HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD

This is my favorite picture of my dad with Skye in '09.

This must be back in the late '80's.

I remember telling him he wasn't supposed to bite the ear off!

We sent this to my dad for his birthday, isn't it cute!

This is my dad back in February.

He loves being an usher at his church.

Happy 88th Birthday Dad.

We are on our way from Paris to Turin, Italy today.

Can you believe it's only six months until Christmas!

(this was pre-posted)

IT'S OUR ANNIVERSARY

And we are in Paris!

Je t'aime Mark

Joyeux Anniversaire

(as they say in French)

Don't think we will get a chance to see "Cars" today. If we were in the states we would be seeing this today if I had anything to say about it! But I am thrilled to be in Paris for our anniversary and certainly wouldn't trade a moment of it!

So it was June 24, 1972 which would be 39 years but we have to -6 years so we are actually only at 33 years. For those of you who are newer to my blog I am my husbands first and third wife. We remarried on June 24, 1989! Shit happens but sometimes it all turns out okay in the end.

June 24, 1972

June 24, 1989

I am going to share with you the sweetest thing he has ever said to me. When we got back together I of course had so many questions. I obviously wanted to know why, what changed his mind. He said to me "Whenever I would daydream about my future it was always you standing next to me in my dream." Aww.....right?

There is a new post today at Debby's Tree!

(this was pre-posted)

Just thought I would say that Paris is like nothing I have ever seen before! We are on our way to Versailles today!

GOT MY SECOND STAMP

I Am In Paris!

We have been going from morning until almost midnight the last few days. I am so exhausted but it has been awesome. (except for the rain, wind and cold weather) You can see from the next picture what we have had for two days in the sky. Anyway today we did a bus tour and I cried at the Eiffel Tower. I left a picture there today of my aunt and uncle. I will share that story when I can. I will be blogging about these three weeks for months! My dear friend Laura told me to come in each day and journal what I did so I have been doing that each day. (If you don't know Laura please go over and visit with her and her adorable children) I have so many things to tell you.

Eiffel Tower 6-19-11

I am not sure I even know how to describe Paris. The buildings are amazing. The traffic and people moving about is crazy, like nothing I have ever seen. We are staying in tonight. We have baguettes, cheese and wine for tonight. Mark starts the Paris Air Show tomorrow. I will take the bus tour again alone since I now know what I am doing. The shopping area is a must for me! I saw the biggest Louis Vuitton store today that I have to go into!

Bonne Nuit

P.S. If I have words that are spelled wrong I apologize. When I did spellcheck everything was wrong. My connection was doing it in French!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Happy Father's Day to my Father
and my husband Mark!

(Remembering those who are no longer with us)

We are in Paris today and will be here until next Saturday.

(this was pre-posted)

IS THAT YOU OR THE WINE TALKING....

"A woman is sitting on the veranda with her husband and she says, "I love you."

He asks, "Is that you or the wine talking?"

She replies, "It's me............. talking to the wine."

We should be in Worcester, UK today.

There is a new post over at Debby's Tree!

(this was pre-posted)

IT'S MY FIRST....

STAMP!

We made it to London and I received my first stamp on my passport. It only took me 59 years, 8 months and approximately 10 days!

Long flight, lots to share with you when I get home or when I have more time. Did do The Original Bus Tour in the cold, wind and rain yesterday! I was going to do it again today alone, since Mark went to Finland today, but it's raining again so I will just grab a cab to Harrods and shop today! Tomorrow should be about 72 and sunny so I will do the bus tour then :)

As you can see I did get up close and personal with Buckingham Palace so I thought I would share the famous balcony where several kisses have been shared with the world. I have to admit I was thrilled to be there, in real life, and I had tears in my eyes. (surreal)

<>

AWAY WE GO....

So in a few hours we leave for the airport for our (5:35pm)flight to Europe. As you know most days I will be on my own since my husband is on a business trip so please pray for my ability to fend for myself and for my lungs to cooperate.

