I Hope You Like Me ... I Really ~ Really Hope You Like Me......

Soooo ..... Today I spent what seemed like hours and hours trying to decipher more of the basic information about blogging for the newbie. Things like setting up the blog which I had previously done. I guess just wanted to make sure I had done it correctly. Then I tempted fate and made changes,  resetting different options etc. to see if it looked better, then reviewing the blog, & then ..... re-resetting up blog.  I feel like such a total baby at this!

I have written, changed, added, deleted and then returned to the original set-up just about everything I started with. I have learned about Gadgets and Links and Settings. All with the idea in mind that I will ultimately have a blog that will be pleasing to someone at least. All this, before my words and pictures can come to life on the page.

Since I "now" have a couple of weeks of experience writing & working with the blog, I did feel those a few changes would help. I also must admit to having been being a lurker on some "FaNtAsTiC" blogs written by incredibly creative and talented women. I have learned to respect their dedication to daily or almost daily posting as well as their writing talent and photo techniques. The bloggers I most envy enjoy do freely share their thoughts, feelings, creative talents, home  decor,  and their normal or at least normal to them daily activities.  

I honestly find them to be multi-talented artists, including jewelry, fabric, assemblage art, & general make do/make over.  They repurpose anything and everything from furniture to garden gates. They will scrape, paint, glitter, and glue to their hearts content. Then give it away, have a contest or swap for it, or put "it" up for sale on eBay, Etsey, or Antique/Craft Show or Antique Booth.

They are fortunate to have what I call "NEW EYES". They see  potential in what most only view as castoffs or throwaway "JUNK" as my husband calls it. They live the "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle motto. Items modified are then called UpCycled.  They appreciate and honor the decor,  furniture, clothing and history of past times.

YES, These are women of my dreams. My Goal ... To Be Just Like Them When I grow Up.  I will be sharing them (and their blogs) with you soon also.

So, please, keep coming back, give your suggestions and comments. Help me become the best I can be at this "Blogging Thing".  I am really enjoying myself and hope it shows. I will get better and more organized. Thanks for your participation. Just think, you can be part of my village.

Lastly, I again thank these wonderful women that have, unknown to them, lifted me up. They provided me with the inspiration to take the leap and join the Blogger Team. Tomorrow I hope to comment on their blogs and actually thank them for giving me the gumption to finally start and share this journey with whoever cares to come along. I promise to do my best to entertain, enlighten, and just have fun along the way. Let's all enjoy the trip! I hope you like me, I really ~ really hope you like me.

     Lynn

Does it EVER seem Like ......

Does it EVER seem Like ...... everyone else gets 48 hours in a day and you only get 12? No Fair ~ Right! It seems like the HURRIER I go the BEHINDER I get! And the more lost I find myself. In mind, body, and soul. I know, this seems deep or like I am in a major pity party. (NOTE to SELF !  GiT A GRIP GIRRRLLLL!) OK ~OK  it....just.... means.... I need to stop for a minute, take a deep breath, & analyse what all I have to do. 

 OK ~Think Lynn ~ Think!

(FIRST! Thank You to My Self! I am a Child of God, with, just like everyone else! I recognize the current roadblocks to my success and actively am working on capturing control of my life. I need to remember NOT to Beat Myself Up over mistakes and what I think of a failures. I need to rewire brain to think "A mistake or Failure to Complete a Project or Task is SIMPLY this. "A Fresh Opportunity to Learn From"! Any yes, I truly believe it but sometimes it is hard to LIVE it!)

Geeze, Here I go THINKING AGAIN! Seems like that always makes work for me. But, it makes sense to me to ask these questions about everything in my bucket to do right now. That leads to my solution I would like to share with you my friends . 

• Get a BIG Pad of paper. (One I really like to write on. Like that purple paper legal pad. Make sure it has LOTS of paper!)
• Make list of EVERY THING in my Bucket TO DO.Scrutinize List. Is it ALL a PRIORITY? (Really? Really Lynn??)
• Is is ALL a  PRIORITY to ME? (Again Lynn, Think Hard!)
• OK, So What is REALLY IMPORTANT? (Once Again ~ NOTE to ME ~ FAMILY & SELF FIRST, Then..if or when anything left in you to give ..... Consider the rest! ~ this is not being selfish, just self preserving! )

So now I have a  LIST of everything on my plate. (A REALISTIC List Lynn!)
Take 1st list and make 3 columns on same paper so you can see it all on one page! (On no ~ Decision Time ~ I admit I have real issues with decisions and commitments)

1. Priority. (URGENT, MUST DO & on SHORT TIME FRAME.)  
2. Need to do. (IMPORTANT ~ But NOT urgent or time short.)
3. Rewards. (Nuff Said, I "LIKES" MY REWARDS)

So Breaking it down.

