.

I was given these cute balloons today at work and I thought of how fitting it was because I was feeling so happy and bubbly. My daddy is coming in to town this very minute and he's bringing the furniture he and my mother purchased for our guest room. They've claimed that room as theirs and so have ten other cousins, aunts and uncles! Mom is heading over here with my sister Laurie tomorrow and we are all getting ready to have all of our families on both sides drive in to SA this week. My brother in-law Johnny is retiring from the Air Force after twenty-five years of duty. We are having a big gala for him on Friday night at Lackland AFB. Bought myself a swanky dress. I will post those pics after the weekend is over. I cannot wait to have all my loved ones stay with us here. By the way, while I was typing this my balloons flew away up in to my tree and Marshall had to pull them down for me. Lawn Mower Man to the rescue!

Deanna

New Me, New Life, New Home

2010-05-31T16:54:00.005-05:00

Events that shape our lives on a daily basies can hit you so hard and fast, that you have no time to think about other things that are in your orbit. In September, my little planet was hit hard by a few little meteor showers that did burn and pierce through my protective ozone. Since then, nothing about blogging seemed important to me anymore. Oh, I still thought about the people behind the blogs, in fact I care deeply about everyone that has visited here. Most importantly, I have a small handful of blogging friends that have come more than just blogging buddies. Patricia, Bonnie, Lauracita, Lee Laurie and Stevie, Sue and Loida and her dear family are as close to me as if they were my next door neighbors. I owe them so much.

In September my very best friend (MA) disclosed to me that she and her husband were separating. In fact, she informed me that she getting a divorce. My heart sank as low as it could go and I felt in my interior that my friend was going to drop a bomb shell on me. She did and what happened to me was that I was filled with such a rage that I felt that I wanted to hurt someone.....I wanted to hurt him (her husband). I loved her and her husband dearly. There was nothing that they wouldn't do for me and my husband or for others that were in need. They were very involved with their church and their children were and continue to be pretty darned special in my eyes. MA's disclosure came at a time when other events were happening in my life and it was such a sad time for the two people that I loved, to be going through this awful and ultimately painful parting. Long story short, MA had been physically abused by her husband all those years and I never knew...never had an inkling that this had been going on. The fact that this man was in my wedding is so abhorrent to me that I start to shake and there is no controlling my mouth. I am not one to curse. I was so digusted by the fact that she told me that he abandoned his family one day...left his youngest son (10 yrs. old) with the grandson who was less than a year old. He just walked out and drove to Dallas where his parents live. MA lost her mother almost two years ago of cancer and when she told me that during the time when her mother was bedridden he would hurt her (MA) and I have to say here that when all was said and done, I called her husband and it did not end well. I will never forgive him for what he did to my sweet MA. I'm not sure what happened to him. He is, for lack of a better word..insane. Something broke inside his head. This is not the man I used to know.

In late December, my sweet mother flew to Alaska to visit my nieces for Christmas and she planned to stay through the rest of December until mid January. A few days in to her visit, mom tripped over the family dog in the hallway and shattered her right shoulder. She finally managed to crawl to the living room and that is where my brother in-law found her. He immediately took her to the emergency room and they instructed her to fly back to Lubbock as soon as possible to have surgery. They shot her up with pain killers and morphine and she flew home. To this day I have no idea how my mother was able to withstand the pain and the flight home.

My husband and I drove to Lubbock as fast as we could and made it there before mom. Monday, December 28th, mom was taken in to surgery at 5:45 a.m. My father, my husband, my sis and my uncle were in the waiting room. We were rejoicing because mom's surgeon informed us that the surgery should only take about three hours maybe even less. Joy. We all relaxed and my sis stretched herself across a couple of chairs and was resting..dad dozed and my uncle and my husband were chatting and I was waiting for my aunt and my cousins to arrive. I knew that my aunt wanted to be there for when mom came out of her surgery but I also knew that my aunt had not been feeling well and probably would not have felt like coming to the hospital so early. At 6:45 a.m. my cell rang and I heard crying, running noises and sobbing. My aunt had passed away and my precious cousin Darla had found her on the floor by her bed. My aunt raised my cousins when their mother passed away in '74 from breast cancer at the age of twenty-eight. My aunt was their second mother and this double loss hit them hard. This is where my world changed..at this very moment. My parents and my aunt were the leaders of our family. Everything was taken care of by them. Now the roles had been reversed for me and my sisters and I knew that it was now our turn to take charge family matters.

