Grandma's Piano Bench

On Mother's Day my husband had to work so I decided to go over to my moms house with Little Buddy. I had asked her a few days earlier if she wanted to go for lunch and where she wanted to go for Mother's Day. Little Buddy and I go there almost every weekend when my husband works side security jobs for the pd at various places in that town. We head to my moms in between Little Buddy's naps, then we go upstairs to her apartment til Little Buddy gets used to her (still in stranger anxiety phase so he screams bloody murder if we go there and she just hops in the front seat), then we all three head to Chipotle. My mom loves it, Little Buddy behaves there for some odd reason, plus he eats an entire side of guacamole for lunch? He has loved the guacamole there since he was like 7-8 months old. Odd, I know. It's very healthy so I roll with it. The vegetarian bowl is in my diet so I like to go there too. Strangely when I told her we could go wherever she wanted she picked Chipotle. I was relieved money-wise and weight-wise (down another 3 pounds). So we headed over between am & pm naps.

I let her open her gift (a pair of pajamas & a warehouse size container of chocolate covered raisins). After visiting in her apartment for a few minutes we headed over to Chipotle. The music is really loud in there and my mom loves to dance in her seat while she's eating for Little Buddy. He loves it. He chowed on guacamole, a huge bowl of fresh blueberries, Cheerios, & Goldfish crackers, and a spoonful or two of my and my moms lunch. Then we headed to the nearby nature center and walked around outside and looked at the animals in the huge cages and let Little Buddy "get his walk on."

The weather really sucked so we headed back to Grandmas to visit for a little bit before going back home for Little Buddy's pm nap. My mom is a piano teacher so she has a grand piano in her apartment. She lets LB play the keys as long as he doesn't bang on them. She is a very musical person and has lots of musical instruments. She opened up her piano bench and started to grab a green pouch out of it. She said, "Hmmm, forgot what's in here," and tried to figure out what was in the pouch by feel. She started to laugh with a devilish grin on her face. She asked me, "Did you guys give this to me?" I also tried to feel the pouch without opening to see what was in it. Oddly, it felt like the male anatomy?!? I thought it was some odd gag gift she's received but definitely not from me/us (my husband and I). Or, wait a minute. I opened up the pouch and saw a life-size penis flute complete with balls . . . . . . . painted black. I could not stop laughing. It was something handcrafted (sorry, but you know what I mean) made out of pottery or clay like what someone may bring back from Mexico or Dominican Republic. Yes, we did get it for her when my husband and I were on our honeymoon in the Dominican Republic 5 years ago this October. Funny, how you forget things like this. She has been solo for years and we thought she'd get a kick out of it, which she did . . . . . and still does . . . . . so do I.

Wait it gets better. After we stopped laughing from that, Little Buddy still playing the keys on the piano. She grabbed a tambourine I'd never seen before with some kind of writing on the side in marker. I asked her where she got it and she said she didn't remember. Then she started to read the writing on the side. "Love Barbara Manz-icki." "Who is that," I asked. She said, "I have no idea, here you look at it I don't have my glasses." I read it again, closely looking at each letter. It was definitely hand signed with marker by somebody, but who. "Love, Barbara Mandrell," I said. "Mom, this says 'Love, Barbara Mandrell,' where the heck did you get this?" "Think hard." But she couldn't remember. It was definitely a real signature and a professional musicians tambourine just an older one that was beginning to fall apart. I was shocked, and thought maybe it's worth something. How do we find out? How does one determine if the signature is truly Barbara Mandrell's? My mom doesn't have a lot of money, I'd love to sell this for her and make some money. Wonder how I go about doing this. If anyone knows, please let me know. Amazing what you can find in Grandma's Piano Bench.

Freecyclin'!

