Practicing Gratitude 10 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 10 of 31

Practicing Gratitude 10 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Hi, it’s day 10 of practicing gratitude. I am grateful for friends. What is a friend? Doing a Google search, Merriam Webster provided several definitions and the one I am referring to is:
a
: one attached to another by affection or esteem
She’s my best friend.
b
: ACQUAINTANCE

With this, I have work friends.

Angie is my best friend from work. We are remote, so she is the only one that I have met in person. We call each other practically each day after work. Many times she has helped through a stressful day. We work for child care and the calls can be sad and sometimes abusive. Not every day. There are some really nice callers, but there are days. Over time we have evolved into more than just work friends. We have learned so much about each other as a person and our conversations are more than ‘work’ stuff.

Linda is my best friend from a past work/client relationship. We had our restaurant and Linda would come in every Saturday for a meal with her family of four, husband and two sons. We sold our business and time passed. One day while shopping in Wal-Mart, Linda came up to me and said hi. This was our reunion. We have traveled together and take virtual walks most every day, sometimes twice daily. Linda is available to walk twice daily, me however, I am not a morning person. Several times I did not make it on time to walk. And Linda still calls me her friend 🙂

I have my Weight Watcher friends. These are my newest friends. I just love meeting new people and becoming friends. They are just one of the many reasons I look forward to Saturday!

Not to mention, I have friends from very long ago. These friends I may not speak to them every day, but when we get together it’s comfortable. We pick up right from where we were and go forth. I treasure this so much. They knew me when……. And still care!

Family are my friends.

My adult children are my friends, as well. I say this cautiously. Note I said adult children. When they were minors, I was their parent. A parent must maintain the authority, and being a friend can undermine your role as a parent.

I remember hearing my dad telling my mom, “She’s an adult now. You need to consider her as a friend and not as a child.” I thought that was a wow back then, but now I understand- WOW! I had to recognize that both of my children are grownups, now I can enjoy a true friendship with them. I will always have my motherly love for them, that will never change 🙂

When I was a little girl in Brownies (before Girl Scouts), I remember singing a song:
Make new friends, but keep the old.
One is silver and the other’s gold.
We would sing this in a round, like Row, Row Your Boat.

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

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October in review:


ge•ner•ic Linkup Party #1

ge•ner•ic Linkup Party #1

Gma’sPhoto | ge•ner•ic Linkup Party #1

Hi, welcome to Gma’sPhoto ge•ner•ic Linkup Party #1!

This Party’s Theme is Generic.

Each Friday a new ge•ner•ic Linkup Party will open and end the following Thursday. Link up any family friendly post, health, diy, recipes, home decor, parenting, wordless, crafts, sewing, you get the idea.


Important things to know:

-You may add up to three family friendly blog post links, linked to specific blog posts.
-Please say hi & add your link post number when commenting below.
-Those leaving post entry numbers are eligible to be featured at the next party!
-Be sure to visit other links and leave a kind comment for each link you post.
-Party opens Friday and ends Thursday.
-Thank you for participating. Have fun!

By linking to Gma’sPhoto Party LinkUp, you give permission to share your post and images on Gma’sPhoto blog and social media. Proper credit with a photo and link back will be provided.

Let’s begin the fun at Gma’sPhoto ge•ner•ic Linkup Party #1!


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

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What to Wear | September

what to wear September

What to Wear | September

Hi, we have some holidays soon approaching and this means family time! With family time there will be many photo opportunities. Remember, taking the shot is the first step in getting a good picture. And that is the most important step. However, you may be wondering how to make the picture a better picture. This is the inspiration for the What to Wear posts!

It is not necessary to purchase new clothing for better images. When planning the wardrobe, do wash and dry the clothing. Immediately after drying, hang the clothes on a hanger. Or iron, if you like. The main goal is wrinkle free clothing.

Shoes do not need to be new either. New shoe laces is an inexpensive purchase to spruce up the look. Polishing leather or washing canvas shoes is another solution to brighten their appearance.

Have the socks match either the pants or shoes. This is important for anyone who may be sitting or squatting in the group. Imagine if the pants are navy blue, shoes white and you see bright green socks. Very distracting. Your eyes will go straight to the green socks and not the person’s face! However, if the socks were either white (matching shoes) or navy blue (matching pants), your eyes will flow over the person and land on the face/eyes of the person in the picture.

what to wear September

What to Wear will feature different palettes providing ideas when you plan the wardrobe for individual pictures or your family images during the holiday gatherings.