I walked over to my father and gave him the news. My sis shot up and we all started crying. I had to get on the phone immediately and start making calls. This is something that my aunt and mother were always good at and I had to pull myself together. I ran out of the waiting room and in to the hallway where a cold breeze was flowing and I cried. My mother...how am I going to tell mom? I loved my aunt. That's all I need to say. It was gut wrenching. I called my cousins back to make sure they were all right. When my cousin Darla quietly whispered, "Hurry," I knew that my sister Laurie and I had to leave my mother and go to them. I was a decision that was hard but my sis and I decided that we would go. I called my sister Cyndi back in SA and as she is a Funeral Director, she immediately started on the plans and she informed me that she was on her way.

God, in his infinite love, gave us a grace period. Mom's surgery took six hours and she was in recovery for a couple of hours. We were blessed because the thought of telling mother that her beloved sister had passed away was eating at me and I just did not want to lie to my mother. I knew that she would ask about my aunt. She was put on morphine and I knew that she would be asleep most of the night. When she was wheeled into her room, I grieved for my mother. How in the world was she going to get better when her sister had just passed away. "Oh God," I prayed. "You know that my mother is in physical pain but that will heal. When we tell her the news tomorrow, please help us."

After we left my cousins and letting them know that when they needed us we would drop everything for them, my sis and I drove back to the hospital. Everthing from that point on is a blur. Dad had asked the hospital staff to put my mother's room in privacy mode. No calls were to come through. No visitors. They protected mom like a mother eagle protecting her young. My father and my siblings and our spouses gathered in mom's room the next morning and we gave her the news. Never want to re-live that again. It was decided that my aunt would be buried on Thursday December 31st in Seagraves. It had been snowing all week and temperatures were freezing while we were there.

During the whole week while mom was in the hospital, my husband my sister Laurie and I stayed with her in the room. I never slept. We would run home, never leaving mom alone and take a shower, change and head back to the hospital. I never saw my sister Cyndi except when she came to the hospital to see mom before she had to head back to the funeral home and to my cousins side. She had to handle the funeral arrangements and be there for my cousins who were emotionally crippled by the loss. My heart just ached for them and for my mother.

Some how we all got through it. Mom was able to be released and was able to attend my aunt's funeral. I can't tell you how proud I was of my husband who tended to my mother's every need. He really missed his calling as a nurse. Not only did he take care of my mother but he took care of me and my dad. He was my rock.

I have definitely grown up since December. Trying to take care of my own medical problems is a daily battle but I'm getting there. I just had to push myself away for a while. I've had two other losses since then that have impacted me deeply. Nothing, I mean absolutely nothing will ever change the fact that I lost the girl in me back in December. I guess that happens to everyone at some point in time.

Mom is doing well. She will never have full motion in her shoulder but she is going to physical therapy and tells me that she loves to exercise at home with a pulley contraption. Nothing keeps that woman down! Both mom and dad are on their way this week to stay with us and I can't wait to see them and have them be our first guests, in our new home.

So now I am sitting here in my living room with my beloved hubby. I thought this day would never get here. It did. With a lot of prayer. And lot's of thoughts about you. Loving thoughts because I missed you. It's time to come back.

Deanna

I'll Be Back on March 6th.

2009-11-11T23:09:00.006-06:00

I will be back in March or very late summer.

Deanna

Amy Dawn is Carried Up To Heaven

2009-10-25T14:10:00.007-05:00

There's An Angel on My Front Porch

Amy Dawn Ragan

1976-2009

Dear Debbie's daughter Amy was called to Heaven. She became ill at such a young age but she battled hard and I feel that battling automatically makes you a winner! There are no words that could ever make this hurt go away for Debbie and her family but Debbie is a woman of faith and if you have ever visited her blog, she prays for everyone and you just know that she will be given a blanket of warm love from all of her blogger friends. We love you Debbie and we know that your very own strength and faith in our Lord will see you through the hard days that are to come. You have touched so many and now it's our turn to give you the love you so selflessly give to others. You are an amazing mother. Both you and Amy were blessed to have one another. She was a beautiful warrior, battled with grace and with the love of her mother by her side. Please visit Debbie and leave her some words of encouragement. She will need those words later on.

