The Last Working Day Before Christmas

That would be today. Yeah, I have to work. But it should be a fairly easy day - work till about 10:30/11:00, party for a bit then go home. I'm hoping to be home by 2:00 at the latest. We'll see how that goes though.

Christmas Check List~
I'm pretty much ready for Christmas. I have a couple stocking stuffers to buy for Mike yet and then I gotta get all the wrapping done. I also have to do the grocery shopping today and then make a few sweet treats for the weekend. Once that is done the house will need a complete cleaning. The boys are at home today supposedly cleaning - yeah right! I told them I wanted their rooms clean when I got home. I'm sure that won't happen but it's worth a shot.

For my, most likely, last post before Christmas, I would like to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas & a blessed New Year. May the Lord pour out his blessings on you this coming year.

He is the Reason for the Season.

Altered Puzzle

Ever have one of those things that just make you smile? Well, this is one of those things. It started out as a wild-hair idea and ended up a really cool piece of art.

Earlier this year I participated in a CJ with some ladies at SJ. I wanted to do something unique with it so I had them help me alter a puzzle. (Here is my original blog post about it.)

I wanted it to be for a wall in my scrapspace. So, I sent the 2 center pieces painted the color of my wall, altered 2 of my own and packaged the whole thing up, minus the frame, and sent it along with my CJ. This past weekend it was finally completed and returned to me and this is what I got:





I am so loving it. I still need to alter the 2 pices not touched by the CJ ladies and the 2 center pieces and then figure out the best way to display it and it'll be done. But when I look at it, it definitely makes me smile.




Thank you Summer Jazz Journal ladies.


I can't believe that Christmas is just 5 short days away. It really has snuck up on me this year. Excep for a few stocking stuffers for Mike I am done shopping for gifts. I do need to do the grocery shopping yet but I don't have my list together yet - gotta do that first.

I feel so thrifty this year, making a lot of presents. I don't know if I actually saved any money or not, but I did use some of my scrapping stash to make some of the things so I guess that counts.

Gotta get back to work. Peace out!

Christmas Carols for the Psychologically Challenged

1. Schizophrenia --- Do You Hear What I Hear?
2. Amnesia --- I Don't Know if I'll be Home for Christmas
3. Narcissistic --- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me
4. Manic --- Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and Fire Hydrants and ...
5. Paranoid --- Santa Claus is Coming to Get Me
6. Borderline Personality Disorder --- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire
7. Full Personality Disorder ---You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll tell You Why
8. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder --- Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells....
9 Agoraphobia --- I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day But Wouldn't Leave My House
10. Senile Dementia --- Walking in a Winter Wonderland Miles From My House In My Slippers and Robe
10. Oppositional Defiant Disorder --- I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus So I Burned Down the House
11. Social Anxiety Disorder --- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas -- While I Sit Here and Hyperventilate.


I got that from my friend V, who got it from her friend's blog. Thought I would share.


Let's see....moving on to the Weekend.....
Whew, is about all I can say. We've had an amazingly busy weekend. Friday night Mike and I got to go out for dinner at J Buck's. We both ordered the Filet mingnon - it was delicious. From there we went inside the mall. We were like tourists....gawking at everything. We haven't been there in ages and the freaks are even freakier. Didn't get a whole lot of shopping done, but I managed to pick up a couple things for Nick, which was the purpose of going out there.

Went home and threw some laundry in the washer then sat down to work on some more scrapping projectes. This week/weekend I managed to finish 6 Christmas cards, 24 altered Hershey Bars, final touches to the clothes pins for the teachers. I also managed to do more than one load of laundry, dishes, 2 rehersals for christmas program, get some costumes together for said program, wrapped my gifts for my CMK Secret Santa, oh, I'm sure I'm missing something. I just know I was exhausted when the weekend was finally over.








Andrea did a really great job of decorating the church for the program, as usual. Afterwards we took some family pictures. This is the best one, although I'm not thrilled with it, I love the ones of the twins. I'm going to see if I can get one of Nick by himself before it all comes down next Sunday. He wasn't wanting to be a "poser".
























Guess that'll do it.

Brief Thursday 13

1. Stale (thanks for the reminder Denise)
2. Headache (what I've been getting everyday after lunch.)
3. Sleepy (I sleep all night long but don't wake up feeling rested.)
4. Overworked (work, church, home, youth)
5. Cards (Need to make cards for my SS and 2 school teachers)
6. Scrapbooking (what I wish I was doing right now)
7. Cartridges (for the Cricut - what I want for Christmas)
8. Time (what I'm short of)
9. Clothes (what I really need)
10. Shopping (for Christmas pressies)
11. Practice (what I'm missing tonight to go to Nick's program)
12. CellPhone (yeah, that's one word. I got a new nifty one on Tuesday)
13. Cookies (what I want to bake tonight but don't know if I'll get the chance, see #11)

My Birthday was Tuesday and we went to dinner at Houlihan's. It was very yummy. I enjoyed my fajitas. Here are a couple from the restaurant.

This was the ceiling dome over our table. I thought it was pretty with the ornaments hanging down but the pic doesn't do it justice.

Happy Holidays!!!!

We got our power back on Monday evening about 9:00. We were out for 96 hours, but who's counting. LOL I was just so thankful to have my house back. I could have kissed the linemen working that night, I was just so happy.

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Our church has a newsletter that is put out quarterly. For the first time, I was asked to write something for it. I was supposed to write a couple sentences about my favorite Christmas memory and since I had to take the time to write it anyway, I figured I would share with ya'll.

I don’t really have a memory of one specific Christmas. I guess I just lump them together so that my favorite memory of Christmas is "tradition." Every year on Christmas night, we gather all the kids and adults together and someone reads the Christmas story. We take time to reflect on Jesus – the Reason for the Season – and past Christmases remembering loved one’s who have gone "home" and be thankful for another year together.

PPPPPPPPPP

I skipped the T13 again. I just can't stand the pressure of doing that every week. So no more apology's - if I do it, I do it. If I don't, I don't. *whew* that was liberating. LOL

Tonight I have to meet a girl at 7 to practice for our Christmas program. After that the rest of the night, what's left of it, is mine. I hope to get a little scrapping done maybe tonight. No major expectations though.

As for the rest of the weekend....Tomorrow we are moving my FIL. He's getting out of the house in the crack, getto neighborhood and moving to a safer environment. I'm really glad about that but it's been hard for him to pack up his belongings and get rid of stuff. He's a collector - of junk - and he's moving from 20+ years in his home to a 2 bedroom apartment. *sigh* He's also beyond the stage of wanting to make decisions about new things. The routine is fine, but don't ask him to change anything...he don't want to deal with it. He's still fully able to, he would rather not. And then Sunday is church with some additional Christmas Program practice times thrown in. Yuck!!!

Have a great weekend!

A little update...