What to Wear | September features ideas for all family members: mom; dad; big brother; big sister and little brother and little sister. Have fun preparing your stylish look for family pictures!

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

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Another 101 in 1001 Done

Another 101 in 1001 Done!

Hi, I am quite happy. This weekend was really fun! Spent Saturday with my folks, son, daughter and her family. After my morning WW meeting, went straight to my parents home. This is were the fun continued, visited, ate lunch (Freddy’s). We played a card game, Cover Your Assets.

dancing with mom
Dancing with my Mom!
Once the game was over, the grand girls wanted to dance. They brought mini disco lights, which I never got a picture, darn. Turned on some 1960’s music and we danced! Thanks to my daughter, I have this picture of me and my mom dancing. On the wall, you can see faint light reflections above my mom’s head from the disco balls.

My mom had fun. When I was a kid, one of my memories was mom playing albums and we would dance. I continued the tradition with my children. When they had friends spend the night, I’d play music. Me and my kids would dance and eventually their friends would start dancing too! And this weekend Me, my mom, daughter and grand girls all danced. Priceless memories!

My friend, Linda and I meet M-F to walk. Weekends I do not necessarily walk, just relying on me doing my grocery shopping and other weekend stuff to get my steps in. Well, the dancing was an added bonus! Since COVID I have been working from home. My activity level went way down with this transition of work environment.

As our time together was coming to an end, we started talking about the newer movies. Sound of Freedom was brought up. My mom wanted to see this. So I asked her if she wanted to go with me. The dancing wore her down. With her C.O.P.D, she exerted herself. I decided to go ahead and see it. Oh, I was able to take advantage of the senior ticket price!

Unplanned, I was able to check off another 101 in 1001 done! #37 – go to a movie by myself. I also remembered to take advantage of senior discount for the movie ticket – #88!

WW Update:
Since Start Date; -13.8lbs

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

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Fun Weekend with Grand-Girls!

fun weekend with the grand-girls

Fun Weekend with Grand-Girls!

Hi, what a fun weekend I experienced with my grand-girls. My daughter and son-in-law went out of town with friends for a float trip. Which translates to me getting to spend the entire weekend with the girls, YES!!

I took the day Friday away from my work to do my weekend errands in the morning so I could drive to Topeka and get the girls picked up from summer camp by 4pm. That evening we went back to their house to take care of the pups, get dinner ready and then movie time. Grandma let the girls stay up later than their bedtime. Saturday morning Kevin came out to sat with the girls while I went to my weekly Weight Watchers meeting. While I was away, Kevin took the girls to the Farmer’s Market. Upon my return the girls were excited to tell me, they got some honey sticks and already ate them. After Kevin left, we ate our lunch and decided to go to the Topeka Zoo.

fun weekend with grand-girls

After the zoo we stopped by the girls choice restaurant, McDonald’s. Brynlee likes the playground. We ate and then I watched the girls play for a bit. Then back to their house. Once back to the house we let the doggies out and fed them. By this time the weather had cooled down some. We went outside for some fun activities, hula hoop and jump rope. Here is a fun video of the girls trying to teach me how to hula hoop!


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The video will then appear.

The best part of the day for me was when the girls were getting ready for bed. Briella told me she had a fun day. This warmed my heart. My husband always asks me what memories did we make after I am with the grand girls. This is certainly a memory I will treasure.

Sunday was my last day to spend with the girls. The plan was to meet Shaune’s parents for them to take the girls to Branson. Our hand off was a success!

handoff successful

This weekend the grand girls and I completed two of my 101 in 1001. #13 Go to the Topeka Zoo and #89 Learn How to Hula Hoop. At least I tried! 🙂

WW Update:
Since Start Date; -8.8lbs 🙂

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

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Celebrate Independence Day

celebrate Independence Day

Celebrate Independence Day

Hi, we celebrated this past Saturday with family and friends. The weather couldn’t have been any better. There was a short bout of wind that cooled the evening down and made watching the light show very nice and comfortable. Below was one such firework that was beautiful. The guys were down at the pond dam shooting the fireworks while the girls were on the other side of pond watching the display. The fireworks in air and the reflections in the pond were absolutely stunning.

celebrate Independence Day
Firework Reflection

Wishing you a safe, fun Fourth of July!

WW Update:
Since Start Date; -6.6lbs

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

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