When We Were Home

2009-10-24T20:33:00.002-05:00

Four weeks ago Mr. Timeless Things and I went back home to Lubbock. It was a bittersweet visit. It was a difficult visit. It was and is very hard to talk about as we went in rescue mode to help two beloved people but while we were there, my mother Rosa, my sister Cyndi (who lives here in SA too) and I, drove to my old neighborhood where my husband and I used to live with my dear mother in-law. I was sitting in the back seat of my car as I had let Cyndi drive us around because I wanted to take a photo of our old cottage. As we got closer, my heart started to pound evenly with the Tejano song that was playing on the radio and as I got my camera ready, I told Cyndi to slow it down to a crawl and there it was...our first home. It was as if the house was coming out of a fog in the Scottish Highlands-in my mind anyway-and it was still white and very much the same as when we had lived in it sixteen years ago. Tears started to well up in my eyes and I got a big lump in my throat the size of a Cuban lime and I started snapping away. My mind wandered inside the house and away it went, in to the kitchen where Willa, my mother in-law, would make her famous 14 Day Fruit Cake. It went in to the backyard, where my husband would chip and putt with his golf clubs. To our bedroom where I had my stack of library books ready to read each night. On it wandered, in to the living room where my Willa would watch television AND listen to the radio at the same time. My God, it was so painful to remember but oh how I wanted those memories to keep flooding back and they hit me with such momentum that I became short of breath. Hurt.

*******

The house is still there. Marshall, Willa and I used to be there. Living and loving. I would give anything to have those days back again. There is always something so beautiful about humble beginnings that if given the choice, we would definitely do it all over again, Marshall and I. And Willa would still be here...making her delicious cakes and loving us. I miss you mama.

Getting To Know You Better

2009-10-21T14:54:00.008-05:00

(Me this morning, in my favorite shirt)

I woke up this morning full of plans to straighten up my home but l have the blahs today. We have been packing up for several months to get ready to buy a home next August. We want to get as much done before hand and our rental storage space is getting quite full. I can't wait until all my pretties are wrapped, boxed and stored away. We have about four large boxes in the living room ready to go and even though our storage place is just across the street we just can't get ourselves going. We decided that we would just have a lazy day today and not do squat! A little guilty but oh well.

*******

While we were away and while I was away from my blog, I thought about all of my blog friends and how wonderful it would be to see them face to face. I don't want to say "in real-life" because it is real life to me. We can pick and choose the people we want to be blog friends with and I have some of the best people in blogland as my friends. On some of the really bad days, I would think about Bonnie (One Designing Woman) and how just one glance at her photo makes me smile and how I admire the love that Stevie (The Beautiful Outdoors) has for my Lee Laurie (A Southern Rose). I marvel at the remarkable wit of the one and only Kristina Pulsipher (Pulsipher Predilections). I adore my hometown girl BJ (Sweet Nothings) and she doesn't know this, but she is a mentor to me on how to be a hospitable hostess in blogland. I love that Maya (Completely Coastal) adores all the things beachy. I love the fact that Beverly (Tea Time and Roses) is one of the most charming and gracious ladies in blogger. The list goes on and on. Blogland is a veritable treasure chest of goodies!

*******

I'm noticing that I need to go brush my hair...pictures don't lie.

In His Arms

2009-10-19T21:58:00.004-05:00

He was my friend first. Boyfriend later. Husband much later. I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. He still amazes me with his compassion and his thoughtfulness. Lately, when I've been sad about recent events concerning loved ones, he has come to be my rock. I know that I can go in to his arms and he will enfold me with his strength and give me comfort. He can't change the events that have caused the pain but he has put the band-aids on my heart ever so carefully. People have their own will and even if we don't agree with their decisions (which we, Marshall and I, know in our hearts aren't the right ones) that, that person will have to learn the lesson on their own. We will be there to help them. My husband and I.

I love this man.

Ursula and Rosa. I See Them, In Me

2009-10-18T22:17:00.009-05:00

A long time ago, my paternal grandmother Ursula, told me that before she died, she wanted to see all of her grandchildren happily married to the men or women they loved. Divorce is rare in our family. My paternal grandfather had abandoned his family when my father was a small boy. He and my grandmother raised his five siblings. It wasn't an easy life for them. A hispanic woman with six children to raise didn't have a lot of options in the 1940's. She was a maid and God only knows what else she did to feed her family.