Not really good news to share yet - We are still without power. I'm really getting tired of sleeping on the floor. It's not so much fun anymore. There's no sign on the power company's web site when it may be up yet. *sigh* If it lasts much longer we may borrow a generator and a couple kerosene heaters and try and stay in our own place. Not totally certain yet.

Got this in an email...thought it was kind of fun.

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. 'Tis
the Season to be NICE!
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper
2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial tree
3. When do you put up the tree? Thanksgiving weekend - generally the day after.
4. When do you take the tree down? After New Year's
5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, in small doses.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I loved Christmas. I can't name my fav...don't remember.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes
8. Hardest person to buy for? Mike
9. Easiest person to buy for? Twins
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? mail
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I really don't remember getting anything I didn't like.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? White Christmas - Bing Crosby
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Not in February - LOL. Usually around October or so
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Pumpkin Pie
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear
17. Favorite Christmas song? I'll Be Home For Christmas
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? When my grandparents were alive, it was best to go to their house, now everyone comes to mine.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Yes
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Eve
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? traffic
23. Do you have Jesus in your heart this Christmas? Yes all the time!
24. Favorite Christmas Tradition? Being together with my family
25. Outdoor decorations? I love houses that are all blinged out, but I don't have it myself.

Gotta leave for church now. Talk To Ya Later.

Walkin' In A Winter Wonderland

That's my favorite from today.


I guess it's only fitting that the first day of December look like this...





The first picture is from one street over from us, the second pic is the alley behind our house.

We are out of power - have been since 8:45 Thursday night. Our house is pretty cold, tonight Mike could actually see his breath in our bedroom, so we decided to sleep at my mom's house.

Her house could quite possibly qualify as a "shelter" since there are the 5 of us, my mom, my aunt, my cousin and her 2 kids, my mom's dog and our dog (Rocky is like a small horse). The funny thing is she has a double-wide trailer. Ah well, at least it's warm. It's like a party.

YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I brought my memory stick today, so I can share pictures. Only a couple but hey, it's better than nothing.

The Cocoa Beach LO is a few of my favorite pics from our first trip to Florida in 2005. I journaled on the back of it about our room fiasco at the second hotel we stayed at and the time share tours we had to take. It's info I wanted to remember but it didn't really add to the LO and it was too long (takes up the entire back of the LO)to hide somewhere on the front.


Here is the tree in the living room. I took the pic this morning before it got real light out. Love how it turned out.

Well, regarding my goal list from yesterday....yeah, didn't happen.

Goals for tonight:

Finish my SS project for CMK. I really need to finialize what
stuff I'm sending her too. I guled on 3 brads...woo. Not gonna get done at this speed.

I have to make a card for SS. Didn't get near my scrap table.

Put up Christmas tree in the basement. The guys, including Mike, took over the basement and played a game called Scene It Sports Edition, I think.

Get a little fun scrapping in. See above answer.

Get the boys (all 3 of them) to clean their rooms and hopefully locate the house key the twins lost...*sigh* Well, this didn't even get close to happening. Still missing the house key.

Laundry...twins need socks and I am getting close to needing the tidy-whitey's. Um, well Nick found some whites in the dryer, so I didn't have to do laundry... Yet

I did get one thing done though - but it wasn't on my list of things to-do. Mom came over and ate dinner with us so she could show us her new set of wheels - which are very nice I might add. When dinner was over & Mike took over the basement Mom and & I set up my blanket project on the kitchen table. We finished one blanket last night. It didn't take very long at all with both of us working on it. I got the idea from V (my online chat buddy) to make a fleece tie blanket. On Black Friday I got the material to make 4 of them. This one has sports balls on it and has a green background. So I bought a funky brown to match it for the reverse side. It turned out really cute. I am very excited about the rest of them now. I sent it home with my mom to show Chelle, who helped me pick out the material. Now Chelle wants to make one. I didn't get a picture before Mom took it. I'll probably wait and do one of all 4 together.

I found out this morning that my FIL is signing the lease to his apartment tomorrow. He was very upset this morning about leaving his home and going to a new place with no memories. It killed me when he said he wished he had a mother or father right about now. He started tearing up, which Jack don't do very often, and that did it. I called Mike and had him call his brothers and sisters so we can all go over there on Friday and come up with a plan to help him move. Poor guy. So many memories are in his home and he's going to have to leave them.

Guess that'll do it for today. Getting ready to go to lunch soon.

Photos

Argh...I was on my way to work this morning when I realized I forgot the memory card from my camera to upload some pics today. Soooo, maybe tomorrow.

My mom bought a new mini-van. Well, new to her. Picked it up today. It's a 2006 Chrysler with very few miles on it, must have been a test drive car or something. She's so excited. Every time she borrows our van she talks about how nice it drives and how it's so nice to sit high up so you can see, etc. The other day she was saying that the repairs on her car were going to run her over $2,000. I said why don't you just trade it in. And so that's what she did. I hopt I get to see it tonight.

I've been tagged by Denise to complete a book survey. I haven't read a book in so long and I have such a terrible memory that I don't think I could even complete it. Sorry Chicka. I will tell you about the last book I attempted to read. It was called Tribulation and it was like tribulaton trying to read it. I don't even know who wrote it but I just couldn't do it - not even through the second chapter. That reminds me, I need to return it to Gary.

Goals for tonight:
Finish my SS project for CMK. I really need to finialize what stuff I'm sending her too.
I have to make a card for SS.
Put up Christmas tree in the basement.
Get a little fun scrapping in.
Get the boys (all 3 of them) to clean their rooms and hopefully locate the house key the twins lost...*sigh*
Laundry...twins need socks and I am getting close to needing the tidy-whitey's

Speaking of scrapping, I have some LO's I need to photograph and get up here. Been using my new bug. Lovin' the Cricut. I've kinda been stumped in my scrapping. I have gobs of pictures but none of them are amazing photos. They are just events. I really want to scrap them and get the events documented but the pictures don't call to me. Ever since I went digital I find that I don't print as many pictures. That results in not having a lot of current things around to scrap, which saps my MoJ0. Maybe I should try to get one of the events I have from last year scrapped tonight - ahhh, my own personal challenge.

Peace out, ya'll.

The status of my health has been questioned (thanks Denise) so I wanted to be sure to check in today to let you all know that I am alive and well. I have been so swamped that I haven’t even spent much time at my favorite web site. Now, you know that’s busy!!!! The rundown goes like this….

Last Wednesday, the 22nd, I was merrily working away here at the office. Co-worker wasn’t in – she went on vacation for the second time in the entire 6 years she’s been here. I had some work and was taking my time with it since I figured that would have to last me all day. I was also working on my Thursday 13 (in a Word document just in case blogger got a wild hair) about things I was thankful for.

About 11:15 the boss started laying things on my desk telling me what to do with them. At 11:30, they left for lunch and told me to change the answering machine and that I could go for the day. I was thinking earlier that morning that they would probably tell me around 4ish that I could go home. So I abandoned my TT and got out of Dodge, so to speak.