• Priority List. (Well Duh ~ I know what that means.) 
• Need/nice to Do When Have Time! (Hmmm ~Why? Just to remember tasks and keep them on the list or back burner.  I may have committed to do something but no time line, just when I have time to work it in. May be something I want/or need to do (my dream list). Things that aren't a priority but still need to done & will be nice to have done. It is also my filler list of things for 1st list when have time.)
• Make 3rd LIST. My REWARD LIST! (Could be CRAFT/JEWELRY Items that I want to complete, Furniture I want to paint to take to Craftiques. Trip to Craftiques just to visit & check on my booths. Things that I want to do, enjoy doing, but are NOT priorities and if I do them first I will not do the REAL Priority ITEMS. (HUGE NOTE to SeLf! Remember, I can override this whole thing here if I REALLY ~ REALLY need a REWARD item just to RECHARGE my BATTERIES. You know ~ Take Time For Self! I have to remember to take care of me or really ..... None of this matters.) 

Then PRIORITIZE, ORGANIZE (again remember SELF/Lynn.... REALISTIC), & make a pretty list (that I can read) to check off  OR Scratch through. Does not matter now if I use one list for each category or one list with 3 columns. For me depends on size of note pad I am using. 

1.  SO, With all this said and written HERE & in order to truly be successful with this method of organizing your life and time. YOU MUST ~ MUST ~ MUST ....... 

 REMEMBER ~ WHERE YOU PUT THE LIST!

Then, Act Like a Duck ~ Calm and UnRuffled ABOVE the Water  .......... & PADDLE like HECK UNDER the WATER!
I find it interesting how, GOOD .. no GREAT it feels to scratch through things on lists. Completion ... Success ... Secret on Jump Starting good feelings. Simple, put a couple of things on you list that you just recently finished. Then SCRATCH THROUGH!!!  See, how you start off as a success. {Tee Hee! Little Laugh Here} Any one else do this?

Does any one else EVER feel like this? What do you do? I can take all the help and suggestions ya can  give me.

Oh my! I feel so better already! Will update you later on list making and scratch offs. (No Not Lottery Scratch Off Tickets. But, hmm, maybe when I finish my list.) Anyway, if you see me in a week, ask to see my list. Let's see how many scratch offs I have.

Hope every one has a blessed Day and then RESTS WELL!

Lynn

First Celebration of the Hoiday Season

Tonight is December 1st. The first night of Chanukah begins this evening with the lighting of the 1st menorah candle and will be celebrated by our Jewish friends for 8 days. It is a beautiful story & celebration with deep religious meaning relating back centuries.
I found a wonderful web site, www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah that shares the significance of Chanukah customs, observances, and more. From the giving of gifts or gelt, playing the dreidel game, significance of the special foods, the menorah and lighting of the candles, to the explanation of how & why the holiday is spelled two ways but really pronounced the same way (Chanukah or Hanukkah), it is all there. BTW ~ It is appropriate and can be spelled both ways. (To simplify, I am kinda thinking it is similar to old school vs new school ways.)

Pictures I hope ~ Fredericksburg Show #1

OK I am clicking my heels together 3 times, holding my tongue right, & crossing my fingers. All that to try and get the pictures from my camera & in my blog. Oh, & yes I have read the manual and installed the Nikon software, but for those of you that know me ..... Well lets say you understand the additional above 3 things to help in the task. So here goes........Drum Roll Please ..... Here is a (really not so spectacular) shot. But it is  my FIRST SUCCESSFUL picture and I did it myself. Gosh ~ I feel good!

I  just stopped on the side of the road to Fredericksburg. Wanted to take a picture to show that our hill country is just that in most areas. Soft gentle rolling hills. it may not look like much from this picture, but the country side is gorgeous.

We now Interrupt this program for the following announcement!

WaaaaWhooooo!!!! I did it, I did it, I did it!  Color me Pink!  Big Daddy (Tom) will be amazed! Now, back to your regular programming of  In Over Her Head.

This is Sweet Judy Stevall  and her Precious Shop Judy's Originals.  She does wonderful sewing projects from Aprons to Altered Crochet & Lace Clothing. All that along with her vintage items. I'll try to snap a pic of the inside next time. Norma and I always stop in to visit and shop and buy. Well, you can see how wonderful and eclectic everything is. Plus her prices are right. This month I stole,  bought 13 great vintage windows for only $20 yes I said $30 total. I can't wait to use them.