London for a 4 nights stay here then off to a smaller town for a few nights. Mark will actually leave me in London for a night. He has a few smaller trips to make while we are away. After London we will be at the staying here in Worcester, UK.

In Paris for a week. (Paris Air Show) This is where we will be staying, it sounds wonderful. The Golden Tulip Little Palace and pretty close to everything I want to see.

Turin, Italy for a few nights then back to London. (I won't be visiting Rome)

Mark came up with this great idea, we are going to leave Paris on Saturday and take a day or two to drive to Turin. (400 miles) Sounds wonderful to me. If you know of any town we should stop at along the way let me know. We don't have a clue! But we are staying here when we get there.

Then to my surprise I get to go back to London for a few days!!! (honestly just got this information today) I was so afraid I wouldn't have time to see the things that are special to me. For some reason I want to go to the London Zoo so this might be the opportunity to do that. We will be in Gatwick staying at a Marriott Courtyard. I must admit it sounds exhausting changing hotels so often. We also stay at the Renaissance at Heathrow on two different occasions so that's like 8 hotel changes. The 8 nights in Paris at the same hotel will be the best!!

See you in three weeks ....................

P.S. I am thankful that our daughter and SIL are living here and can take care of Skye.

THERE IS A NEW POST TODAY AT DEBBY'S TREE.

IT'S CALLED PROCRASTINATION

Boy am I good at that! I am here reading blogs and basically doing anything I can to not start the packing that I need to do! I even finished cleaning out my dresser drawers and filling a very large bag that was at the door yesterday for a pick-up for tomorrow morning. What great timing, we can put everything I packed up out tomorrow!

Here is something that happened today that is just awesome. Over at Tammy's Two Cents I won a DVD. Take a guess, try to remember an important wedding in April! I won the Royal Wedding DVD from the BBC.

Now is that a sign or what?

The souvenir's are waiting for me.

So I decided to put up my new background today. Isn't it cute? I wanted you to know that I have several pre-posts that will be posting while I am gone in case I don't get a chance to do any. (I put pre-posted on them) I will definitely let you know that we arrive!

Okay I promise I am going to go pack now after I clear a few things from my reader. Wish me luck! Is it time for wine yet? I think it is in London.

P.S. How do you go out to eat for three weeks and not eat any vegetables?

WEDNESDAY HODGEPODGE

Head on over and join in the fun. Just click on the button!

1. Do you and your family enjoy camping? What do you enjoy most/like the least when it comes to family camping? When was the last time you camped?
It's been years since we camped. Did that when they were younger. We also did a motor home trip one year. We no longer enjoy the work of camping so we do the cabin in Mammoth Lakes, CA each summer at Lake George.

2. Did you attend a summer camp when you were a kid? Is that a happy or not so happy memory?
No I did not and my children never did either.

3. Over the course of your life, what have you probably spent more time pondering than anything else?
1.The safety of my children when they are out and about. 2.Trusting my husband when he travels. The mind can dream up a million things. 3. Now this is the Gods honest truth, I have spent way to much time in my life pondering what I will be packing for a trip. (this has nothing to do with my upcoming trip) I have always had sleepless nights about it.

4. Which of the seven natural wonders of the world would you most like to see? There are many lists of 'wonders' but this is the standard natural wonder list-Mount Everest, The Great Barrier Reef, The Grand Canyon, Victoria Falls, The Harbor of Rio de Janerio, Paricutan Volcano and The Northern Lights.
I am not sure. I have seen the Grand Canyon. Maybe Mount Everest or The Northern Lights.

5. What was your first real job?
My first real job was in an office. (I was pretty much the go-fer!) It was a great job and I was hired from my office class in High School. It started after graduation.

6. Lemonade or Sweet tea...which do you prefer on a hot summer day?
Lemonade, I drink it daily with half water/on ice.

7. What is something that always brings a smile to your face?
Well there are many things that do that. My children, my Skye, family pictures. You will get the biggest smile if you fart near me, I can't help but laugh at them!