Growing up, my grandmother Ursula was my world. She loved us so much that I never gave a thought to the fact that I had a grandfather out there who had started another family several hundred miles away from his first family. I didn't care. I had my "Welita." We never did call her abuelita....just Welita. Her friends in Seagraves always called her "Chula." She was a strong woman. Petite in stature, she stood tall to me...like the Statue of Liberty. Oh she was a strong lady indeed. She had to be. When she had company over, she would whip out her little pots and pans and make something delicious and always always, it was enough to feed everyone. Welita was faithful to her church and even when she was not feeling well, would get on her knees and pray to God at the altar. Welita always carried Juicy Fruit gum in her purse and she would give us a piece when we were figidety and that always seemed to make us happy. She would hold our hands when we were sad or hold us in her little tiny lap until we felt better. I always felt safe with my Welita. Her laughter is still in my heart.

My grandmother has made two visits to me during two of my darkest days. I called her and she came. I wanted to be like my grandmother but God chose to let me and my husband be childless and when I do get to Heaven, I know He will tell me why. Motherhood includes your children and your children's children. And here I have to talk about my own mother. Thank you God for giving me the best mother ever. Rosa, my mother, thoughout my life, you have never ever abandoned us. How can I explain to you what my mother means to me. There is nothing...I mean nothing that my mother wouldn't do for us. She drives six hours from Lubbock to San Antonio by herself just to visit me and my sister Cyndi and her family. I had once hoped to be a mother like my own mother. I would like to think that I would have had a bit of her and a bit of my Welita. I can only imagine what our life would have been like if we had had children of our own.

I Am Back

2009-10-17T14:00:00.008-05:00

Mr. Timeless Things took me to Austin again. We stayed at our favorite hotel.

He took me to Round Rock to eat the famous Round Rock doughnuts.

He took me to the Bee Caves bridge and we watched thousands of bats fly out in to the sky.

We drove around Austin and we spotted these two ladies and they made us laugh.

We drove by our dream house three times oohing and ahhing the whole way.

He took me to a wonderful bridge where the scenery was lovely.

We took a walk by our hotel where I spotted a lovely flower by Town Lake. He and I held hands.

We discovered that no matter how much we would love to keep our loved one's marriages together and have nothing change....Marshall and I will be forever. On this, they can count on. We will always be there for them.

Goodbye and Farewell......Please Take Care

2009-08-26T12:23:00.002-05:00

Today will be the last post I will make in a very long time. I hope to be back happily blogging sometime next year but for now....I need to fix something. Sometimes you must make the decision that, if you are unhappy with a situation, then you move mountains to make it better and for me, that means I must rearrange my mountains and make my scenery one hundred times better.

Please take care, all of you wonderful and dear people.

Bonnie, Patricia, Lee Laurie and Stevie, I will be keeping in touch with you by phone calls. You all mean so much to me and I am blessed to have met you through Blogger.

Deanna

Man vs. Food in San Antonio!

2009-08-04T19:51:00.002-05:00

If you like watching Adam on Man vs. Food then stop by and watch his show tomorrow night! Back in June, our favorite hamburger place and pal Joey Prado, owner of Chunky's Burgers and More, was featured with his famous Four Horseman Hamburger. The burger is sinfully hot with the four hottest peppers ever! You must sign a waiver before eating, you have an hour to finish and if you decide to toss your cookies, the competition is over and you pay for your burger! If you do finish, you must wait five minutes after eating it which we have seen first hand several times that it's not an easy task. Many a bucket has gone by our table only to be disposed of in the restroom!

Adam sitting outside on the patio ready to barf up the Four Horseman and a Chunky's customer challenging Adam...he didn't make it. Adam did. What a guy!

Hopefully Mr. Timeless Things and I will be able to be seen but you know how editing goes. I'll be wearing a raspberry shirt, almost purplish and we will be sitting by the front door next to a window. A lot of footage was shot of Joey's friends and customers but we'll see if we show up or not...lol!

Chunky's patio where the challenge started and ended. There were so many people, I just don't know how the Chunky's crew did it! Their customer service is tops even when they are fixing to be nationally known...!! I'm sure Mr. Prado will have his restaurant fully packed tomorrow with well wishers and will be watching the show with his patrons. Or then again, he just might close up and go fishing...he's been known to do that!

The show starts at 9:00 pm Central Time.