Went home and cooked a turkey for a family at our church. The wife has cancer and some of the church made the fixin’s for turkey dinner for her family. Mike and I fixed a cheese ball and made some cookies and I got my turkey ready to go in the oven. I set my alarm for 3:30 a.m. and all I had to do was turn the oven on and put the turkey in so I wasn’t up for hours or anything. The smell of it woke me up about 8 though. Smelled yummy!!!

Lets see….Thursday was spent at my aunts. Had a wonderful day with family just being lazy and chatting with my cousins. Mike and I continue to rule the Cranium board. WOO HOO!!!!!

Friday, we rolled out of bed around 10:00 (I did want to get up and hit the early bird sales but I was too tired). I got several things that I really wanted though – so I would say it was a successful day.

Saturday morning we took some kids from our youth group – 24 of them – to the mall. They were great and I got a couple more items on my shopping list. That night I put up the Christmas tree in the living room. I had to rearrange the room of course, but it went up fairly quick.

Sunday, was church all day and that brings us to today. Been busy at work coming off the holiday. On top of that my boss is going to be out of the office tomorrow he wanted to be caught up with tomorrow’s diary before he left today.

This coming week should be pretty busy too – Monday through Friday is prayer meeting, more Christmas tree set up, church, sign language and choir practice.

Here’s my incomplete 13 things I’m thankful for:

1) Most importantly, I am so thankful for Jesus and His unconditional love. He is my peace, provider, joy, salvation and so much more. I can’t imagine my life without Him. My relationship with Him means more to me everyday.

2) I thank God for my husband. He is more wonderful than I could ever have hoped for. I so totally do not deserve him.

3) I am thankful for my boys. They light up our house with so much joy. What fun we have together. When they are old with families of their own, I hope they remember the great times we’ve had. That they reminisce with lots of laughter about "back in the day..."

4) Even though I don’t like the fact that I have to work (since I really wanna be a SAHM), I am thankful that I have a job to go to. There are many people I see on the streets that are begging for a little change and it does make me thankful that I have income and am able to help provide for our family.

5) I am thankful for my senses. I fear loosing my vision. Not that I am having problems with my eyes, but my favorite Aunt lost her vision due to diabetes. That left an impression on me. I am thankful that I can see the beauty around me, my children’s faces, my husband, etc.

6) I am thankful for my friends. How fun it is to have them.

7) I am thankful for my country and the freedom I have to do as I please.

Now that the serious stuff is out of the way…

8) I am thankful for chocolate. That is one truly happy food. Hot Fudge, Dark Chocolate, White Chocolate, regular Chocolate, etc….

9) And then there’s Diet Coke. I crave that stuff.

That's as far as I got. I know I thought of some other things over the weekend but now I can't remember them. I hope to post some pictures tomorrow if I can remember to bring them to work.

Cooking Your Thanksgiving Turkey

Is there anyone out there who’s cooking her very first turkey dinner? Are you not quite sure how to tell when that bad boy is cooked, but not dried out? Give this recipe a try:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Brush 10-14 lb. turkey with melted butter, salt and pepper.
Stuff cavity with 4 cups stuffing and 1 cup uncooked popcorn.
Place in baking pan with neck facing towards the back of the oven.
Listen for the popping sounds.
When the turkey’s rear-end blows the oven door open and the turkey flies across the room, it’s done.
Perfect turkey every time!

BBBWWWWWHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry I just had to do it......I got that from Becky at PageMaps and thought it was too funny not to share.

Actually I make a really good turkey. I made my first one last year and it turned out delish!!! I used those amazing cooking bags to cook mine in. Step 1 - Rub butter between the skin and the meat. Ok, so with butter anything can turn out good. Step 2 - Cut 2 oranges in half and squeeze them inside the bird. Leave them inside to cook inside the turkey. You can also put an onion inside too if you wish. Step 3 - tie the bag up and cook the bird UPSIDE DOWN. That's the key. I don't care if your grandma told ya not to - try it. It keeps the meat really moist cause you're cooking it in the juice. I don't remember cooking times and heat. I think it's printed on the directions that come with your bird. I think it may have to cook just a little longer since you have it upside down. Can't remember that either.

Man it sure was yummy. We had 2 turkeys last year - one made by me and the other by my aunt. Mine was gone sooooo fast. I was disappointed there were no leftovers to bring home. So there's ya a tried and true Turkey recipe.

Alright, I realize I missed the Thursday 13 yesterday. I just didn't feel like coming up with a list. It was just too much pressure to deal with. LOL Maybe next time.

I am so glad today is Friday. It's been a really nice week but I'm just ready for it to be over and get in the weekend. Tonight I'm getting together with my friend to iron out some more of the details of our crop in January. We decided we better get our ducks in a row before the holidays hit. If we wait, we'll be a wreck trying to pull it all together in time. I've had a lot of interest but so far nobody has actually signed up. I know people like to wait till the last minute for stuff like this, at least if you're like me you do, but I was thinking they could sign up before the holiday money starts coming out of the bank. Oh well, I feel pretty confident that we'll have a good turnout.

Oh, I need to say that God has really taken care of the situation that I posted about the other day in my cryptic blog. We found favor with these people and it is all working out just fine. Thank you all for praying - it could have turned out very bad for us.

Ok, Cami left me a comment the other day about photos of my LO's. Cami, I am stitching challenged. I am totally unable to understand my compter software to do that. At one point I tried to do it, but my files would end up so huge I couldn't upload anywhere. I have a lovely Dell color printer and scanner combo....but I don't have a driver for my Mac. I'm going to have to get a new one that will work with the Mac so for now, I'm stuck with bad photography I guess.

Have a great weekend everyone. Don't forget to get them turkeys out to defrost!

Cryptic blog post

God is amazing!!!! It never ceases to amaze me how he cares about me. He has the whole universe to take care of, yet when I have a problem, He knows about it and cares enough to
orchestrate events to prove to me that He's listening and working on my behalf. Sometimes I don't take things to Him in prayer because I feel so insignificant in the scheme of all He has to do. And yet, even then, He knows and cares. This past week, Mike and I began a new trial. I have had fear about it and it's totally taking away my peace. I keep trying to give it to God but the worry creeps back in. (Yeah, that's the cryptic part of today's post since I'm not going to tell ya any more than that.)

Yesterday our pastor spoke on giving things to God and how we need to have faith that He will take care of our situations in the right time. The woman in the Bible that touched the hem of his garment didn't even touch Him or talk to Him to have her miracle done. She had enough faith that His hem healed her.

Last night we had a visiting minister and he spoke about Job. How at the end of that book, the second to the last verse starts with "After this..." There is an "AFTER" which means the tribulation/trial ends. I was given a word that things would work out for our good. I feel so much more peace about the whole situation. I just need to have faith in Him.

