title explained

Onward and upward! something that you say in order to encourage someone to forget an unpleasant experience or failure and to think about the future instead and move forward.

My e-mail: jjmiller6213@comcast.net

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Never Much of a Fad Follower..........

Adult coloring books are the newest fad.  Intricate designs and lovely coloring pencils.  "They" say it is a great way to relax.  I'll just bet my sister would love them.  

Me?  

Not so much.  It wouldn't be relaxing for me!  Can you imagine--me with my "perfectionist" personality and my shaky right "coloring" hand?  GOOD GRIEF!!!  I'd probably have a nervous breakdown!

Years ago, a friend wanted me to take a cake decorating class.  "It will be fun," she said.  "Think of all the money we will save, making our own cakes for family parties."

Fun?  Out of two dozen pink roses, I may have made one that actually looked like a rose.  The rest looked like some sort of pink puff-ball flower unknown to botanists.

Save money?  By the time she purchased all the pans, supplies, flower pins, on and on, I could have ordered birthday cakes for all my kids for the rest of their lives, and spent less.  So--I ordered them from her--to help pay for her decorating supplies.

I am not into intricate!  Well--I am, but not the above kind.

I can sit for hours, cross stitching.  These take three months to make: 

or these baby crib quilts



Or crocheting.  I am almost done with the Queen Sized blanket.

Or testing a new, knitted intricate design for Chris.
To me--this is fun.  Cake decorating is tedious.  Coloring would be nerve wracking.   

Maybe it's because with the X-stitch, crochet, knitting, I can sit in my recliner, feet up, cats snuggled in and listen to the TV and just get something done while being lazy? That's probably it.  
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Today is my grandson Stephen--Karen's 4th child, 22nd birthday.  Like Helene and Marcus (Susanna and Maddie had no interest), his goal was to grow taller than Gramma.  Helene is as tall, Marcus is 6'2" and Stephen made it!!  6'4" and still growing.  
Now, in his Senior year at Michigan State, and going into Medical School next fall.  Who would have ever imagined!





 10 years old              
13th birthday--still chubby

Christmas       16th year

Karen has a tape on the wall to measure the kids.
The highest mark on the tape was my height.
Stephen passed it on his 16th birthday.

Eagle Scout--17 years old























High School Graduation               





Freshman year at MSU.
ESPN showed him to the world!
YIKES!!
2015--Tall and lean and handsome as can be
...and the most important--polite, considerate, nice, compassionate, conservative, Catholic man--because, after all--he is Karen's child!

15 comments:

  1. Stephen is such a handsome young man; you're so blessed to have so many grand's. :)

    See how smart you are, Judy. You make such beautiful things with your hands! Love them all. xoxo

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    1. Sal, it doesn't take a whole lot of smarts to create things--from a pattern. The only X-stitch I am truly proud of is the one I did last year, just from memory, of my childhood home and town. That came from my heart!!!

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    2. If we ever visit, I want you to help me start a granny square so I can make more afghans. I even have a pattern and still NO can't get it. :)

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    3. If you can crochet a chain, then you can crochet anything. Maybe you just don't understand the pattern? There are YouTube tutorials that show you exactly how to do a Shell pattern, which basically what a Granny Square is. Look it up. :-)

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  2. Because, after all - he is your grandchild! What a great height travelogue through his childhood until now. You think he'll grow some more? Where is he going to Medical School?

    I got two coloring books with pencils for Christmas, and haven't cracked them open yet. I used to create coloring books and paper dolls for companies, when I was first illustrating. So it sort of seems odd I would color within anyone else's lines, instead of my own. I can't quite imagine why anyone would color within ANYone else's lines but their own - it's just a matter of confidence to make your own!

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    1. I've never been very good at coloring within the lines--especially someone elses. :-)

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  3. Wow, you can sure tell you and your grandson are related! He looks and sounds like a very special person.

    Those adult coloring books are all the rage. I tried them but it seems like a waste of time to color in someone else's lines. I'd rather make my own lines and if I'm going to spend that much time doing something I want something more to show for it like your knitting and cross-stitch.

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  4. I need to post my story of being fired by Southwestern Bell because I couldn't stay within the lines. It's a great story -- my first job, in Kansas City. And even though I liked coloring books as a kid, it mostly was because my daddy always colored with me, and he didn't care one bit if I made people green and dogs yellow!

    My mother was a knitting and needlepoint maven. I got rid of most of her stash after she died, but I still have a couple of bins of tapestry yarns and fancy threads. Maybe I'll do something with them, some day. Your pieces are beautiful.

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    1. My Mother loved coloring, she was good at it. My sister got my Mother's artistic gene. I remember my poor Mother trying to teach me how to draw. "Sit here and just draw the barn...like you think it looks." I was bored in 10 minutes. She came back and said, "That's what the barn looks like to you?" and sent me off to climb the Willow Tree, ride my bike and make hide-outs in the woods.

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    2. Climbing trees, riding your bike and making hide-outs in the woods sounds like a lot of fun to me, too LOL

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  5. He is adorable! What a fun photo tribute ... of height! Hope you send it to him in a birthday card form!!

    I have colored pencils ... but nothing in the way of patterns has caught my eye ... I would like to start with small ....

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  6. What a handsome grandson you have. Don't they grow up so fast?

    The adult coloring books are not for me, either, but I think my granddaughter liked the one I gave her for Christmas. I used to do all that stuff: crocheting, cross stitch, ceramics, cake-making. I enjoyed all of it but don't have the vision or inclination to do it anymore.

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  7. When my kids were little I used to take their coloring books and crayons and lock myself in the bathroom to color. It was a tremendous stress reliever for me! A few years ago I bought a coloring book and crayons and tried it again. Unfortunately it didn't have the same effect this time! Of course, I didn't lock myself in the bathroom this time! Maybe I should have done that!!!

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  8. Your grandson is so Handsome!

    I recently bought an adult coloring book. It is relaxing for me and just about the only way I can make something remotely pretty with my hands :)

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