Just Playing

As I've mentioned before, I LOVE clocks! The 'tick-tock' sound is so soothing to me for some reason. Knowing this, my Papa Joe told me about a friend of his that is a clock collector & dealer. So, we went out to this friend's house one day the week before last. OH MY GOODNESS!!!! Never in my life have I seen such a diverse & wonderful collection!! They were all antiques and varied in size and shape. Some were American made, but most were from overseas - mostly Europe. He has a shop beside his house where he repairs and sells the clocks, but his personal collection is inside his house. He graciously allowed me & Papa Joe in to see these masterpieces. WOW! So pretty! I had planned on buying one from him . . . having no idea what the average price was. (again . . . WOW) I found one in his shop that he was going to give me an amazing deal on, but I just can't spend that type of money right now. Someday!

While I was visiting in Canton, we went to 1st Monday. I always try to make it out of there without spending money, but I haven't reached that goal yet. It never seems to fail - I see something I need, and the downward spiral starts. =) It's almost as bad as Target! And just for the record, I am a LOYAL TARGET SHOPPER, but the "One Spot" is deceptive!! Granted, most everything in it is $1, but let's be real - who can get out of there spending only $1?!? I get caught up there and finally make my way out 10-15 minutes and $10-20 later. But I digress . . . We had a great time visiting, and the Canton trip was a success in at least one respect - I did not buy a dog!! They have this section called "DOG ALLEY" (very dangerous!) where they allow breeders to come with all the adorable little creatures. Before we entered, I told my Papa Joe that I was under NO circumstances allowed to buy a dog that day!! Thankfully, he held me to that deal, and I left Canton later that evening without a dog. :~)

So, then I worked a few more days so I could have more play time!

This past Tuesday was a great day! I went over to some friends' house to hang out most of the afternoon. (Their little boys are two of my 'nephews'.) She was keeping a friends' 6 month old, so she invited me to come play with the baby, too! What fun! She was laughing and 'talking' and sitting up and smiling - none of which my babies at work can do. What a great way to spend the afternoon! Her husband asked about my choice of "day off of work activities" that night a supper. "You spend your days off playing with babies?!?" Well, yes I do. Only it's a different kind of play. I love what I do at work, but it's so much fun to have some play time with babies that respond. =) After the little girl's mom picked her up, we all (two kiddos, my friend, and I) settled down for calm time in front of "Snow White". Her youngest crawled up in my lap and we had snuggle time during the movie. Priceless times!

Then, I worked a few more days. . .

Yesterday, I met up with a friend of mine for lunch. I was thinking about it today, and we've been friends since we were 5 years old! Now, I'm not going to say how old we are, but suffice it to say we've stayed friends for a LONG TIME. It is such a blessing to have friends like that - where we just pick up where we left off the last time. Honestly, I'm blessed to have a few of these friends, and I can't imagine my life without each of them. God has blessed me greatly! After lunch, she had to get back home, so I went "comfort shopping" (lots of bad news this past week - but that's a story for another time). I found a new shopping center on the north side of Fort Worth . . . shopping and exploring! Good times. After getting some fun new shirts and my bonus (Clinique shoppers - it's bonus days at Belk's!), I headed home. It was such a gorgeous day, I hated to go lock myself in my apartment to finish cleaning it, so I stopped at the Botanical Gardens to walk around. I'd never gone to the Japanese Gardens there, but I went yesterday. It was kinda strange to see so much lush greenery in February. =) Here are a few pictures. . .

See what I mean about all the green?!? Beautiful - even in winter! (Well, the Texas Winter at least!) :~) So, after walking around for a little while, I found a bench and decided to play with my new camera a little bit. Now, I'm not a complete believer in the thought that "reading instructions is only for the weak", but I do adopt this belief partially. For example, when I got my new camera at Christmas, I did read some of the owner's manual to find out what the different letters and knobs/buttons/dials meant. But, beyond that, I like to adopt the "learn by doing" principle. Usually not the most efficient way to learn something, and I often can't remember what I did to get the cool feature, but it's definitely more fun!! Yesterday, I learned about the manual focus and the black & white features of the camera. Good times! I think I ended up taking about 15 pictures of the same pagoda (or whatever they're called) before I got things figured out, but I was having fun. I think black & white pictures are beautiful, so I was so excited to figure out how to use this feature!

Well, I guess that pretty much catches you up on my life over the past couple of weeks. I hope you have a terrific day!