Don't forget to visit my website! Jackie Coleman - Author

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Today is National Backwards Day

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!ysae taht ton s'tI. sdrawckab gnitirw yrT

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

I Fixed it Myself!


I hadn't been able to use the garage door keypad since I moved in. This past summer, I decided two years was long enough! After inspecting it, I realized the a battery had been left in and the connector was corroded. So, I headed to Home Depot and bought a package of 9-volt connectors.


Once back home, I spliced the wires together, programmed the keypad, then held my breath ... and it worked! It's amazing how something so small and trivial can make life so much easier.

I love being able to fix things!

Monday, January 29, 2018

My Sunday Morning Project

Every time my grandbabies come over, I have to drag out baskets and baskets of toys, their table and chairs, riding toys, walker, playmats, etc. It's not a huge amount of work, but I kept thinking about how nice it would be if I could have them stored neatly in the living room somehow. I wanted the toys accessible to the kiddo's, but out of sight when they aren't there ... and I think I found a pretty good solution. It doesn't solve all the toy storage problems, but it's helpful!

Before:

After:

Friday, January 26, 2018

I Fixed My Closet Door

The rolling mechanism came off one of the closet doors in my office. Small wonder, considering it's a hollow-core door, and they were basically screwed into thin air!


John told me to set it aside. That it would be a day's work. His intention was to attach a piece of lumber inside the door to give the screws something to bite. I said okay, that I'd wait. Even though it's only been a few days, it drove me nuts seeing that door just leaning against the wall. So, I came up with an ingenious(ish!) solution, and I fixed it myself! On my lunch hour! Including the trip to Lowe's! His way is probably better and longer-lasting, but mine was faster. Besides, the door held up all these years like it was, the way I fixed it should last another couple of decades!




Thursday, January 25, 2018

Tired Baby


I knew this sweet baby was tired, but I wanted to get some food into his belly before I laid him down for a nap. He managed to take one bite of grilled cheese before going into his afternoon coma!

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

A Little Concerning


I rarely make the light green, so I pretty much sit under this highway overpass daily. And everyday, I anxiously look over and see these cracks in the concrete. This particular overpass is near downtown, where the top brass of the city and county work. I assume that these cracks are cosmetic and that someone with authority would have seen them and called for action if this were a dangerous structural issue. (I hope!)

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

No Idea!


My daughter saw this man walking through the parking lot near where she works last week ... with a vacuum cleaner in his backpack! I'm sure he has good reason ... why else would be strolling through downtown in single digit temperatures, carrying a vacuum cleaner?

Friday, January 19, 2018

I Think His Parents Need More Sleep


The temperature this morning was 20°, which is the warmest it's been in over a week. So imagine my surprise when my grandbaby came dressed in shorts! His mother picked out the outfit and his father picked out the mismatched socks ... leading me to believe those two didn't get enough sleep last night!

Saturday, January 13, 2018

Our First Snow of the Season


I was lucky enough to not have to get out in it yesterday, because the roads were quite treacherous. Thing 1 dropped off her little baby for me to watch, and she almost didn't make it to my house to pick him up. Fortunately, bad weather brings out good Samaritans. Those kind souls helped get her car back on the road, and she safely made it the rest of the way. Her husband picked up her and the baby in a 4-wheel drive truck to get them home. Her car is still here. I had made a big pot of chili, so I sent some home with my daughter.

As I was looking out my bathroom window this morning, I noticed some snow hanging off the house. I don't believe I've ever seen snow act like this  before!




Wednesday, January 10, 2018

My Day


My youngest sister is lucky enough to get to be a stay-at-home mom, so she's been babysitting my youngest grandson while my daughter and son-in-law are at work. She's a very doting mother/babysitter, and loves that little boy. In fact, I think she secretly prays that my daughter and her husband will get tired of the baby and just give him to her! (Fat chance!)

Watching my little grandson is her joy, but this week, she's got one of the many bugs floating around infecting every living, breathing thing. So, I took a day off to watch him. I get all three of my grandbabies every Saturday, but one-on-one time with them is extra, extra special ... and I get an entire day with this sweet angel!


Monday, January 8, 2018

Frozen


The lake at the bottom of the hill is frozen. I'm not sure how thick the ice is ... nor do I intend to find out! More than anything, I'm just grateful that I didn't raise my kids in a house so close to water. I'm confident that I could have came up with enough horror stories to scare the girls into staying off the lake, but something tells me my son and his friends would not have been able to resist the temptation. Raising my kids, I worried enough without the threat of drowning in my back yard. I'm not sure my heart could have withstood the additional stress of a body of water so accessible!

Saturday, January 6, 2018

Friday, January 5, 2018

Sears

The Sears store on the east side is closing very soon. There was another Sears store downtown, but that one closed years ago. I didn't realize it until I heard it on the news, but our downtown Sears store was the first retail Sears store.


I haven't shopped at Sears in years, but I remember getting their catalogs as a child. We loved when the new Sears catalog arrived! In grade school, my mom would tell us to go through the catalog and pick out what clothes we wanted for school. We'd mark our choices, and before we knew it, the would be folded and waiting for us on our beds. When the Sears Christmas catalog came, we kids would spend hours and hours and hours pouring over the pages, marking the toys we wanted our parents and Santa to bring. (Did we think Santa shopped at Sears?!!)

I feel bad that an American icon like Sears is closing, especially now that I know the first Sears store was in my hometown. There's this weird east/west thing in my town. As a westsider, I rarely shop at any store on the east side of town (except for you, Hobby Lobby ... you still have my heart!). If Sears had had a store on the west side, I'm sure I would have shopped there, at least occasionally. Even though I didn't shop there, I'm really sorry to see them go.