What happened to the week?

Wow, I blinked and it's Friday. Wahoo!!! My DS will be at his Dads this weekend and that means running amuck! Well actually, it doesn't but I thought I'd try & fool ya. Seriously, here's the week wrap up and weekend plans so far......

This afternoon I will be going straight from work to my hairdressers. She is a sweetheart and always fits me in and stays late to work her magic. She was supposed to be getting married in October and when I called to make the appointment I asked if she was "Freaking out" being 30 days out. She said no, that things had actually changed and she wasn't getting married. I can't wait to get in the chair and get the scoop. She said she was OK about it. Better to figure it out BEFORE than spend years dealing with your mistake.

NOT that I'd know anything about that.

Tomorrow I hope to sleep in a little and then about midday I'm heading over to my buddy Cari's house for a Scrapyard gals get together to crop/eat/laugh...etc. Should be a blast. I'm not sure how long I'll stay or what I'm gonna work on but I know it will be fun cause those gals are CRAZY!

Sunday the "Race for the Chase" begins so we'll have NASCAR on and I will probably be at my craft table working & watching. I got some more toys in the mail yesterday and now I need to learn how to use them. I also got a FREE stamp set and acylic block from a new stamp company. It was unexpected and a great surprise in the mail yesterday. New rubber...yeah!

The baby shower was yesterday and turned out really great. I ended up making 22 "party favors" instead of a card. I think they turned out cute. Everyone was impressed and thinks I should have my own craft business. LOL. That's only because they don't read the blogs I do or have the friends I do. I'm a ROOKIE compared to most of the people I know. I'll get a picture and share it with you this weekend. My camera didn't want to cooporate last night so you'll just have to wait.

Speaking of shopping..weren't we??.....anyway, Tonight is the release of 4 (FOUR) new stamp sets from Papertreyink. Oh my aching wallet. Seriously, check out the link to my left and get ready to stay up till midnight tonight to jump on these babies.

Hope you have all had a great week. Continue to keep our brave men & women in uniform in your prayers and do something nice for someone. What have you done lately to make you feel proud?

Oh, I almost forgot to share with you my favorite new saying that I read on a blog yesterday...."I'm blonder than I pay for" LMAO!!

Til later.....................

Where were you?

****EDITED---Please understand that the following post was written with out realizing it might be to painful for some people to read. I came on here to remove it or change it in some way to soften the message. I've decided to leave it as is. I added this disclaimer to ask you to not read the following if the events of 9/11/2007 are still to painful or if you have loved ones in the military. I do not ever want to bring pain to the ones I love but I also need to express myself today. I hope you will understand. I promise to return to my usual goofy self & posts soon. The past few weeks have been extremely sad and I hope you can bear with me as I verbalize what I've been feeling & experiencing.
Thanks & Cyber HUGS to you all************

I've been in a meeting all morning and haven't had a chance to post until now. Today is a tough day. It's hard to think back on that morning 6 years ago. I know you remember where you were. How could you not?

My life was VERY different back then and that day was a horrific one on a MEGA smaller scale then the people directly involved. I almost had a former family member-in-law in the middle of the towers but he had slept in that morning because he'd worked late the night before. I'd just been through a nightmare of a 3 month long legal battle with a landlord (long story for another book), my 5 year old former step son had just been hospitalized due to his Bi-polar disorder, I'd been diog. with high blood pressure and that morning brought everything to a head. Don't get me wrong, I in NO WAY am saying it was comparable to what the families of the victims went through. It is just one of those moments that is seared into your brain for ever.

My beloved niece's "cousin-in-law" is leaving for Iraq soon and she had to say goodbye to him this past weekend. I can't imagine what his family is going through. It's impossible to understand why we are still sending our children to fight with no end in sight to this nightmare. I support the men & women who defend our country. I do not know that I agree we should still be there. I know I will do everything in my power to keep my son from having to go if, God forbid, we are still there in another 6 years. I'm sure mothers felt that way right after the original 9/11 and now here we are, still fighting as my son turns from a innocent six year old to a pre-teen 12 year old. I pray that the madness will end. I pray that Daryle comes back soon and safely. I pray that his 8 year old "cousin" never has to make the same decision when he turns 18. I pray that we never forget.