This Freecycling is fantastic. Yesterday a fabulous mom of 2 came over to dig up plants in my yard in an effort to landscape with little to no budget. Several of which were in the way of my soon to be stone path and would have been dumped. Several others were just bulbs & perennials that are getting way too plentiful. She brought over a really nice size 2t Columbia boys winter coat with removable hood. Both her boys wore it but it is still in perfect condition, yeah! This will fit Little Buddy this winter. Another woman came and picked up a Snow Baby ornament (I've had forever) yesterday which is cute but is not my taste and the theme of our Christmas decor is natural, nature, and outdoors. Today another mom is coming to get our 2 old baby gates we used for our dog. They are a little beat up looking but still function great and will keep her crawling baby safe. I wanted to get rid of those for awhile since we invested in 3 really nice mounted gates. I posted I was looking for stone for my path like limestone or possibly other stone, no replies . . . . . oh well. We should have enough as it is. There is no bartering with Freecycle but I wish there was. I still do graphic design on the side here and there and would love to trade that for getting my church pew refinished, etc. This Freecycling makes me feel happy and good in my soul.

I Love Freecycle!

Well, a friend told me about this cool thing called Freecycle. Whenever I have things for kids, etc. I don't need I send an e-mail out to all my mom friends asking if anyone needs it. One of my friends lives in Minnesota. She said I should look into Freecycle. I went to the webpage, their slogan is "Changing the world one gift at a time." How fabulous. I must admit the first time I went to the Freecycle site, I didn't get it. I couldn't figure out how to get to the list of free stuff. The other day I tried again and discovered that you have to create a little mini account with a Yahoo e-mail. This I think is the only drawback. Wish there was a way that you could use your own e-mail and create a screen name.

I am addicted. It is a first come first serve basis so you can't miss a beat if you want something. People have all kinds of offers & wants. I have seen (just to name a few) bags of baby/children's clothes, various furniture, women's clothes, lumber, toys, etc. I have things I can part with that aren't worth having a garage sale for, or I am not going to sell on e-bay, or isn't something I can take to Goodwill. This is beautiful. I am ecstatic. For years I thought there should be something like this. A way to have a swap type situation with people. You enter your zip code then Freecycle shows what is available in your area. Still can't figure out how you look in nearby towns. Maybe you can't.

Woops, I published earlier instead of saving draft on my way out the door. I am thrilled. I am giving a Snow Baby ornament to someone who loves them. Then Tomorrow or Sunday a girl that is trying to landscape her yard with no money will be coming to dig up some daffodils, coneflower, black-eyed susan, brunera, and thinning my daylilies and irises. I am so ecstatic that my overabundance of plants will go to a good home. Much of it would have been dug up and dumped when we have the stone path installed. Hence, I love Freecycle. Check it out!

Wordless Thursday?

Oh I gotta be different. Woops, those were/these are words. Hee! Hee!

I Don't Want To Be Rated!

Gosh, I just noticed this rating thing. Guess I would rather it be a mystery if someone dislikes my post. Then if they like it they can comment good or bad. It should be optional. If you don't like my blog, can't you read someone else's blog and keep your opinions to yourself? What do you guys think? If I was overflowing with time for oodles of creatively written posts then that would be different. As it is I can hardly use the computer, pay attention and play with my son and keep up with the house from day to day. Laundry, dishes, toenails, errands, doggy, walking, recycling, reading board books repeatedly to "Little Buddy," change the furnace filter, put the toys away . . . . . AGAIN, cook, clean out the fridge, get groceries, go to the bathroom, etc. Still have no idea how some people who have kids have time for what they have time for. It's mind-boggling.

Bloomin' Apple!

My breakfast view. The dark spot of mud around the deck is where we are having some miscellaneous stone installed on the 24th. It took 8 tries to find a landscaper that would install the odd stone we already have in piles next to the house (oh, also to find a landscaper cheap enough for our dinky budget). Some were from around the yard, some were dug up when we had the fence installed, some is from our neighbor Bernie, many are from when we drove back and forth filling up giant Rubbermaid bins full of "Free Fill," in an attempt to fill the low spots in our yard a few years ago. None of it matches, which I am thrilled about . . . . . . . more rustic, less golf coursey. YEAH! We used to do all kinds of work on the yard before the 2 of us became 3. Even this job though takes a professional, a bobcat, and lots of muscle. I am so excited! I will post some before and after shots . . . . . . hopefully I remember to take the before shots. I absolutely love before and after pictures.

Did You Know?

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and the ABC song are the same melody. Can't believe it took me 34 years to figure that one out. Chalk it up to having "Mom Brain. " Sad thing is that I didn't figure it out til I had a child.