Now that is what I call a LONGHORN! Plus he is BeJeWeLeD! If you can enlarge this photo you can see how fabulous he is. I lost the card with this ladies name on it but still wanted to share the pic. She is in either Barn 1,2,3, or 4 at Trade Days. In addition to this guy, she had some wonderful vintage and Western Type items. This picture does not do her or her booth justice. She has wonderful handcrafted jewelery also. She was so patient with me getting the picture. I wanted to get the entire spread of the horns.  I know ~ I know ~ You want to know how much the skull is. Well, sorry bout this ~ I only just now realize that I didn't even ask if it was for sale. I was so enamored by it. I'll try and check next month. Might not even be for sale, just decor.

By the way, a sidebar here ~ Do you know the difference between horns and antlers?  Most folks look at me like I am nuts when I ask this, but are actually interested when I give the answer. I guess they think I am trying to play a joke on them or something. So envelope please. ~

It is simple. Animals like male deer or elk annually & naturally shed/drop/lose their antlers then grow new. Each year larger. Horns on cows & sheep however are supposed to be there forever. Female cows can have horns also. Both horns and antlers can be broken off  accidentally or in a fight with another animal (or vehicle if they aren't careful when they cross the road). Also animals in captivity can have their horns clipped to avoid injury to others, both animal and their humans. So ~ enough trivia for today. Imagine how much important stuff I could remember if I didn't have so much Junk in my Head. I will try not to bore you with the junk but my guess is that you will get a fair dose of it anyway when you continue reading my blog.

And then here is the last but certainly not least picture I took the 1st November Show . Here is Curt, My Fredericksburg Hero. He is Norma's son. Curt has the Personalized Name Picture Mats while Norma has Shabby Cottage FuFu.   They have their booth together since Curt doesn't need too much room for his display.

I have found that parents have become very creative in MAKING UP new ways to spell a child's name. Some kids I really feel sorry for. Grandparents are almost embarrassed to ask if he has a certain name spelled in an innovative way. They are always grateful and say they don't know why their child named their first precious grandchild this unusual spelling. Anyway,   He has an amazing variety available and can also order any name or word up to 11 characters.  

I call Curt My Hero because he watches our booths, (we use the same checkout stand between our booths) while Norma & I SHOP, SHOP, & then SHOP some more.. There is always a fabulous variety of items. See above paragraph about windows.

Anyway & BTW ~ I have now learned a lot more about my camera, read the book again. Like, how to zoom in closer so my next pics will be much better.

So, hope to hear from all of you soon. Please keep visiting me back. I will be posting frequently and hopefully sharing new info and resources for links etc for you to enjoy. Thanks to everyone for your support. If you have the time and desire, please post a comment, ask any questions, let me know you visited my blog.  I welcome you to "follow" so you will automatically receive any updates.

In  closing and as always my friends say, She's "In Over Her Head". 

Lynn

Oops, I Was Wrong!

I can't believe it. I know that I have been told oodles of times that Vaseline glass is green and glows under black light. But now I find that I have been given incorrect information. Information that I may have passed on to others.

It pays to check your facts & sources out before you pass the info on. (Remember that old game gossip when we were kids. That was just a game, but this is real life.) What I thought was Vaseline glass, I also called depression glass. Depression glass is correct for the green glassware I was referring to. BUT! Green depression glass is NOT Vaseline glass.

Here is a great article on Vaseline glass that explains the entire story.  http://www.go-star.com/antiquing/vaseline_glass.htm It certainly set me straight. I am now making sure that I pass this info on. I have actually been shocked to learn how many of my friends thought the same as I did. Oh my goodness ....... Is it my fault? Did I tell them the wrong thing? No ..... I am just being my normal paranoid self here.

Moral of the story, if you are going to pass on what you think is fact .... make sure YOU KNOW your FaCts! Just curious here .... OK so I am nosey, Have you ever passed on info and then later found out you were given bad info?

Oh Boo Hiss!

Yes, I know Halloween is over but it wouldn't be nice to say the words I would like too. You probably know I am learning how to use my new camera. I was going to give myself a nice little lesson on downloading the pics from the internal memory card into my laptop and then into my post. Yes, I had actually taken pics at Trade Days and wanted to share them with you.

Interesting you may ask yourself ....Why was Lynn not going to simply remove the disc from the camera and simply insert it into the computer? You know, like a normal person would do.  Well, as I may have said to you before .... I am not very literate in camera & computer speak. After all my hubby set the camera up. So, anyway while at the show after I had taken a few pics, the camera said it was full. Hummmmm ... Full of what I wondered, I had only taken a few pics, perhaps my hubby had a bunch of "junk" in it.