Thank you God for hearing me and caring for me.


Soooo, I had a great weekend. I got my house cleaned, went grocery shopping, I got some scrapping in, and had a girlfriend over and played cards.

OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got a cricut and I am sooo in love with it. I played with it a little over the weekend - did a couple very simple layouts with it. I am for sure wanting more catridges. I am already seeing this will be a necessity. I know I'll have to wait a while though, they are expensive and I've already gotten a lot with just getting the machine. Sooo, the next one on my list is Jasmine...I think I would get a lot of use out of that one.

This one of Gracie - just love how it turned out. I got that goofy paper as a freebie in a magazine last year sometime. I never thought I would use it - it's just too bright. But it goes perfect with her little carseat do-dads. The flowers are cut by my cricut.



I wish I could figure out a way to get decent photos of my layouts while in my house. I don't always have the opportunity to get photos during the day so I have to get them in the evening inside. I end up with distorted colors or glares on my photos. UGH!!!

Have a great evening everyone.

A Lame Thursday 13...

1) I have put off doing this crazy 13 today cause I didn't have anything to say. So you are going to get randomness.

2) Today's weather is absolutely gorgeous. It is about 77 degrees out and the sun is shining!!! Love days like this. I was talking with my mom about it and we were saying how thankful we were after having so much dreary weather lately. The really sad thing is, winter hasn't really hit us yet. Imagine how we'll be feeling by next month.

3) Austen & I ended up having bronchitis. Did I post that already? Can't remember. Anyway we are both on antibiotics. Mine are literally ginormous HOT PINK pills and they smell like banana or something. They also make me ravenous. So I fell like I'm eating everything in sight.

4) We're working on Christmas stuff at church. I'll be working with the Sign language team - can't wait to get that started.

5) I have stayed off of the quick cuts and sizzix trends. I was fine without them. I always realted them to little shapes and not letters. Well for some reason the bug hit me - I want a Cricut so bad. I showed Mike one day while at Michaels and he keeps looking at them if I drag him in there. He even notices them in sale papers. Sooooo, my IM buddy V and I were talking one day and she hooked me up with a lady that sells them cheaper than anyone else (sale or no sale). I talked to Mike and he said I could order it. It's my birthday and Christmas all in one - and I can live with that. I'm so excited. I should have that hot little machine in my hands by the weekend. EXCITING!!!!!

6) Shoot, this is only 6????? I can't do many more.

7) I'm sending out the email for the crop today or first thing in the A.M. Praying all goes well.

8) The boys' school pictures came in yesterday. They turned out soooo cute. I usually don't like their pictures and this time I didn't order very many. Figures they would turn out good this time.

9) It's 4:44 and I'm nowhere near done with this post.

10) My feet aren't happy with the shoe situation. I am so used to wearing flip flop style shoes that all my closed in shoes are giving me blisters. ouch!

11) I am finished with the last CJ I decided to participate in. I'll be mailing that baby out tomorrow.

12) I did a LO for a lady on SJ. Can't give away too much info I think its a surprise. But I really like how it turned out. I'll have to 'lift' myself. ;)

13) There! I did it. Finally!!! Have a great evening.

Number Crunching

Someone sent this to me in an e-mail. I thought it was fun.

YOUR AGE BY EATING OUT

DON'T CHEAT BY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST!

It takes less than a minute.

Work this out as you read ... Be sure you don't read the bottom until you've worked it out!

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to go out to eat. (more than once but less than 10)

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)

3. Add 5

4. Multiply it by 50

5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1756 .

If you haven't, add 1755.

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.

You should have a three digit number.

The first digit of this was your original number

(how many times you want to go out to restaurants per week.)

The next two numbers are YOUR AGE! (Oh YES, it is!!!!!)

Have a fun day.

Thursday 13, #6

Remember those wooden peg games that look like this???My kids love to play that game when we go to Cracker Barrel. Today's TT13 is about that game ~

Here Is The 13 Step Program To You Being A Peg Game Genius:
#4 to #1
#6 to #4
#1 to #6
#7 to #2
#13 to #4
#10 to #8
#2 to #7
#7 to #9
#15 to #13
#12 to #14
#6 to #13
#14 to #12 and
# 11 to #13

How's that for weirdness?!! LOL

Have A Great Thursday!!!!

Trick or Treat!!!!

A man was walking home alone late one foggy night, when he hears

BUMP

.

.

.

BUMP

.

.

.

BUMP

.

.

.

behind him.

Walking faster, he looks back and through the fog he makes out the image of an upright casket banging its way down the middle of the street toward him

BUMP

.

.

.

BUMP

.

.

.

BUMP

.

.

.

Terrified, the man begins to run toward his home, the casket bouncing quickly behind him

faster

.

.

.

faster

.

.

.

BUMP

.

.

.

BUMP

.

.

.

BUMP.

He runs up to his door, fumbles with his keys, opens the door, rushes in, slams and locks the door behind him.

However, the casket crashes through his door, with the lid of the casket clapping

clappity-BUMP

.

.

.

clappity-BUMP

.

.

.

clappity-BUMP

.

.

.

on his heels the terrified man runs.

Rushing upstairs to the bathroom, the man locks himself in. His heart is pounding; his head is reeling; his breath is coming in sobbing gasps. With a loud CRASH the casket breaks down the door.

Bumping and clapping toward him. The man screams and reaches for something, anything, but all he can find is a bottle of cough syrup!

Desperate, he throws the cough syrup at the casket

.

.

.

and

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.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The coffin stops!

Happy Halloween Everybody!!!!!

{The Weekend}

I've really had a different weekend than normal. Austen was sick on Friday with a sore throat and fever and we kept home from school. Saturday we had plans to go to P'ville for Mardi Gras. No, it's nothing like the one in New Orleans....it's a flea market downtown followed by a huge parade that night. It's like a City homecoming. Everyone comes home for Mardi Gras. You get to see old friends and catch up on life.

Anyway, Mike, who wasn't really excited to go anyway, got elected to stay home with him Saturday. I drove Nick, Nathen, my Mom and Chelle Saturday morning. I noticed Friday night, while watching the Cardinals kick some kitty butt, that I was getting a sore throat. I was really hoping to not miss out on going home. By the time I got home on Saturday evening I was really feeling bad. I ended up not going to church at all on Sunday, which is very unusual for me. I literally slept off and on all day. I would have thought it might have helped me get well faster but no sign of that happening yet. My nose is running like crazy. UGH!!!

Here are a couple of my favorites from this weekend....
This is the Pirate Jack....He's such a sweetie. He was riding a pony.














And me.....