2009-07-29T20:03:00.002-05:00

I'd like to welcome the following lovely people to Timeless Things. It's always a pleasure to have you drop by and visit. I will not be posting until a week from next Saturday so that I can take this time to visit our followers and my list of blogs that I, myself follow. It's been a very busy month for us but I need at least a week to devote to visiting all of you which always gives me so much pleasure!

Welcome greeting go to:

My lovely sister Laurie @ momof2roses

The talented Riet @ quiltin'n stitching lady

The multi-talented Tami @ Cottage Style Pinkbuttercream and Bottle Digger!

Mini-doll extrodinaire and Shabby fan Marsha @ Sassy Mini Dolls Are Dolls With Attitude!

Pink Saturday buddy and wonderful blogger Robin @ Miscellaneous Thoughts

I will finish the list later, my laptop is freezing up

My Love Affair With Thrift Shops Goes Shopping Again!

2009-07-24T17:42:00.015-05:00

Time again for me to share some thrift store finds. I've been missing in action since Mr. Timeless Things took me to Austin for our anniversary. I've been in a romantic and blissful state ever since! We had a lot of fun and my sister and her hubby joined us on Saturday to spend the day with us and sister and I were so thrilled that they took us to the Goodwill stores there! What fun and what wonderful guys! I have a story for you but I'll share it at the end of the post. I'm still mad about it but I did the right thing.

You all know how much I adore baby nursery planters and I hit the mother lode in Austin! This adorable car was only .99 cents!

Isn't this sweet. And it's so fitting for Mr. Timeless Things and I as we have been together for exactly twenty-five years. It was a whopping .99 cents.

This is the little bowl that it sits in.

If you look at the previous MLAWTS post, you will see how much this looks like the cigarette holder. I fell madly in love with this "Instant Coffee" porcelain jug. I paid .69 cents for it!

Sideview of the "Instant Coffee" jug.

Pink bootie nursery planter. I paid .39 cents for it. Cutie pie thing!

I'm not sure why but for some reason, San Antonio and Austin had a mother lode of these Avon rabbit planters. I found one in Austin and the flowered one here in San Antonio. They were both .99 cents.

I really adore bunny planters and I've been lucky to have found several of them.

This blue bootie cutie is a Napco piece. I paid .49 cents for it and I almost missed it! If I hadn't squatted down it wouldn't be sitting on my shelf right now....whew!

Normally clowns scare me but this one was too sweet to pass up. I just fell hard for this adorable planter. I paid .39 cents for it.

This planter is from the Goowill in Austin and it was .49 cents. I can't believe how many nursery planters there are to be had. I know that at any given day, I can find at least one or two of them.

This one is from Austin as well and I got it for .39 cents. It looks like a large piece but it really is fairly small and sweet.

I couldn't pass up on this .25 cent bunny napkin holder.

I'm not sure what this may have been used for but I loved it at first sight. Maybe they used it to hold toothpicks! Whatever it's former life was..it's now mine and I got it for .39 cents!

It says 24 carat on the bottom. It's such a darling thing.

This sweet cup and saucer was only $1.99. I can use it in the future for Pink Saturday!

I collect glass birds and they have to be blue. I have about thirteen of them. This lovely birdy was only .25 cents.

My sister Cyndi and I found these precious shoes at GW for .49 cents. When we were checking out my sister happened to turn one of the shoes over and someone had written "Dee" on it. That is my nickname and I was over the moon. We were meant to be....lol!

This precious lamb is not from GW but from my favorite vintage shop, Craftiques. I won her at a silent auction and I can't tell you how thrilled I am that little "Bella" is home with me! She was a steal...that's all I'm gonna say....I'm just sayin'!

