The Barkus Parade

I went to the dog parade down in Soulard yesterday and if you've never gone it's so much fun to see all the dogs dressed up in their costumes.  Here's just a sampling of the thousands of dogs dressed to the nines:

Now I've gone & done it....

I bought a small shelf over the weekend and decided to hang it in my bedroom. After hanging the shelf, I looked around for a small item to place on it. The item that was the most obvious is a little trinket box made from a goose egg with carved holes around the edges, a gold knob and little pearl feet. It sits on my dresser and I’ve always been very careful handling it because it’s very fragile and it’s one of my all-time favorite souvenirs. I bought it when Jim & I were in Budapest in 2005 and I keep the diamond ring & earrings I inherited from Mom in it.

I picked it up to place it on the shelf and as I looked at it I noticed something that looked like cellophane on it. As I looked closer, I realized it was scotch tape! Evidently, it had been broken and taped back together. When I told Jim about it he said that I had bought a broken box. I told him I didn't think so but I couldn't prove it and that maybe someone broke it and repaired it without my knowledge. I accused Jim and of course he denied it. So it could’ve been one of the kids or the cleaning lady. I guess this is a mystery that will have no resolution.

So I decided to take a picture of it to post with this story and guess what? I was too overly cautious which caused me to be a klutz & I dropped the lid! So no I’ve gone and broken it more!

Oh well, you can’t see it when it’s on my new shelf….

Birthday totals

I waited until late to report my birthday counts as I had a late birthday get-together with my friends.  Here's the shakedown:

6 e-mail birthday wishes
1 e-mail birthday card
13 happy birthdays via facebook
6 telephone call
11 birthday cards (1 from the insurance guy, 1 from the financial advisor & 1 from the old insurance guy)
4 texts (two were from Barb's friends who were sitting right by me at the scrapbook retreat!)
12 gifts

Another year & I still can't believe I'm as old as I am.  I remember Mom telling me that she couldn't believe how old she was.  I guess it's good that we're young at heart..... 

Scrapbooking

I went on a scrapbooking retreat with Janet, Barb and 3 of Barb's friends last weekend and here are the layouts I completed.

Sorrento & the Amalfi Coast in Italy

Janice



Hidden Valley Ski Resort Polar Plunge tubing.

Baseball game with bosses.



riding a camel in Turkey



Relaxing in Jamaica

Where's Waldo (Jeanne)?

Snow

Jamaica

Some Christmas Decorations - I inherited the nativity scene from Mom.

Size matters!

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Smithville, Indiana one-of-a-kind museum

I took vacation last week because Barb & Janice came to town and I wanted to spend time with them.  Jennifer came over after work Tuesday and we ended up getting iced in until Thursday.  The 4 of us had a good time just being together.  We had to push Jennifer's car out of the driveway Thursday so she could go home.  Janice's Wednesday flight got cancelled so she got a chance to enjoy shoveling snow for the first time in probably 30 years or more!  It was touch & go with Barb's friends coming from Nashville since they were leery of the road conditions but they finally made it.  I had a fun week.