I have this CJ I'm in...sorry SJ girls if you're reading this...that is about your hometown. I didn't really have any pictures of the town I grew up in. So this weekend I made the best of the opportunity of being home and took a bunch of pictures around town of the landmarks that haven't changed too much. Lots of memories. I still couldn't go out to my old house....I'm just not ready to see it. I thought about it for a while, but ended up in tears, so I figured it wasn't a good thing yet. There are so many changes since we sold it and I think I really don't want to see it in the new way. It would be like reading the final paragraph in that chapter of my life....I'm not ready for that to end so I'll leave it for a while longer.


Well, I guess that'll do it for the weekend update. My thoughts aren't very connected - sorry about that. I'll catch ya later.

{TT 13 - Edition #5}

In honor of Halloween, and since I won't have another TT 13 before then, today's topic is Candy. Specifically, my Favorites.

1 - Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups
2 - Peanut M&M’s
3 - Almond Joy
4 - Snickers
5 - 3 Musketeers
6 - York Peppermint Patty
7 - Lindt Swiss Chocolate – Lindor Truffle White Chocolate (the yellow wrapper)
8 - Lindt Swiss Chocolate – Lindor Truffle Milk Chocolate and Peanut Butter (the orange wrapper)
9 - Kit Kat
10- Hershey’s Bar with Almonds
11 - Red/Strawberry Licorice
12 - Mr. Goodbar
13 - Oh and Kissables….
14 - and Take 5
15 - ooo, Boston Baked Beans
16 - and definitely Hot Tamales
17 - I forgot the Ice Breakers – Blue (mints and gum).....

Gosh....it was hard to just pick 13. As you can tell I'm a chocaholic - LOUD & PROUD!!!

Our fearless choir leader cancelled choir tonight since the Cardinal's are playing game 4 of the World Series. If she would go on and have choir, Mike and Nick would be the only tenors there. They would ALL suddenly come down with some contagious, 8-hour sickness. MEN - UGH!!!!!! Yeah, I want the Cards to win, but you know, they are going to play whether you watch or not, oh and you watching isn't gonna help them. DUH!!!! I plan on using the night to my advantage though. I have to do some cooking for Saturday (making White Chili) and hopefully I can get some scrapping in too. My fingers are crossed.

Have a great afternoon everyone....you can make it one more day....woo hoooo!!!

***Big Sigh***

Can this day be over now??? Just wonderin'. *sigh* I'm so done with work, I just wanna go home. We're going out for dinner tonight. Our chiropractor has gift card days every once in a while and everyone that goes in that day gets a GC. We'll they have had 3 different days for Eckert's cards so I have over $100.00 in GC. So tonight we're going out to dinner at the country restaurant. No Cooking for me tonight. :D

I've been contemplating my crop today....thinkin' of a project I can do as a make-n-take....and am getting some really cool ideas from the girls at Create My Keepsake. I want to do something that is reasonable for me to donate all the supplies for but that is cool/fun/neat/creative. Hopefully consultants from SU, CTMH, and CM will all be there doing make-n-takes as well. It's looking like fun.

My dear momma just bought Nick a cell phone...Lord help me....he'll be so happy though. Bless his heart. My baby isn't a baby anymore....I can feel a LO coming on out of this though.

I'm gonna get ready to close up shop. The Cardinals and the World Series are in town and St. Louis is a zoo....So until next time......

The Cardinal Train Is Comin'....WOooo WoOOooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been a bad blogger this week

EDITED: Date was wrong.

I only updated twice. Wow. Oh well. I'm here now and that's what counts I guess. So yeah, I blew the Thursday 13 again yesterday. *sigh* The sad thing is, I wasn't even busy. I just couldn't come up with 13 things to post. So this morning I get an e-mail from my aunt that's pretty cute, so I thought I would share that as my TT, with 5 extra points thrown in for lateness, LOL.

PERKS OF BEING OVER 50

1. Kidnappers are not very interested in you.

2. In a hostage situation you are likely to be released first.

3. No one expects you to run -- anywhere.

4. People call at 9 pm and ask, "Did I wake you ???? "

5. People no longer view you as a hypochondriac.

6. There is nothing left to learn the hard way.

7. Things you buy now won't wear out.

8. You can eat dinner at 4 p.m.

9. You can live without sex but not your glasses.

10. You get into heated arguments about pension plans.

11. You no longer think of speed limits as challenge.

12. You quit trying to hold your stomach in no matter who walks into the room.

13. Y ou sing along with elevator music.

14. Your eyes won't get much worse.

15. Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.

16. Your joints are more accurate meteorologists than the national weather service.

17. Your secrets are safe with friends because they can't remember them either.

18. Your supply of brain cells is finally down to manageable size.

The weather is yuck now. I am so not a cold weather person and this morning, bright and early, it's like 34 degrees. It's waaaaaay too cold. The only plus is that the leaves are looking pretty. I wanna take Nick out this weekend for pictures before all the leaves fall. I heard we're supposed to have rain, maybe the rain will hold off and I can get a few pictures in.

I finally remembered to upload somemore of the pumpkin patch from a couple weeks ago. Here are some of Nathen. I really struggle to get him to look natural when I take his picture. He does too much "posing." After typing that I realized that he's like my dad, who passed away before the twins were even born. Dad always had this fake posed look about him in every picture. Anyway here's a couple of my favorites of Nathen:

This one is of Nick, the day before his 16th Birthday. We were up really late the night before and Nick was struggling to wake up on Saturday. I just thought he looked real cute - Bucket-Head. ;)

One more picture.....

This is my darling cousin ~ Jackson. Nathen spelled out his name with the dominoes. I wish I could have gotten him closer to them but I was afraid he would knock them over. He was so cute.

I just have to add this before I sign off for the weekend....I like the Cardinals since they belong to us but I'm not a sports fan. I do want to just let everyone know, in case you aren't aware, that they are on their way to the World Series. WOO HOO!!!!!! How exciting for St. Louis and the fans.

GO CARDS!!!!!

No, Friday the 13th didn't get me but Tuesday the 17th did....I was blindsided with a migraine. Sheesh. Haven't had one of those for a while. I ended up going home at noon and slept till a little after 5:00. I've been a little groggy today but I think I'm finally coming out of it, now that it's 4:00 p.m. I just feel like the inside of my head is bruised.