8. Insert your own random thought here.
Well the next two days will be a bit of a circus for me. I have lots to do, needless to say, so please understand that if you are here reading this I may not be over to visit with you. Actually it might be weeks before you hear from me depending on how busy I am and how the internet works for me. I have to say that this is not easy for me. Blogging has become a very important part of my life, I am usually her 365 days a year. I feel I have an obligation that I can't fill right now and it's eating at my heart. I know this sounds silly to most of you but blogging changed my life for the better and being away from it will way very heavy on my heart. ((HUGS TO ALL))

POST IT NOTE TUESDAY

Brought these home from Vegas!

JUST SO YOU KNOW....

I had a great time in Las Vegas. Blogger is not letting me load any pictures or my Post It Notes that I worked on for tomorrow. Hopefully it will be back soon. This is my very first experience since I started blogging where I could not load pictures. I am a bit upset right now!!

REGRETS

Do you have any regrets? I have scanned my brain for days now thinking about regrets. Either it's old age or something else but I can't seem to find many. Obviously if I had some at a certain point in my life they certainly are not important anymore. The only thing I have been able to come up with is being a better mother.

I'm not saying that I was a bad mother. I know I did the best I could at the time and from the knowledge I had. I know that going through a divorce when my children were only 4 and 18 months old didn't make me the best parent at the time. I was in my own world of destruction. I feel like I could have done so much more as a parent. I also think that looking back now that many of you will feel this way when your children are 30 and 32. Life is busy, each day can be hectic and sometimes we yell or are preoccupied with other things. That is life. I feel today that this is the reason that God gives us grandchildren. That is when you can just love and appreciate a baby/child without all the responsibilities of everyday life.

This post isn't really about past regrets, it's about a future regret that I don't want to happen. Hopefully I can explain myself well enough so that you fully understand where I am coming from. I need your support here but you have to put yourself into my shoes to fully understand and help me with this.

I am having the most difficult time making a decision about my cameras for my trip. I love my point and shoot camera. It's my second point & shoot (digital) and it takes excellent pictures as far as I'm concerned. Ninety percent of the pictures you see on my blog are with this camera. My Canon Rebel has been my dream of getting that big girl camera. That is what I have always referred to it as. I have had this camera for maybe 7 months now. I take great pictures with it, mainly the close up shots, but I only use the auto setting. I am trying to learn more about it but haven't. I've been reading my Canon Rebel for Dummies book but haven't really taken the time to really learn other things.

Okay, are you in my shoes yet? You need to think of this as maybe your mother or your grandmother. (I know I have several followers who are still as young or younger then my own children) I turn 60 in four months. I have COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) and I am 60 pounds overweight. I am okay walking but when it comes to upper body things I get extremely winded. Over the years I have downsized my purses and carry as little as possible.

I just don't know how I will be carrying my Canon Rebel with me day in and day out for 21 days, besides the other things I have to have with me. I am torn. I don't want to regret taking it with me yet I don't want to regret not taking it with me. I was all sure of myself the other day and made the decision not to take it. (remember that most of my touring will be just me, my husband will be working)

Then I remembered the main reason I wanted to take it. Not because I felt the pictures were that much better but because it has a view finder. Sometimes with the point & shoot, because they don't come with view finders anymore, you get a terrible glare on the screen and can't see what you are doing. I am lost, I don't know how to make this decision. However I do know how hard it is for me to have the camera around my neck just when I am taking pictures around the house! I've been praying very hard about this. (I would not be taking the bigger lens, that's for sure)

I know that you can't really help me with this decision but I value your opinion.

Now don't get me started on what shoes to bring!!!!

BOWLING + VEGAS = FUN

I won't be blogging this weekend. Not taking my computer. Having fun with my daughter in Las Vegas!

New post at Debby's Tree!