Favorite Time of the Year...

My family love to take a drive around the area we live in.  We're lucky.  We live in this wonderful area where there is the ocean, mountains, forests, rivers, lakes, streams, and lots of trees.  And, at this time of the year, everything seems to be more alive.  It is a feast for the senses.  Colors are more vibrant; temperatures are crisper; every smells clean; and everything seems to generally feel alive.

This is one of our favorite drives.  It is a back country road that leads us through sparsely populated forests, over one lane bridges, and over streams with fallen trees covered in moss.  It is a paradise.

And on certain mornings, a cool autumn fog settles into the treetops and makes the world feel cozy and inviting.

Happy Monday!

Tee Shirt Designs

Exciting news!

Dawn has been bugging me to do something.  She has been wanting to start her own business, so she and I sat down and talked about what it would look like.  In the end, we decided on tee shirts and sweat shirts.

Dawn is super excited, and she is filling a little notebook with ideas she has for future designs.  It's nice to see her so enthusiastic about something she did - especially when you consider how many people believe folks with developmental disabilities cannot do much and don't hesitate to share those beliefs.  However, those people have not encountered my little sister!  She is, quite frankly, a rock star!

If you're interested in adding to your wardrobe... Head over to this place:  https://teespring.com/stores/ddj-designs.  There you'll find several shirts she put together (with a little help from her sister).

If you order a little something for yourself, please come back here and let us know what you think of the design and the product.  We want this feedback to help us decide if we'll do more.

Happy Birthday, Dawn!

Today is my little sister's birthday.  Okay, let's face facts... She isn't "little" anymore.  However, to me, she will always be my little sister.  To you, she is Dawn.  To me, she is Monkey.  To you, I am Jack.  To her, I am Frog. But, I digress...

On this joyous occasion, I would like to share a sampling of the reasons why I am so very grateful for her birthday.  Let's begin...

• When she was born, I didn't just get a new sister - I got a buddy-in-crime.
• She is the funniest person on the planet.  No one makes me laugh so hard my stomach hurts and eyes water until I'm blind.
• Speaking of funny, no one laughs better than she does.  I've received a lot of compliments on my boisterous laugh.  I've been told that when I laugh - people smile.  When my sister laughs - people laugh.  Not because they are laughing at her, but because her laughter is so infectious.
• She has this great ability to not let me slide into being an asshole.  Yes, I said it.  But I have such a high potential for being an asshole, yet I've never stepped over the line.  Why? Because of her.
• No matter how badly I screw up, she is still on my side.
• No matter how amazing I think I am, she believes I'm even more amazing.  But she also tells me when she believes I'm not as amazing as I think I am.
• I have a permanent co-pilot for every adventure I go on.  And, sometimes, she tries to take the controls of our adventure(s).
• Every day she tells me I'm "stuck" with her "forever" and when I ask her if that is a threat or a promise, she tells me "it's both" without missing a beat.
• She will eat all the strawberries I'm allergic to, and I don't have to share my chocolate because she is allergic to chocolate.
• She is someone I can talk to about cameras, movies, and adventures.
• She is always willing to roll up her sleeves and participate in my hair-brained ideas.
• She misses the U.K. as much as I do and is always ready to talk about plans for a return trip.
• She wants a puppy named Lucy to go with the puppy I want to name Ethel (one day!).
• When I said I want to go to Antarctica and photograph the place - she asked what she should pack for the trip.

 And those are just a few of the reasons why her birth was the best thing to happen to the world (and me).

So today we're celebrating her birthday.  I admit, we started a little early.  Here she is with the bouquet of flowers she picked out.  And, chances are, we'll be celebrating her birthday for the rest of the week.  Why not? There is no better reason to have a celebrate!

And here she is with another early present... a little balloon bouquet - complete with Tinkerbell.  One day I'm going to have to get around to taking her to Walt Disney World... she loves Tinkerbell.    That's going on my "to do" list.

Hope you enjoy the day as much as we are going to.

Happy Monday! Happy Labor Day! And, Happy Birthday, Dawn!

School Supplies Season...

I don't know about you, but when I was a kid I looked forward to the closing of summer.  I didn't do it because I wanted to return to school (far from it), but I always knew that once August arrived - school supplies would be featured in the stores.

I love school supplies.  Some might call it an obsession, but I love stocking my office with different colored pens, 3-ring binders, and sticky notes.  Nothing makes me smile like fun sticky notes.  And, every year, I raid the school supplies aisle - loading up my shopping cart with all sorts of goodies.