Til later.................

New week

My DS kept asking why the weekend goes by so fast. I felt the same way.

Did you see the USF game Saturday night? WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! I thought I would have a heart attack. Way to go Bulls. I didn't see my DD on TV but I heard from her on Sunday and said they had a blast.

Then there was the BUCS game. "Regis" picked them as his come back team of the year but admitted they would probably loose to Seattle. Hope he's right.

I didn't do anything crafty this weekend except buy those children's board books. I have a baby shower this Thursday and I do need to make a card for it.

School Open House tonight. Should be fun.

Crop this Saturday. Maybe I'll do some actual scrapbook pages. It's been forever. I'm looking forward to seeing the Scrapyard gals. It's always a blast when that group gets together.

Sorry so short but not alot to say. How was YOUR weekend?

Til later.................

Half a year

6 months, 180 days (give or take) since we said I DO. Is it to "Jr. High" of me to count the months like some silly newlywed? Screw you. I'm celebrating and you can't stop me.

Why is it that short work weeks feel twice as long as a regular one? We actually didn't do alot of work but it felt like the week took forever to get to Friday. We had a great lunch on Wed to celebrate the birthdays in our group. Had a meeting to plan a party the end of the month. Went to a wonderful service and reception for my friends husband on Thursday. It was standing room only. It was a nice turn out of his friends/family and her friends/co workers that wanted to show their support. We got a chance to talk to her at the reception and I was my usual goofy self and made her laugh. I've got something planned for Monday to brighten her day when she returns to work. Hope it will help her transition back into the new "routine".

DS & I had a fun day together. Went to the Tag office to get my renewal sticker & then went Bowling. It would have been a lot more fun but my right foot decided this morning to feel like it was in a vice grip and has been shooting pain through it all day. Really difficult to bowl when you can't take a step. I had to limp to the the beginning of the "lane" and bowl from there. Doesn't give you much "style & form points" but forces you to put the ball down right away and a little straighter than normal.

The rest of the afternoon was spent watching college football & catching up on my weeks worth of "Regis & Kelly" 20th anniversary shows. How said that I remember almost all of the "memories" they have been highlighting. I had a great job once, working as a secretary for a friend of mine. They let me set up a porta-crib in the bedroom office for my DD and I watched Regis & Kathy Lee every morning. Man I'm old.

Getting ready to watch the USF game on TV. Ironically my DD & DH's DS are both at the game but don't know each other is there. S-DS is rooting for Alburn & DD is there as a USF student so they'll be on opposite sides of the field. Probably best they don't know each other is around. Due to the game we are taping the NASCAR race to watch tomorrow. Should be a good race as they are down to the wire.

I may get some more cards made tomorrow if my foot feels better. I bought some "children's Board books" at a yard sale this morning. I'm thinking of altering them using the Gesso/paint etc like I've seen in alot of the magazines. For .10 each, I can't loose.

Hope you are having a great weekend. Sounds like it's a good thing I didn't spend the money for Creative Escape. The group that I know that went are sending back less than glowing reviews. They love the location but the classes haven't impressed them. They haven't posted about the most recent classes so maybe it improved. They are all, already so talented it would be hard to "teach" them anything. Hopefully they will get enough product to make up for the almost $1000 it cost them to go. I know they will have lots of stories about the "after class antics". Can't wait to hear those.

Gonna run & get ready to root for the BULLS. Til later.........................

40

40 years ago today I got the best birthday present ever, my sister Michele. Yes, I know my birthday was 2 weeks ago (and I'm still accepting gifts if you were late!) but growing up I usually had to wait until the first of September to get my birthday gifts because of the way my dad was paid. Because of that, I've always considered Michele my birthday gift when I turned 9.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY sis!!! I still say life begins at 40, takes a turn when you are 46 1/2 and then WAHOO!!!!! Hope you have a super day and get spoiled rotten. From what I hear, you are already (getting spoiled..not that you are rotten..LOL). Love you forever & a day.

Til later.............

Rough week

I borrowed the attached picture from my sisters blog. This is my mom & dad on their wedding day.

