Meet the Family, Part One

Yesterday evening, Ron finally got a chance to meet Callie and I had a chance to meet his youngest son, Tyler.   Fortunately, nothing as dramatic as you see in the movies occurred, and instead we had a easy, comfortable time while visiting the movie set yet again (it's kind of addicting to see what's happening next).

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There were no explosions this time, but we did see/hear lots of machine gun attacks.





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It was hot, though, and since we couldn't get very close, we eventually left the small crowd that was gathered and headed to Johnny's for pizza and then home to watch the Olympics.

Sorry for the blurriness of this first one :
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Stayed tuned for part two, where I meet the Tyler's siblings and their families in the next couple of weeks.

Olympus Has Fallen

Yesterday, after work and a hand doctor checkup, Ron picked me up for a bike ride and run---his, of course!  ;-)   He was riding along Teague Parkway, so I brought my camera along to take pictures.







While he rode, I walked up the path a ways in order to get a better look at the "goings on" near Century Tel Center.  The movie business is still booming here.  The most current film in the works is "Olympus Has Fallen", featuring Gerard Butler and Dylan McDermott, and others.   For one of the sets, they have constructed a large replica of the White House along the parkway, just behind the Century Tel Center












We've heard that they are supposed to blow the thing up in the next day or so.  Wish I could see that, too, but the parkway is closed now until after the weekend.  With Barksdale right next door, there  were times when it certainly appeared that the White House was under attack from our own B-52's. 



Several of my friends have run into Dylan McDermott around town and had pictures made with him---they've all commented on how nice he was.   I look forward to seeing the movie in the theater in the future.

Later in the evening, some of the people in the running group were talking about this: http://www.ksla.com/story/19103935/shots-fired-at-clyde-fant-joggers-spd-looking-for-truck    
I'm glad we were not there, but it is so crazy!!!  Who does that?!?!    

Scrappin' Sistas'

Last week, I traveled down to Baton Rouge to visit Valine and to spend some time with the ladies I usually "scrap" with in the summer.  Since there was to be no retreat this year, we decided to organize our own.  And it was wonderful!!!







There were late night and lots of laughter, but oh so relaxing at the same time.







No pressure to rush or compete, just relax and enjoy!   A "new to me" friend joined our group and it was so fun getting to know Cindy.



We'll definitely be doing this again!!
 

Week Re-Cap

Life has been interesting lately---in a good way.   Way too early to make any predictions, but fun never the less.  But, it's also been busy.


I finally started working on these chairs that I saved from Noel's trash a few years back.  I have big plans for them, but it had to start with paint. 



We cooked and served burgers at Hope House Tuesday night---so fun!!



Thursday, I had a quick Burger King bite with Megan before we took her mom to the doctor.



Then, helped serve the meal at the Highland Blessing Dinner--these are the volunteers from Noel:



Unfortunately, this little escapade Saturday evening: (Sorry, Callie, I just realized that I wasn't supposed to post this picture)



turned to this on Sunday afternoon:



but was repaired in time for this:    PERFECT!



This morning, I slept in a little and enjoyed relaxing outdoors with blueberry scones and iPads with Valine.



We have a fun week ahead--there are sure to be a few pictures to follow!   Life is Good!

Tutorials and Such

I received a request today for the .pdf file I used to make the little felt deer I stitched up a couple of years ago.  I did a whole blog post on them at the time and even posted a free file to share over on Scribd, however, at that time it was free to use that site---free to upload and download.  Apparently, they are now charging $ to download files and since it was never my intention to make money off of the tutorials I've shared, I searched for another option.

I think I've found one that will work---at least for now.  I uploaded the .pdf files into Google docs and have re-listed the links on the individual blog posts.   Clicking on the links in the posts should now take you to a free spot to download the file.  If it is a large file, you will not be able to see a preview of the file, but will still have the option to download the file.  I hope that works for everyone---and please let me know if you have any difficulty.

A Little More Memphis

A little more Memphis for you---scenes of Graceland:

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Yep, there were fabric covered walls (framing amazing art, I might add)



And, olive green shag rug walls!!! Yikes!!









Watching the ducks at the Peabody:





BBQ at the Rendezvous:



Stax Records:



Sun Studios:





Mud Island:



Good food:

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A ghost tour:



The best parts of the trip:
*  Coming around a corner in Stax to find Dan dancing in front of a huge "Soul Train" screen
*  Watching the Beale Street Flippers
*  The "adventure" of Ernestine & Hazel's
*  Hearing Dan ask people EVERYwhere we went:  "Did Elvis come here?"

But, the very best part was being with these two:



Rock on, Memphis!!