So, I opened the camera to "look for and hopefully find" the disc. I guess I thought if I looked at the disc it would magically expand and have room for 50 more shots. Don't ask ..... I don't know except that I am an eternal optimist. Except, when I finally found the slot for the disk, (for those that don't know, it was in the battery slot, how bout that, who knew)  the slot EMPTY. How was I taking pictures I wondered??? Wow, I must be good! Then someone informed me that the camera had an internal memory. Oh, I see I said as I slithered away red faced  in my ignorance. Thank Goodness we have some smart informed folks in our barn at Fredericksburg. Actually, I think it might have been a customer giving me that bit of info.

So ... tonight I sit down to dump (Professional Lingo there) the pics from the camera to computer. Battery DEAD ... DEAD.... DEAD. So I have no idea if it would dump or not so I am now charging the battery for 100 minutes. However, it is late and I wanted to post something tonight, so pictures hopefully tomorrow. Pictures of my craft project also. Before and after. I can do that because I have a duplicate before item. I'll let you tell me what you think.

I also will be going to work on my booth at the Craftiques Malls. I want to take some pictures there to share also.

Take Care, Will get those pics to you soon.

Lynn

Post Number ONE! Let me tell you about "ME".

Hello All~

I can't believe it ...... I am actually taking the plunge and am going to try my hands at blogging. I have enjoyed so many wonderful blogs in the past couple of years. Lurking in the Land of Blog shadows, reading the wonderfully crafted words, drooling over the gorgeous pictures, getting loads of fantastic inspiration, ideas, & even actual instruction from the generosity of the blogger through their tutorials & how to directions. All so helpful.

I have often thought ... hnmmmm ...... I could do that. So here I sit. Now if I can only find something to say. But I know first I have to think of a smart, funny, topical Blog name that will represent ME! I really liked Hootchie Mama, but thought I had better check out what a Hootchie was exactly. Well imagine my surprise when I saw what Google had to say. So. Forget that. So what about my booths at the Craft/Antique Malls. Perhaps I should use that as I will be posting pics and telling you about what I am doing and selling. So ... let's think about that.

I apologize now.  I have a bad habit, why use 10 words when I can use 26, meaning I have a tendency to tell my "stories" to illustrate my life. So here goes. The booth names. I have had & still had several booths at Antique Craft Malls for about 10 years. I also sell at Fredericksburg Trade Days monthly. (In fact going this weekend.  I willl try and get some pictures to share with you next week.)

For about the first 6/7 years I named my booth "The Spotted Dog". I also sold on eBay under the same name. Yes I had a Dalmatian named Domino. When I expanded to multiple booths, I thought & thought. New booths - New name!! New name????. The smoke was thick let me tell ya! I was burning brain cells.

So, My name is LYNN! It is LYNN I tell you. I know my name. But I must have lost my mind for a short period of time. I currently have 3, count em, 3 booths! All named "POLLY'S PLACE". Don't ask where that came from because I certainly have no idea. Nope, I know no one in my past, no relative, no nothing. I will even answer to Polly when I am at the shops. I usually will explain to the person I am talking to the first time they call me Polly and after that I just go with it.

All that being said, everything I read about successful blogging said that you should name your blog something that represents you. Obviously .... Polly's Place nor The Spotted Dog really represent me. Poor Domino is long gone, but he was sure a great dog while with us. And, well you know about Polly.

So here it comes. When  folks ask me "How's it going?" I many times will say, "I'm up to my neck and dog paddling as fast as I can. So there you go. Up 2 My Neck was taken, so "In Over Her Head" was the next best thing to describe my life.   

I hope you will join me as I journal/share my life here in the in the beautiful Texas Hill Country, try and sell some of my junk and just try to live a good authentic life. Please visit often, think about becoming a follower of my blog. If you have the time I would appreciate any comments from you on what I can do to make my blog better for us both.  Thanks in advance on that one. I am really taking baby steps here on this. I am sure I will make many mistakes.

To close my Number One Blog Post, my name is Lynn Ballard and I live right outside of San Antonio, in Boerne, Texas. (pronunced Burr-Knee.) I am 59 1/2 years old & married 43 years to the same guy. High Five on that one. Two boys complete our family. My baby boy Bryan is 37 years old and our first born boy Chris is going to be 40 years old in one week. Gosh, do I feel ancient. My husband & I are both retired. One of my favorite t-shirts is "I'm Retired! Don't ask me to do a darn thing. I love it. 

I'll visit with you again in 3/4 days when I get back from Fredericksburg. Check it out. http://fredericksburgtradedays.com/