OMGOSH!!! I heard the saddest song on the radio today by a new artist - Jason Michael Carroll. Hopefully you can hear it by going to his MySpace account. Click on the song title below. It's called:

Alyssa Lies
My little girl met a new friend just the other day
On the playground at school between the tires and the swing
And she came home with tear-filled eyes
When she said to me daddy, Alyssa lies
Well, I just brushed it off at first
Cuz I didnt know how much my little girl had been hurt
Or the things that she had seen
I wasnt ready when I said you can tell me She said

Alyssa lies to the classroom
Alyssa lies everyday at school
Alyssa lies to the teachers
As she tries to cover every bruise

My little girl laid her head down that night to go to sleep
As I stepped out the room, I heard her say a prayer so soft and sweet
God bless my mom and my dad
And my new friend Alyssa, oh, I know she needs you bad Because

Alyssa lies to the classroom
Alyssa lies everyday at school
Alyssa lies to the teachers
As she tries to cover every bruise

I had the worst night of sleep in years
As I tried to think of a way to calm her fears
I knew exactly what I had to do
But when we got to school on Monday, I heard the news

My little girl asked me why everybody looked so sad
The lump in my throat grew bigger with every question that she asked
Until I felt the tears run down my face
And I told her that Alyssa wouldnt be at school today

Cuz she doesnt lie in the classroom
She doesnt lie anymore at school
Alyssa lies with Jesus
Because theres nothing anyone would do
Tears filled my eyes
when my little girl asked me why Alyssa lies
Oh daddy, oh daddy tell me why Alyssa lies

My heart just aches for the children that this happens to. I know from experience, not me but some of my family, the terror, shame, guilt, and hurt that adults are able to put on kids. Please, please, please hug your children or even someone else's children today. They are so precious and should be cherished.

Thursday 13 {on Friday the 13th}

In honor of Friday the 13th I thought it would be fun to do something scary and spooky. But since I really don't get into the FT13 thing, I couldn't really come up with anything. Besides the fact that this should have been done on Thursday. *sigh* Anyway...better late than never, here's yesterday's 13:

Pet Names

*Duke
*Duchess
*Rover
*Patches
*Jodi
*Chica
*Buffy
*Bubbles
*Rocky
*Snowball
*Maime
*Big Red - actually it was a chicken and it was my dad's idea to name him.
*Chloe (if I ever get another)

Well, it's friday.....WOO HOO. Another week down. Gonna be a busy weekend. Tonight we are going to church with the Youth Group, tomorrow we're gonna be doing the Birthday Party thing, and of course Sunday is chruch. So I'll probably be out till Monday. I might try to upload some more pics of the Pumpkin Patch (I forgot my memory card yesterday and today).

OH, if you are into Christian movies today "One Night With The King" opens. It's a movie based on Tommy Tenney's book Hadassah. The story of Esther. It's an amazing book. Go to the GodChasers web site to find a theater near you.

That's all for today. Have a great weekend everyone.

God Bless!

Happy Wednesday!!

This is the latest LO I've been working on for about a week. I will have a similar one for Nathen when I'm done but I just finished this last night and am so excited at how it turned out I couldn't wait to share. I'm sorry the picture isn't real clear. I was trying to get one real quick before leaving for work this morning but it was overcast and wet out so I had to take it inside.

I am totally in love with this one. It came out just as I envisioned. That rarely happens to me.
Oh yeah, I'm gonna do something with Nick too. I just have to get an opportunity to get some good pictures of him.

Been hanging out at Create My Keepsake lately and they are having a weekly challenge to win a freebie. The only requirement is to use polka dots on the LO. I didn't plan it that this way but when I got done with this I realized I could enter it in the contest. How Sweet!! I'm going to try for a better picture tonight and upload it tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Since Blogger seems to be cooperating today, lets try the pumpkin patch pics....First set is Austen. That kid is such a photo magnet. In the second pic you can see the St. Louis Skyline.



I desperately want to upload one of the girl that went with us, but her dad is really paranoid about her pic being on the web so I can't. But I have to say that it's probably the best pic I've ever taken. The lighting is right, it's not blurry, she smiling perfect, etc.

Well, that's all for today. Have a great evening.

Stay Tuned for Tomorrow's Edition of Thursday Thirteen plus some more of the pumpkin patch. Blogger isn't letting me load any more.

Report From The Weekend

I had an absolutely wonderful weekend. Even though I ran almost all day on Saturday I feel so rested today and even though normal people shouldn't be required to work on Columbus day, I am still having a good day.

Friday my boss let me leave 15 minutes early. Wasn't a lot but I totally appreciated it since I was so bored, not feeling good and tired. Anyway, I went home and took a nap while Mike and the kids went out to dinner. We pretty much stayed at the house all evening. *PERFECT* since we don't have that opportunity so much.

Saturday, Mike has a softball tourney in Southern Missouri and when he was done he played golf with some of his buddies. I slept in a little then sent my oldest off to 6 Flags with some friends from church. The twins and I went to WM, Goodwill (found a brand-new-with-the-tags-still-on cool, pink, long, corduroy skirt for $6). We ran by the house to get our lawn chairs then went to watch Kaitlyn play soccer (the twins were bored out of their minds - Lisa thought they would love it - LOL) then we headed off to Eckerts. We took a million pictures!!! Actually I took a little less than 80, but not all of them turned out :( Here's a few of my favorites.

EDIT: GRrrrrrr!! Blogger is NOT cooperating. Maybe you can see them tomorrow.


BTW: Thanks for dealing with my lack of coherent thought on Friday (YIKES - that's a scary post).

Blah...

I'm having an "eh" day. Not feeling the best, really really tired, have a headache, don't wanna work, it's 4:35 and I'm sooo ready to leave. The phones aren't ringing, I have no work (I did it all this morning). *sigh* I wish my head would quit hurting. I wanna go grocery shopping tonight. I wanna make chili soon. I think I'm getting crabby. UGH!!! look out family. i don't even wanna use punctuation. I need to go to WM too. The boys need to pick out some costumes I guess. I'm not thrilled with doing that but I know they will want to dress up. *sigh* Lisa said Goodwill has some brand new costumes. I guess we'll go there first then head to WM for whatever is left. Nobody around on IM today to help keep me busy - Lisa's working, V is on holiday, Denise is in NY, Mom is working.....Enough idle chatter. Have a wonderful weekend. TTYM(Monday). Hopefully I'll have some pictures to share from our Eckerts excursion.

Tursday 13

FAVORITE SMELLS:

1) Slow Falling Summer Rain
2) A Fire In The Fireplace
3) Fresh Cut Grass
4) Newly Turned Dirt (throw back from my days on the farm I guess)
5) Vanilla
6) Cinnamon
7) Pumpkin Pie
8) Flowers (especially if they are for me)
9) Shine - perfume
10) Puppy Breath (Just call me weird)
11) Chocolate Cake Baking In The Oven
12) Curve (when Mike is wearing it of course)
13) Coffee Brewing

(Gee...look at that...it's mostly about food *sigh* guess that shows when you see me.)
So some more about food ~ Going out to dinner tonight with some friends. YEAH~NO COOKING FOR ME TONIGHT!!!!

In honor of this being Breast Cancer Awareness month I've purchased a Lisa Bearnson's All About Me SB kit. It was only $15.00 and a portion of the proceeds help support the fight against breast cancer. Yeah, so only $3.00 go to the fight but it's better than nothing. So check them out and place your order. If I understand it right, orders over $20.00 get free shipping so 2 of ya get together and go for it.

Guess that'll about do it for today. Peace Out!

Mark Your Calendars...

Tomorrow is the official Slap Your Irritating Co-workers Holiday: (I got this in an email and thought I would share. Some days I wish this were for real.)