I'm not greedy, though.  I do buy the occasional item for Mum and Dawn, but it is a pretty safe bet that 90% of the stuff is for me.  I cannot help myself.  But this year, I thought I would share some of the goodies I bought this year.

These sticky notes.  I have to admit, I am very proud of myself for not spending more money on sticky notes but I had to purchase these.  Purple, green, and orange are the colors of my studio, so these obviously had to find their way into my cart.

This moose folder.  It wasn't a purchase for me.  It was a purchase for Mum.  She loves moose, and I thought she could fill this with all of her magazine clippings.

These planners.  They're just simple monthly planners but they stretch to 2017.  I bought the purple for Mum, pink for Dawn, and mine is lime green.

These string envelops.  I love these! They're great for organizing all the projects I have going on.  And, I have a lot of projects this year (even more for next year).  These were a "must."

Washable markers.  I don't use these kinds of markers, but Dawn wanted them.  I bought them.  Instead of the basic colors, though, I decided to purchase the basic plus the tropical  colors.  More colors equal more fun, right?

Binder clips.  A must.  I have binder clips scattered all over my office, but I can never find them when I need them.  So, I purchase this box of 50.  Hopefully they'll last me a week or two.

I love, love, love these pens.  I love them so much that I ended up purchasing 3 packages of them.  They write smoothly, the colors are great, and I pens are my second greatest weakness... after sticky notes.

More pens.  Did I mean that I like pens?  Mum has already called "dibs!" on the purple pen, while Dawn wants the pink one.  As for me... the orange one has my name all over it.

I had to try these.  I've always hated colored pens.  They are never dark enough and they break easy.  However, these look to be promising.

Of course, more sticky notes.  I love the little flag notes.  I use them to stick in books and magazines.

This pencil case is a win-win.  I love it because it has owls and can house all my new pens, while Dawn loves it because it is pink.  I may have to go back and purchase another one, because she's been eyeballing it since I bought it.

A wireless mouse.  I love the orange one, and I have been looking for an orange one for a while.  I purchased the purple one for Mum (her favorite color) and Dawn is getting the pink mouse.  It fits perfectly with the color theme since Mum's office area is in purple, while Dawn's is in black and pink.

3-ring binders... I can never have enough of these.  I use them for all sorts of things, and I plan on doing some serious organizing this winter.

I love the colors, and they go well together.  I prefer the binders that have the plastic covers, so I can create my own binder labeling and binder covers.

What about you? Are you naturally attracted to the school supplies aisles? Did you purchase yourself some school supplies? Be sure to tell me in the comments below.  I'd love to hear.

Happy Thursday!

Craft Store Haul

The other day I took the Fam to the craft store to pick up a few things.  We had such a good time, that I thought I would take this opportunity to share what we bought. 

One of the first things we bought were these fabulous little tablets.  We loved how colorful they were and the upbeat messages they carried.

I could not believe the stores are already displaying Halloween stuff.   Don't get me wrong, I love Halloween.  In fact, it is one of my favorite holidays but it continue to be amazed at how quickly the holidays are shoved down our throats so early.  That said, I had to purchase this plague to hanging in our living room.  I figured it would be fun for Dawn to chalk in the changing numbers every morning.

I went to the craft store to purchase this little item.  I have a cable remote for my camera, plus a wireless remote.  I don't like them loose in my camera bag, and this little zipper pouch is the perfect size to house those remotes - keeping them together and safe.  I already have one that is black and says "This & That" which houses my rechargeable camera batteries, so I decided to go back and get this one for my remotes.

This I bought for Mum.  Dawn's the one who collects Beanie Babies (and she has a lot of them), but Mum fell in love with this little Sven from Frozen.

I found this in the Christmas ornament crafting section and wanted it.  Don't ask me why... I just did.  I plan on painting it white.  I don't know why.  I just want to paint it white and hang it on our Christmas tree.

When the Halloween season approaches, we hang a little Halloween-themed ornament on my truck's rear-view mirror.  Usually it is a funky witch's hate, but I saw this skeletal hand with purple ribbon and black spider, and I knew it was perfect for this Halloween's decorate touch to my truck.

I bought these three ceramic Christmas ornaments for a Before and After blog post when it gets closer to Christmas.  Mum picked out the Christmas bell; Dawn picked out the Christmas tree; and, I picked out the snowman.

That's it for our craft store haul.  Just a few bits and bobs to meet a few needs and have a little holiday fun.  What about you? Have you done any shopping lately.  What's a recent purchase you've been prizing on?  Share down in the comments... I'd love to hear about it.

Happy Wednesday!