Good Morning, ME Monday

When I am down and out feeling like I can’t put one foot in front of the other due to the aches and pains of older age or the hand life has dealt me for a given day, this little book of Mary’s always brightens my spirits. It keeps me marching forward with a smile on my face and more “umph” in my steps..  How she does what she does I do not know, but her drawings and inspirational quotes continue to alter my drooping moods for the better.

Here’s hoping all of you are have a happy ME Monday!

“If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do it keep on walking.”

~Buddhist Proverb

A Functionally Dysfunctional ME Monday Challenge

     Both my daughter and my BFF’s daughter have been social workers for years, so we have heard the word “dysfunctional” used over and over again in many, many conversations.  We are convinced the two of us are basically somewhat dysfunctional, but fortunately we are very happy dysfunctionals. We do not need to put the fun back into it because it never left! When I found this Mary Engelbreit  zipper bag in a local gift shop, I just had to have it.  I have used it for all kinds of things, but for the last few years it has been my carry-along embroidery bag.  Inside it I have room for a little plastic container for my floss, a needle holder, scissors, embroidery hoops, the design schematic for my 100 Blessing Sampler, and even more.  It really holds a lot to be so small, and at the present it contains everything I need to work on my 100 Blessings Sampler. Everytime I go out with it I always get a comment.  Guess there are a lot of folk out there that do not know about ME and all of her wonderful expressions.

     This afternoon, my 5 year old granddaughter who was visiting for the weekend wanted me to make Shrinky Dink necklaces with her so we got out the plastic, Sharpie markers, and started creating. She put on my reading glasses pretending she was 18 years old and a teacher while telling me she was going to sketch out what she was going to draw. She tickles me to death when she pops on my silly little reading glasses.

     By chance, this little bag just happened to be on the floor right beside where I was sitting on the sofa.  When I looked down and saw ME’s drawing of the girl in her hat and glasses, I started sketching her on my plastic....then Eloise started copying what I was doing.  So here you have it....hers is on the left and mine is on the right, and I think hers has much more personality and appeal than mine....it is just too so cute.  She was upset with me for not following the picture and neglecting to put the flower on he side, so she insisted adding her own yellow flower to the top of my girl’s hat...and when she and I are playing, what Eloise wants to do Baga lets her do!  They turned out pretty cute, but the most fun was just playing with her. They sure don’t come even the least bit close to looking like one of ME’s drawings.

"Grandmother-grandchild relationships are simple. Grandmas are short on criticism and long on love.”
~Author Unknown

Genie’s First Thrifty Thursday Purchase

     While living through another of my “Sleepless in Seattle” nights a few nights ago, I came across Leigh’s blog over at Tales from Bloggeritaville.  She is quite the nifty thrifty gal with a huge group of bloggers following  her Thrifty Thursdays.  Go to her blog, and you can read all about it.  She and her friends post their thrifty purchases for the week each Thursday, and they are so neat.  This week is #71 so I am a tad bit behind the chase.  

After a trip to the doctor, I went to our local “antique mall”.....actually a bit of a junk, flea, collectables, and antiques in our old Rose’s building.  Being a lover of the anything old, for me I hit the jackpot today.  I had to do a bit of haggling, but I got these two precious embroidered and appliqued linen handtowels for $1.00 each, and finally got the price on the metal flower cart down to $10.00.  I really felt lucky about it because they are alway priced way out of what my thrifty wallet allows. After a stop off at WallyWorld and the purchase of some $2.00 plants, I drove home quite the happy camper. Now, I have ME Mondays (the ME stands for Mary Engelbreit) over at Cherry Chick’s blog, Rednesdays at It’s a Very Cherry World, and Thrifty Thursdays.  This is going to be one fun summer!

It’s ME Monday, and I Found My Missing ME Decoupage Pin

     Thanks to Vicki at Cherry Chick and her wonderful SmileBox presentation of some of her many unique, signed ME collectables, and in particular her pictures of Mary’s little decoupage  pins, I got up at the crack of dawn this morning to search for the ONE I have had for years but couldn’t find anywhere. I was frantic I’d lost it...like a friend missing... but much to my great joy and surprise I found it almost immediately under my bathroom sink in my “pin basket”...just where it was supposed to be...isn’t that usually the case?  Like I told Vicki, that poor little pin has been through the washer and dryer so many times I cannot count them, but what ME does she does well and for that reason it is in really good condition. Thank you V. for triggering my fading memory and sending me on my searching mission. I am such a happy camper this afternoon :-)!


“Friends though absent are still present.”
~Marcus Tillius Cicero - 106BC-43BC

ME Monday is Upon Us Again

    Since I just finished writing about sending off my grandsons to camp today, I thought I would share this ME “Pal” frame with all of you.  The picture is of my eldest grandchild, Crenshaw (18), who is the one in Colorado this summer and not here at camp, and my youngest one and the only little girl, Eloise (5).  She absolutely adores her big cousin so it is sot fitting that their picture be in the “Pal" frame.  For some reason, this is one of my favorite of all of ME’s frames.  I’ve tried time and time again to get another one to give to my BFW, Weezie, but I cannot find one anywhere to save my soul.  If any of you know of one floating around for sale, please let me know. The little hat on the right has a tiny chip in it after all these years, but a Sharpie did wonders for it.  I just think it is the cutest frame ever.  If any you haven;t joined and would like to join our ME Challenge Group, give Vicki a visit at Cherry Chick. Happy ME Monday to all of you.

M.E. Monday - THE BEGINNING!

Queen Elizabeth may think she is the Queen Mother, but on this side of the pond she is sadly mistaken.....I am the Queen Mother!  Many years ago my best friend gave me this  Mary Engelbreit “potholder”, but as you can see it has never been used as one. She is the topic of my Blessing #5 which you can read at flossingmyblessings.blogspot.com. Instead it sits either on my pillow or on the back of my blue, heated recliner. It may not be the most unique ME thing I have, but it is definitely one of the most special because Weezie gave it to me.  In honor of her friendship and faithfulness to me through the years, I have decided to use my “Queen Mother” as my first contribution to Vicki’s ME Challenge.

“So many people come into our lives and then leave the way they came. But there are those precious few who touch our hearts so deeply we will never be the same."
~Mary Engelbreit