Do you have a co-worker who talks nonstop about nothing, working your last nerve with tedious and boring details that you don't give a flip about? Do you have a co-worker who ALWAYS screws up stuff creating MORE work for you? Do you have a co-worker who kisses so much booty, you can look in their mouth and see what your boss had for lunch? Do you have a co-worker who is SOOO obnoxious, when he/she enters a room, everyone else clears it? Well, on behalf of Ike Turner, I am so very, very glad to officially announce tomorrow as SLAP YOUR IRRITATING CO-WORKER DAY!

There are the rules you must follow:
* You can only slap one person per hour - no more.
* You can slap the same person again if they irritate you again in the same day.
* You are allowed to hold someone down as other co-workers take their turns slapping the irritant.
* No weapons are allowed...other than going upside somebody's head with a stapler or a hole-puncher.
* After you have slapped the recipient, your "assault" must be followed with something like "cause I'm sick of your empty brain always messing up stuff!"
* If questioned by a supervisor or police, (if the supervisor is the irritant), you are allowed to LIE, LIE, LIE!

Now, study the rules, break out your list of folks that you want to slap the living day lights out of and get to slapping.....and have a GREAT DAY!

And on another note, I have to say that Megan on SJ has added some totally cool smilies. She's a pretty cool chica. Thanks M's. :)

Let's see.......nothing more to share that you would really care about. I've not been able to get much scrapping done, been kinda busy.

Looking forward to the weekend (what else is new - LOL), I think I'm going to hang out with Lisa, take the boys to watch Kaitlyn (their best friend) play soccer and then we'll go to Eckert's for some apple pickin', and some PICTURES in the pumpkins & mums!!!! I hope they turn out. Lisa always gets amazing pics so between us we'll hopefully get something worth showing on Monday. Mike will be playing in a softball tourney on Saturday so I wont be seeing much of him.

Okey dokey, that's all for today. Have a great Hump Day everyone.

ACK!!! I've been tagged.

Actually it's kinda cool. It's my second tag and it only took me 6 days to find it. Yeah, I'm a little slow.

Ok, here's the scoop, Lily (Bluelilo) from Scrapjazz taged me. The Rules:
List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets. Tag 5 friends and list them. And it continues on in a vicious cycle.

1) I absolutely WILL NOT touch dirty socks. I will pick them up in with a dirty shirt or something but I won’t touch them. UGH!!!!

2) I am a loner. I would rather be at home alone or with DH & Kiddos than go out with my friends (even if the kids and DH are invited). Every time I have second and third thoughts about not showing up for a party. Even though when I go, which is most of the time I force myself to go, I have a really fun time.

3) I like Monty Python And The Search For The Holy Grail. A total nonsense movie.

4) I don’t really like coffee. I just drink it so I can use the yummy coffee creamers from CoffeeMate.

5) Ok, more than what you ever wanted to know but when getting dressed, panties go on last. Told ya it was TMI. LOL

Ok, I’ll tag:
Faith
Ashley
Ashlee (CMK)
Christy (Floridascrapper)
and ummmm.....
Kristi Sauer.

Have a nice evening everyone.

Just Another Manic Monday

Now you'll have that song in your head for a while...just consider it a little gift from me. :D

Today has been absolutely insane at work. I've been really busy all day. On the plus side my day has flown by.

This weekend was really nice. The weather was beautiful. Played Laser Tag with the kids from church on Friday night. Had a lot of fun. We only had about 10 show up out of the 20 that said they were coming. They're teens so I guess we have to expect them to flake. *sigh* I laughed at all the right times at the "Drill Sargent" who was giving us the rules of play and he gave me a extra power. What exactly I don't know. I'm not real fond of dark, smokey places and had to fight down a little panic but overall - I had a great time.

I had a therapeutic massage Saturday morning. Normally I love them and the girl is really good but this one hurt. I am very sore - STILL!!! I feel like the layer, yes of fat, right under my skin is bruised and if you were to look at my back I should be black and blue. I don't think I am cause I believe Mike would have noticed. I am just very sore.

DH and I went out to eat at a little Bistro (hole-in-the-wall-yet-very-busy) in Edwardsville Saturday night for our anniversary. We went to Kohl's on our way home and I found some very sweet deals in the clothing department. WOO HOO for me. Sunday, of course, was spent primarily at church.

So that's all the updates from the weekend.

Oh I wanted to let you all know that the Month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month so be sure to take care of business.

Also, this is Pastor Appreciation Month. So send your pastor a nice card, take him to dinner, buy him a coke/coffee...something to show you are thankful for the Shepherd of your soul.

Friday Is The Day We Do The Happy Dance...

Happy Friday everyone!!!

I have some fun things planned for the weekend. Tonight we're taking the youth group to play Laser Tag. I am actually looking forward to this. I have only played one other time and it was a lot of fun. Don't know how photos will work in there though. We'll see.

Tomorrow I get to have a massage and tomorrow night I will be eating dinner with my wonderful Hunny to celebrate our anniversary. Mom agreed to let the boys spend the night so this means we don't have to hear them complain that we aren't eating at McD's or some such place. We might go to Eckert's for dinner and do a little pumpkin/mum/fall decoration shopping. I really want to wait to do that with the boys and have Lisa and Kaitlyn go. The kids always have so much fun together, Lisa & I do too. I want to take some cool fall pictures there - so many photo op's, but we'll see what happens. It's supposed to be in the 80's sometime this weekend - sure beats the 45 we had this morning. YUCK!

Let's see, what else.....I am hoping to finish Denise's CJ this weekend. It's coming together quite nicely, Denise. It's killing me to not talk to you about it. I'm just glad you haven't been around this week to tempt me (even though I've been pretty bored). I had an idea for it, then Mike threw me a change-up ball and I'm going for it!!!! Sheesh, where did the baseball talk come from???

I'm on the lookout for a Scrapbooking Monthly Kit place and, thanks to V, I think I may have found it. Scrap Room looks really cool and I think you get a lot for your money. They also look like they keep up to date with the current popular items. So when the kit is posted on Sunday, I'm gonna check it out and probably sign up.

I'm hoping to leave the office here in a few minutes, so I'll cut this short.

Have a wonderful weekend - Be Blessed!

Thursday Thirteen

It's that time when we bring you another edition of Thursday Thirteen.

13 DVD's in my Queue at Netflix:

1) Over the Hedge (On hold waiting for release)
2) The Great Outdoors
3) Somewhere In Time
4) 24 – Season 3
5) Third Rock From The Sun – Seasons 1-5
6) Wild Wild West – The old TV series
7) Cellular
8) The Pacifier
9) Chocolat
10) Taxi – Queen Latifah
11) Desk Set – Old movie with Spencer Tracy & Katharine Hepburn
12) Doogal – Kid movie
13) CSI - Season 6 (On hold waiting for release)




Here's a LO I worked on this week. While at a family reunion earlier this month, I was giving Jackson a hug and he reached up and hugged my face and said "CHEESE." He wouldn't let go till someone took our picture. Anyway I love they busy look here and the orange. It's another 8x8 thats hanging on my wall. This is quickly becoming my favorite size for fun, single picture LOs.