Well, our trip to Austin was fab and I'll post about in two days. The story I wanted to tell you: Mr. Timeless and brother in-law took me and Cyndi to GW in Austin and as I was perusing the furniture, I saw the most beautiful little nightstand with little Queen Anne legs and it had an opening to hold books or a floral display and a little drawer above it. It was $9.00 and I contemplated it and my dear brother in-law said "get it Deanna." I didn't....I'm not sure why. It was the most stupidest thing I've ever done. After Cyndi and Johnny left that night and headed back to San Antonio, I was in looking out of the window of our hotel room and I just couldn't stop thinking about it and I tossed and turned all night. Mr. Timeless Things said he would take me back in the morning to get it. Morning: We head out to GW early the next morning and I go straight to the back where it had been the day before and it was gone. I was dejected. Forlorn. Why did I not listen to my brother in-law?? I walked back to the front of the store and saw a jumble of furniture and there was my beautiful little cream colored Queen Anne legged nightstand and it had been marked down to $4.99!!! OMG! I grabbed it and got in line. My turn was approaching and then I hear.."Oh no!! Honey, where did you get that?" She looked dejected. Forlorn. I glanced over to the jumble of furniture and she says.."Those are all mine...I mean, I haven't bought them but I asked if I could put them all there so that my husband could load them into the truck." My heart fell. Then the man that was being checked out stuck in his two cents and said.."There ain't no name on it.." Lame. She got tears in her eyes and looked sadly at her husband and there I am holding the little nightstand in my arms. Her husband looked at me and told his wife.."Honey, possession is nine-tenths of the law." Tears start rolling down our cheeks. Fury towards the nosy customer and fury at her but mixed with deep sympathy. It wasn't fair to either of us. In the end, I had to give it up. I set it down and told her that I would not take her treasure away from her. I told her how I had stupidly left it behind yesterday and how we had gotten up early to get here and then oops, more tears from both of us. Her husband kindly put his hand on my shoulder and said.."We will never forget this. That was the nicest thing I've ever seen and you will be paid back ten-thousandfold." Nope, not for me...I just wanted that antique nightstand with the little Queen Anne legs. I will never forget it. Lesson: Take it. Don't leave it behind..you'll be sorry.....LOL! I'm just sayin'.

Timeless Beauty Blog Award for You

2009-07-17T00:00:00.006-05:00

Dear Mr. Timeless Things and I will be in Austin for our Anniversary. I would like to leave this Timeless Beauty award that we created specially for you. It's to thank you for the beautiful Blog friendships that I have made and for the love and kindness that you have given me. Having all of you makes blogging so rewarding. Each one of you has a lovely pearl to offer and I pick those glossy pearls and string them on my necklace of Life. Precious gems...all of you. I humbly hand you this award in hopes that you will pass it on to your own dear friends. If you are visiting Timeless Things for the first time, please, this is for you as well! Enjoy!

*****

My Love Affair With Thrift Shops

2009-07-15T20:16:00.013-05:00

Hi y'all! I finally decided that it was time to make my thrift store finds make it's debut on Wednesday's. I have so many goodies that I had not ever posted, so today, I decided it was time to start showing them off. I just love finding sweet little things and anything with a little rose just set's my heart to thumpin' really fast! I'm lucky to have a hubby who loves to go thrifting with me and he knows exactly what I like when we head off to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. Recently, I met a wonderful lady named Patricia from Vintage Linen Treasures. She had won my 200th post Giveaway in March and it turned out that she lived here in San Antonio! Well, we hit if off immediately and we have been shopping together every since! I so enjoy her company and we laugh and giggle just like high school girls and hanging out with her has just made my days so much brighter. We went shopping together last Wednesday and she surprised me with a beautiful vintage baby nursery planter. She knows that I just adore them and...well, I'll finish that story in just a bit**. Needless to say, I found some cuties to take home. A day or two later I went to the Goodwill on Marbach and found some cutie patootie finds!

I just couldn't resist this sweet powder puff box. No powder was ever in it. Just a sweet pink puff and I forgot take a picture of it. Drats! It was .39 cents.

This sweet cup and saucer were only .49 cents!

I bought this bunny planter on my shopping trip with Patricia. I was kind of iffy on it because one of the eyes looked like it had glaucoma!....I might be able to fix it. I still think it's cute, a bit to pearly but cute nonetheless. It was .99 cents.

Patricia and I were at Craftiques when I spotted this adorable find. I had no idea what it was until Patricia told me it was a stamp holder. I mean, look at it! It's just so dang adorable!! I paid $4.00 for it. I usually don't like to pay over five dollars for anything but I had to have it!

These cutie patooties I found at Goodwill for .49 cents. Again, I had no idea what they were, just that they would look fantastic as a decorative touch in my Shabby bathroom! Luckily I had Patricia with me because she let me know that they were hurricane lamps. They are tiny..about the height of your pinkie finger. They are missing their little glass covers but I don't care..they are just precious and I love them!

