Look what I found!

Getting the house ready to put on the market has been a lot of work for R and me! There's been so much stuff to go through to de-clutter the house. I have to say, it looks really nice. Most everything is clean and the clutter is all gone. I've got to thank E for receiving a van load over the weekend. Now its cluttering her place. : )

One of the items I came across as I was going through all our earthly possessions was M's favorite blanket as a young child. He slept with it for a good four years. It is a light-weight cotton blanket and four years of wear took its toll on the blanket! Therefore, its not in the best shape now. When I found it, I couldn't throw it out, and decided I needed to get some pictures of M with it as a record and then I could get rid of it. M graciously posed the other day and he is adorable with his blanket! After the photo shoot, I tried to throw it out. M said he didn't care one way or the other. But I put it with his possessions anyway. The little blanket made it through another round of house-purging.

Lightening the Load

Roland and I are visiting with a realtor on Saturday about putting our house on the market. This has been a great house to raise our family in, but now its rather empty--with lots of yardwork and the typical upkeep of a big house.

So for the past few weeks Roland and I have been cleaning out closets and getting rid of things we've been carrying around for a lot of years. I'm not much of packrat, but it's been monumental, especially for Roland. But the way I see it, when our children don't have to throw things out that their parents wouldn't part with, we'll have spared them alot of grief!

So over the weekend we took a few pictures of some of the "precious" items that we've been storing in boxes. Hopefully, these pictures will remind us of Roland's crazy and fun youth!

The first picture is a trophy he received in 1973 from Sigma Gamma Chi, the church's fraternity. Roland grew discouraged about all the fundraisers the fraternity had so that they could hold big formal dances at expensive places and suggested they do some service. So they voted him to be the service coordinator! Among other service projects he encouraged the fraternity to walk together in a fundraiser for the March of Dimes. His buddies made a trophy for him. The inscription on it says, " 1973 Walkathon/ . . . one small step for . . . Roland Roberts . . . one giant leap for the March of Dimes/ Presented by Sigma Gamma Chi."


When Roland was on his mission in Chile, several of the missionaries had these hats that the Chilean National Police Force wore as part of their uniform. Roland, too, really wanted one. So a member of the church got him one. He's lookin' might tough now! I suggested we get a glass box to display this hat in and he thought I was making fun of him for keeping it. But I wasn't! Really, I wasn't! However, upon further inspection the moths have been enjoying making hole in the wool. Oh, well.

You may remember Roland collected whips while on his mission. It sounds rather kinky to me, but he assures me that it was just a crazy, fun thing to collect--and there were so many different, cool ones! He had already thrown several away. This one apparently was his favorite--or maybe it just held up longer? He's also holding onto his lasso. However, now the leather is cracking and why put them all back in the box one more time when we can take a picture and brag about his collection and playful spirit?! Admire as you like, but these items aren't around anymore for anyone to fight over!

We're not sure if the house will sell. With the market the way it is, we may have to settle for a lower selling price. But that condo waiting for us surely will have a lower buying price for us, too! Regardless, our load is a little lighter now.

1995 Hike in the Smokies

I've been cleaning out my closet this evening and came across this picture. I remember the day and taking this picture as we were hiking up to Abrams Falls. As I recall, when we got up to the Falls, Brian, David and Emily dove in and went swimming. It was springtime and the water wasn't warm. We didn't bring any changes of clothes, but it seems everyone was pretty proud of their accomplishment and that seemed to compensate for their shiverin'! Well, that's the way I remember it.

I'm glad we did fun things like go hiking in the Smokies as a family--and am especially that our teenagers would come with us. Look! They even appear to be happy.

Roland's 3 Wolf Moon Birthday Party

Three Wolf Moon was the perfect theme for Roland's birthday party. Emily and Jason arrived Friday night, Michael came out of his cave and we had a great time. There was a crazy game of Rook in which Roland, Jason, and Emily beat Michael and me. The score was 540 to -265. Thinking back on it, I bet we lost because Michael didn't wear his Three Wolf Moon t-shirt! He's usually a wizard at Rook, but the competition was steep since everyone else had theirs on. (Well, Jason didn't wear one, but he doesn't own one, so that can't be held against him. ; ) Afterward, we enjoyed some amazingly moist brownies made with pumpkin instead of eggs and oil. You'll note the candles say "52", but there are eight additional candles on the cake to make it "60".

The next day we went out to Sitar to continue our party and then to see "Sherlock Holmes". It was a great movie--with some great humor and plenty of action. Then in the evening, Roland, Jason and Emily watched four episodes of 24. Jason and Emily are now fans of 24, too! They took Seasons 1 and 2 back to Manchester with them.

Happy Birthday, Roland!

Fiesta and Dancin'

My sister told me about about an opportunity to share your Fiesta Ware Story and have a chance to win two place settings of it. So I submitted my story and decided to include it on my blog. I really love my Fiesta Ware!

In 1959, as a four-year-old just starting dance lessons, I visited my dance teacher’s apartment. It was like stepping into another world filled with color and personality! My attention was drawn to a small china hutch displaying bright, colorful dishes. My young eyes had never seen a set of dishes made up of so many different colors! She invited me to sit down at her table to enjoy some cookies and fruit. I don’t remember what kind of cookie I chose, but the memory of the turquoise plate it sat on is vivid! My dance teacher’s personality was as vibrant and colorful as her Fiesta Ware.

When I was in high school, my dance teacher suddenly passed away. It was a sad time for the whole community. She had not only taught her students to dance, but to smile and let our unique personalities shine. After her death, her husband gave me some of her Fiesta Ware. Fifty years later, I still feel the same passion that I felt when I first saw it in her hutch. The bright colors help me remember to smile and celebrate every day.

As a post script to this story, we purchased some new Fiesta Ware this weekend at Kohl's. It was 50% off and we were lucky enough to get a coupon for another 30% off. I just couldn't resist. So here's a picture of Roland's salad on a new Fiesta plate. It was like a party eating salad tonight!

Coco Before Chanel

Today I enjoyed an outing with my girlfriends as we went to the theater to view the French movie, Coco Before Chanel, starring Audrey Tautou. (Who does a stunning job portraying Coco!) Before today I didn't realize that Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel grew up in an orphanage. She was born in the late 1800s, which makes her a little older than my grandmother). But, oh, she was way ahead of her time--or maybe I should say she created through her fashions, a style that lingers with us today. Thanks to Coco, we have our stylin' little black dress, bell bottoms and got rid of corsets! In the movie, her life was not portrayed as a happy one. She was taken advantage of and certainly didn't have many options on how she could survive. It was a man's world. Even though we had to read the English subtitles, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and am impressed by Coco's courage and ambition. She was not pampered socialite kind of designer--oh no, she was a pioneer--one strong woman!

Chef Michael

I came in from a busy day of tapping and visiting teaching to find Michael in the kitchen following a recipe he had on his ipod for making bagels from scratch! This is the third solo kitchen experience he's had. He finds his motivation in baking to share with the students in a math class at UT. He first baked brownies, next chocolate chip cookies. Both were big hits in his class and with dad and me, too. But I am especially impressed that he has made such delicious bagels. Working with yeast can be tricky! He needed to form the bagel, let them rise, boil them, and finally bake them. They were scrumptious! Lucky Math Class!