Thirteen years ago today my dad passed away after a short battle with Colon Cancer. It's not a secret that my dad and I didn't get along. That makes me sad. I wish we could have had the kind of relationship that alot of girls (my DD for one) have with their fathers. It really wasn't his fault. He didn't have a good role model as his father was a horrible man and I don't think he showed his son much love. That probably wasn't his fault as he'd lost his wife and had to raise two children alone. I always wished me & my dad had been closer. I'm sad that his grandchildren didn't get a chance to know him. He actually died a few weeks after I found out I was expecting my DS. Since he wasn't really aware of things at the end I didn't get a chance to tell him until after he died. I went into his bedroom the morning he died and told him about the upcoming event. I believe he was able to hear me since he was no longer bound to the painful earth he'd just left. His death also happened the week my youngest sister had a horrible car accident and broke both her wrists. Her son is still carrying emotional scars from that event. It also marks the last time I actively spoke to my other sister. She is still alive & living in Georgia. It's just that things that came out during that horrible week ended our turbulent relationship once and for all. She was alot like my father and that always rubbed me the wrong way. Through his death she showed her true colors and I cut her out of my life at that time. Another thing that makes me sad. I'm sad that she doesn't know her niece & nephew. I'm sad that she is still living a life that keeps people from getting close to her. I'm sad that she effects my beloved niece and her family because of her actions. I'm sad that no matter how many times I try to forgive her, I can't.

A friend of mine from work lost her husband to cancer on Sunday. 52 years young. He has left her much to soon and we can only offer our support as she tries to adjust to her new life. I hugged my DH extra tightly this weekend. All the sadness and "what if's" were just to much. I didn't tell him why but I'm sure he would have understood.

I know this isn't my usual blog entry and I'm sorry to be such a downer today. Maybe what I need to say is to love those in your life as much as you can, as often as you can.

Til later............

Lazy Sunday

Now that the secret is out of the bag I can reveal what I was doing yesterday. My sister, Hi MICHELE, will turn the BIG 40 (OMG..she's 9 years younger than me & I'm only 17 so I can't figure out how she can be 40..LOL) on September 5th. A friend planned a surprise crop at her house and invited Michele and some of her friends & family. Michele thought it was just a crop/get together so we had to be careful not to let the cat out of the bag. I ended up driving around for over an hour so that I didn't arrive before Michele. She was surprised and we had a nice day of scrappin, EATING, and laughing. I pulled out my CKU-A from July 2006 and got it half way done. I need to do the journaling and then put some last minute embellishments and it will finally be finished. It was funny to see what I considered important in the summer of 2006. A few things have changed but it will forever be a snapshot of my life at that time.

Speaking of my sister and her B-day..here is the card I made her

The Happy Birthday side was embossed using my Cuttlebug embossing folder & my Sizzix. I used pink CatsEye ink to highlight some of the words. The flowered side is from the Glitter DCWV slab. American Crafts ribbon. The Cupcake stamp is from one of my latest purchases from the "Lockhart Stamp Co." I used my Pink puffy ink pen (can't think of the correct name right now & I'm to lazy to go look..sorry). I didn't have a large enough scallop punch so I punched several square ones & pieced them together behind the stamped image. The Happy Birthday image is from a new $1 acylic sets from Michaels Crafts. I used my corner rounder to scallop the edge of the back of the card and it looks cool peeking out under the front side. Inked up all the edges, made the envelope using my Anna Griffin envelope template and we were all set. My sis is not usually a pink kind of gal but I liked the card and ironically, she was wearing Pink & Black yesterday so it worked out.

Thanks to Linda, Kip, & Elle for planning and making a special day for my sis. It was great to get together and glad our mom could come and "play" for a few hours. I'm sure my sis appreciated it.

I need to go make a Thank you card & a Birthday card so will leave you with a couple pictures.

This is our little friend that was a daily visitor for a week but has now disappeared. We are hoping he found his family and they have gone somewhere together.








This is a sample of the Halloween cards I've made lately.


Hope you are all enjoying spending time with your families and friends. I'm so glad to have one more day off to spend time with my DH and to play with my scrapin/card making stash.


Till later................