Patricia and I were at the Salvation Army and I was perusing a table they had set up with a lot of treasures and I saw this just sitting there and I grabbed it. You know...the roses, they grabbed my attention...lol! I went over to Patricia and she really loved it too and we were trying to figure out what it was used for. We debated over it's use and Patricia thinks that it might be a mustache cup. We still weren't one-hundred per cent sure but we'll go with that for now!

I hadn't cleaned the inside when I snapped the photo but with the details, does anyone know what it might be? I showed to my friend Jojo and she thinks it might have been a toothbrush holder and that the part with the holes might have been used for holding toothpaste when it came in a box and was square-shaped. She wasn't sure either...lol! I'm clueless. I'm not sure how much they charged me for this sweet treasure but my total purchase for three items was $2.59 cents. The figurine below was one of the purchases I made along with this one.

I normally don't buy figurines but this one just set my heart a'flutterin' and I had to have her. She was a whopping .49 cents.

I bought this at Craftiques and it was $4. I don't smoke, never have but I just couldn't leave without it. The lady at Craftiques told me it was from the 30's.

Here is the back of it. Isn't it just darling?

I bought these at the Goodwill on Marbach. I didn't know what they were but the peacocks on them just blew me away. The detail and the vibrant colors are just eye candy! DH thinks they might be little rice bowls or finger bowls...we weren't sure but they are beautiful.

Ooh Yesssssss! A new addition to my ever growing Baby Nursery Planter collection! This one was found at the Goodwill on Fredericksburg Rd. when Patricia and I were thrifting. It was a bit pricey...$3.99 but I would have bought it for ten dollars!

Here is the other side view of it. Cute isn't it?

DH bought these sweet glass eggs for me at Goodwill. He ran over to them and grabbed them before another lady could get to them. What a guy! They are just two of my favorite finds he has found for me! They were .39 cents each!

I found these precious cups at the Goodwill on I-10. They were .99 cents for all four cups!

My sister Cyndi and I found this Fitz and Floyd Mother Goose piece at the Goodwill on Marbach. She was only $1.00. I had to have her!

Closer view of the two sidekicks!

** So here I can finish the story from the first paragraph of this post. When sweet Patricia and I were at the Fredericksburg Rd. Goodwill, she went ahead of me in the knick-knack aisle and I saw her grab something. She had found a darling nursery planter. Now, she had me fooled thinking that she was wanting to find one for herself so I was so happy that she found one to take home. She then found the cute baby block nursery planter (see six pictures above) and if course I bought that one. Well, we checked out and walked over to my car and were putting our treasures in the trunk when she pulls out the lamb planter and hands it to me with a big "Happy Birthday Deanna!." I almost fell over...I mean, I was so thrilled and at the same time wondering why she was giving up this adorable curly headed lamb? I was so touched by her generousity and the fact that she had been looking for a planter for me just sent me over the moon! I gave her a big hug and thanked her but I was having a hard time holding back the tears and if I did let them drop down my chubby cheeks, I woudn't have been able to drive as my eyes get severely blurry when I cry even just a few tears! My DH was touched as well and it gives him such pleasure to see me so happy when I've been shopping with Patricia!

Here's the back of the planter. Look at those curls! What a cutie!

Isn't she lovely? I couldn't leave this girly snail Baby Nursery Planter at Goodwill. I paid a grand total of .99 cents for her. I've been so lucky to find these planters in abundance which is good since I'm mighty partial to them!

****

Well, so ends my thrifting story and I had a blast putting it together for you...well for me too! Hope you will be back to see my next batch of goodies and treasures next Wednesday! Mr. Timeless Things and I are leaving for Austin for a romantic weekend getaway to celebrate our Anniversary. We will be back on Monday so everyone have a safe and wonderful weekend!

Jennifer At Eye Candy Creations Is Having A Sweet Ice Cream Social!

2009-07-13T06:09:00.016-05:00

Hi everyone and welcome to Jennifer's Eye Candy Creation's Ice Cream Social Party! The days are getting hotter and we've just got to find ways to keep cool and what better way than to dig in to some delicious and freezing cold ice cream? Yum! I like all flavors...what are your favorites? Have a seat and I'll fix you a delicious treat, specially made for you with the help of some cute little bunnies who love ice cream too!

Thanks go to sweet and mega talented Jennifer, at Eye Candy Creations , for hosting such a SWEET and YUMMY event! Now I will really have to head on over to my favorite ice cream shop and treat myself to a yummy treat! Be sure to visit the other Ice Cream Social Butterflies and bring your sweet tooth with you!