My brother picked up some mini cupcakes from a local shop near his home in Los Angeles and my parents purchased us a little Iron Griddle.

Random Shots from my parents back yard.

There have been jets flying over for the past few days. Maneuvers? They fly down from the high desert over the mountains and do a few laps through the valley and then go back over the mountains back to the desert.

Inside... Iron fajita grills. I have wanted a pair "for-e-vah". I could not wait to use them. We have purchased them for others in the past... but never bought a set for ourselves. World market of course... : )
Then I had to run to the computer for the next hint. Mind you I have my camera in tow to document the fun. The clue was on one of his old blog posts... it was about "frown day"... long story.
Well there I went to the pantry. Digging through the selves...
....and there it was.... Blueberry syrup (with real blueberries) and malted waffle mix.

YUM!


I took him on a shopping spree at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in Redlands and bought him a seed pod shaped Iron bell from Nigeria.

Looking at my blog, it seems the month of August has been one long, relaxing and a creative month. Now that the end of the month is coming and now that I took a "Me Day", I have time to reflect. Read it if you like. It's more of a "taking the rocks off my back and leaving them here" post. Seasons are changing and as usual so will life.

This month has been busy. Between work and my daily life( no pun intended... but use it where I can) I have been with my grandmother. I took some vacation time and spent with her. She is going to be 82 and she recently broke her arm.... in a northeastern state. Go figure. She came home and needed surgery. Well no can do. Her blood pressure is walking on the moon and put up the "I forgot to take my pills" flag. It will be going on four weeks and she no longer has the option of surgery to correct her break. The bone matter is already growing back and must be re-broken. However that is out of the question because she has high blood pressure. Something that should of been taken care of by Aunt Number 2 in February. I guess she forgot to tell anyone. Well Aunt number 1 to her for her arm and found this out and it has been a battle to have her take her pills. I even had to fake a phone call to the doctor and tell my grandmother that he was on the phone and wanted to know if she was taking her pills because that morning she said that "he" said she could stop. Running from her house to my house before my baby gets home so I can make him dinner or clean or tend to our yard or play with our numerous pets has had me on overdrive. Mind you, This is my vacation time. I wanted to use this vacation time to spend with my husband since I go into overdrive at work from Oct-Jan. So I scheduled... well, might I add.

In addition to all of this I have be working on clearing up her bills. She was consistently a month behind on everything. When people would take her to pay they were paying the previous months. She would write the amount on the envelope and no one ever took out the actual bill to look at the dates. I took over her SCE, Gas, Verizon, Insurance, Cable and am monitoring her bank account now. I am able to pay it all on line and view her statements. I however refuse to move any of her money in her account from checking to saving and visa versa online. That is to be done in the Bank with her present. I don't want any finger pointing. What frustrates me is she has two maxed out cards and an auto loan overdue. First of all she does not have a truck and second she does not shop in the men's section of Nordstroms... but my cousins do.

On a positive, now that the family knows I can view her bank accounts, her balance is still at $200+, rather than $5.

As far and I'm concerned, I did not work Friday because I realized I post phoned my regular dentist appointment for over two months. I made an appointment. The Doctor said my gum line is receding. Not from gum disease. He asked if I was stressing.. Yes. Was I grinding my teeth at night, Yes. Was I over brushing... yes. Oh man. The from there I went to the hospital to be with my grandma as she was denied surgery and had a new and lighter cast put on.

So I made a necklace (last post).