I actually did this on my anniversary. Mike went to the Cardinal ballgame and I stayed home with the boys. They were good and didn't bug me so I got to scrap.


K, that's all for now. Have a nice evening.

Challenges

I have always viewed the "Challenges" issued by people on the MB's as something for someone else to do. They sound fun while I'm at work, but by the time I actually get time to sit down at home and scrap, the challenge is out of my mind. Well, I've been checking out a new MB and they post a challenge once a month for to be a Guest Design Team member for the next month. You have to upload a LO based upon their challenge conditions. So this month, I decided to take up the challenge at CMK. Here are the rules:

Please create any size layout that includes the following:
6 Different Patterned Papers
4 Different Ribbons
At least 10 buttons
A minimum of 2 photos and
3 flowers of some type---whether hand drawn, rub-ons, stickers, chipboard, Prima, etc.

I won't be uploading it to their gallery for the DT spot. Even though I like how it turned out, I'm not DT quality. I do think I might do more of these challenges though - it really got me out of my norm. Here's the result:

This is my sweet little cousin Xander at his first birthday. Mike and I had been to a wedding and stopped at the park on our way to the reception. Xander wanted to leave with us.

By the way, you should know by now that I don't edit my pics, I'm too lazy, so sorry about the extra bg stuff.


Here's another one I did this weekend. I've had this pic of the twins for a couple years. They had so much fun playing with the christmas lights (I was using them for a family photo "shoot") and they decided to play with them. This is my second stab at arrows. Love them.





I don't know if he'll read the 'ol blog today, but just in case....Honey, - Happy Anniversary. It's been 14 amazing, wonderful years!!!!! I have NO regrets. I love you with all my heart.

T.G.I.F.

Wonder how many blogs have that for a title today. Intersting. Anyway, I am very glad the weekend is about here. Can't wait to leave work today and get on with my life. WOO HOO!!

Silly Picture:

What is a "Booty Bag" supposed to be? A bag for my butt? Any excess butt I have? Can I purchase more Booty if I want? Weirdness I tell ya. Oh and why does the florist carry it?

Here's a little math question for ya...

Hypothetically speaking, you smoke.

It takes you about 7 minutes to smoke one cigarette.

You have to take at least 2 breaks a day. Sometimes more, but lets just figure it as 2 per day.

You 18 days of vacation time per year.

You get approx. 10 days for holidays.

How many days off do you get for just smoking??

My answer to follow.

Nothing more today. I worked on a LO yesterday and I took a pic but it didn't turn out. So I'll have to do that next week. It's a cute one of an old picture of the twins AND I'm working on another LO hope to have finished this week. One more scrapping thing: I got the pics back for Denise's book. Not really happy with them. So I'm thinking on it some more.


MATH QUIZ ANSWER:
.
.
.
.
6.75 days. And she wants to haggle over a half day of vacation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Still chapped about that.

Yeah, well anyway hope ya'll have a great weekend. Be back next week and we'll have even more fun that we've had this week. If that's even possible.

1. I really wish God would move me from my job to something better/different.
2. I wish Mike made more $ so I could have more options for my next job.
3. I actually pray that I don’t have to work.
4. But if I do, I would love to work closer to home
5. I need a new work environment
6. Lisa has the perfect work schedule.
7. I would love to be home with my kids when they get home from school.
8. I just want to be a homemaker and cook and do laundry through the day so our nights can open up for more family time
9. Dear God, If I can’t change jobs, can my co-worker?
10. I really am thankful that I have a job when so many people are unable to find work or are physically unable to work.
11. I am worried about our youth group
12. I learned to spell Mischievous – thanks to 4th grade spelling
13. I’m waaaaaaaaaaaay too moody
    

For more information on Tursday Thirteen, see my post of 9/14/06.

Praise God!!!!

Blogger is letting me post pics today, or at least right now. It's so frustrating to get these pics up. I sent them an email letting them know of my problems - like they really care. We'll see what happens.

So, this first one is a pic of the Flamingos at Sea World. The colors were so cool. My only regret is cutting that poor birds head off at the bottom. I wish I would have paid better attention to my composition. Oh well, Live and Learn I guess. This is 8x8 (which I'm totally in LOVE with) and right now it's hanging on my wall in a pageframe (LOVE those too). Oh, and another attempt at circles.

This will probably be the pic I use for our Christmas Card this year. I love it. I wanted to do a fun LO with it and practice the "empty space" look. I obviously didn't do real well since I filled most of it up, but hey, it's progress. LOL It's amazing how long it takes to get 4 little scraps of paper to look like I randomly threw them on the page. I love that look - gonna keep workin' on it.


And now for a Blogger question....those of you that read my blog and have some experience with Beta, *ahem* Faith - J/K - anyone really....Here's my deal:

I have 2 blogs (one I use as a test blog to try out new stuff on and then the one you're reading) .
I want to see what Beta Blogger looks like but I don't want to do it on this blog. I wanna try it on the test one. Is it possible to do that? I've also asked this question of the Blogger help people, but I wondered if anyone reading might know.

I know there was one more thing I wanted to write about, but I can't remember what it is....oh well. Ok, that's all for this Wednesday's random addition from the "Queen". If you like random read Faith's blog, now there's some serious Blogger ADD - just kidding ya girl.

Peace Out!

Tuesday's Blog

Here it is, day 2 into a new week and I've not blogged yet. *sigh*

I haven't shared any pics for a while, so that's what you get today - pending Bloggers cooperation. Let's see what we get ~

I was hoping to get the pics to show up side by side, but it doesn't look like that's gonna happen. This is a LO for a CJ I'm in with some friends. This book was really hard cause the rules were that we could only use SU stuff. Her theme was vacations and I don't have that SU stuff, much less stamps for the pool. On top of it, there isn't really that much available for the pool theme from SU. So, enough of the complainin' here's the LO - Thank God It's Done!!
















I had to borrow stamps from a couple friends to get me this far and many, many, many thanks to Just_V for helping to inspire me. I think the crazy thing is growing on me. Every time I look at it I like it a little more. I HATED it at first, but I think I was just tired of looking at it.

So, Denise with that particular pain in the pah-tootee out the way, I’ve been thinking on your CJ and ideas are formulating. I’ve ordered pics but didn’t do 1-hour due to $$ issues, but we’ll see how they turn out before I work on this anymore. It all depends on the pics. AND no previews. LOL.

Hoping for 2 more -
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.
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Blast!!! Aint gonna happen. Well, I guess that's it for today then.


BTW: Did you know It takes approximately 6-8 minutes to smoke 1 cigarette?