Living The Dream 24/7

Rest of the process...

2010-08-03T07:47:00.002-06:00

Well my DH (Darling Hubby)... is recovering and has gotten the stitches removed from his neck and tomorrow gets the ones removed from his chest at the doctor's office. This has been a long and slow recovery process...but with each day of healing and strength returning to normal...you have to give God His props! :)

My DH just celebrated his 50th birthday on July 31st...which was also just declared National Dance Day by the Dizzy Feet Foundation and SYTYCD (So You Think You Can Dance)...makes ya want to dance a jig when someone you love, who has been so ill, starts to recover.

Life doesn't always hand us the cards or deck that we want in every moment...but at least we know the King is in there somewhere :)

Still here....

2010-06-25T14:46:00.003-06:00

If you know me personally and have been following my Facebook posts, you will know that my DH had to have two surgeries recently- which started with a trip to the ER 2 1/2 weeks ago with a fever of 104! It has been a long and bumpy road since 1984 for him, as he has Short Bowel Syndrome- so we are bound to have these potholes of life from time to time. He is getting better, but we still have to do the Lovenox shots twice a day for now (Man, do I hate needles!)....ahhhh, the things we do for love!

I pray that someday he can have a successful small bowel transplant- but to date that has not been an option; and he has been TPN dependent for 26 years now. Although in the last 9 years, he has started to get infections and he is meticulous in the cleaning and care of his Groshon central line.

I just thank God that he is still here and that we have had this mouch time together. I usually don't get into all of this personal stuff, but I am feeling kinda sentimental and reflective today and just downright thankful and lucky to be alive and to have a wonderful, loving husband :)

Think...Reflect...Ponder...Remember...

2010-05-04T10:37:00.004-06:00

I just finished the altered book for my oldest daughter Tiffany's college graduation and she loved it!...I can't wait to see it filled with pictures from her Nursing School and Clinical Adventures!

It made me think and reflect about those moments in life that matter the most. Like your "firsts"...marriage...your spouse...your children..family & friends...vacations..."favorites"...and all of those everyday "life happens" memories that we talk about and those that we forget about over time.

We need to start taking time to be more intentional...to take the time to think, reflect, ponder and remember those moments that are special, funny, sad, make us think. etc... Start writing them down so that when you are old and can't remember, or have grandchildren you can share what your thoughts and feelings were when you were their age.

I find it fascinating to know how much a loaf of bread or gallon of gas was when my parents and grandparents were my age or younger. How fashion and technology has changed over the years....hairstyles....fads... trends...home decor...fashion. We would not be able to compare these things and more over the generations if someone had not taken the time to document and take pictures of what everything had looked like back then.

The same holds true with our own lives... thoughts...likes/dislikes...family photos...recipes...how well will our children and our children's children know us when we are no longer here. When someone says to them that they look like you or act like you...will they really truly know what you thought...what you looked like...how you felt or what you liked? They will if you take the time to sit down from time to time to think...reflect...ponder and remember what is important to you and take the pictures and write the words to convey YOU to everyone else who will look at them and read them later...scrapbooking and book altering helps me to accomplish this.

I challenge you to make time to document those important things in your life.. the good, the bad and even the ugly...so that your soul will be heard....long after your voice is silenced this side of Heaven :)

Visiting the Library...

2010-04-29T08:37:00.002-06:00

I sparked some curiousity with one of the librarians at my library. They used to hold an annual book sale and loads of people would show up to get a paper bag of books for $3.00 or pay .25 per book based on what was going on at the time. Well... they got smarter this year and to avoid the LONG lines of people, "line ditchers" and just downright rude people---they now have books for sale for .25 a piece (magazines and paperbacks are free)...DVD's and CD's, while they are a rare find, are about .50-$1.00 a piece.

As I am getting into altered art, books and assemblage...I find these all to be "rare finds" and often the librarians look at me, but never say anything about the amount of books that I buys on a weekly basis. They are probably just glad to get rid of them and make some $$. One day, one of my favorite librarians, Jackie, asked me what I did with all of the books that I purchase. I laughed out loud, as I thought no one had noticed but me that I generally buy about $5 worth at a time! :)

I told her my dream of having my own "shop" someday...where people could "create art"...read...etc...and that I also altered some of them. She had a puzzled look on her face, and I didn't know if she was having a mild heart attack or what at the thought of me tearing and deconstructing books. She said that she had heard of book altering, but was having a hard time comprehending what an altered dictionary would look like.

I took about 8 books in to show her yesterday...including the dictionary that I am working on. She was pleasantly surprised and amazed and thanked me for sharing my art with her. I hope that I left her as inspired as I felt. Thanks for your kind words of encouragement Jackie! ...see you soon :)

GLEE!

2010-04-22T07:43:00.003-06:00

The GLEE "Madonna episode" TOTALLY ROCKED!....Fox will be showing it again tomorrow night. I love this show! I was in Honors and Show Choir and Ensemble when I was in High School....so it brings back fond memories of the fun times that me and my pals had. We had our own "Curt" too....so it brings a smile to my face when I tune in to see what happens next. LOVE the cast and the "comraderie" between Sue and Will...LOL! The songs are modern and they make them uniquely their own. Plus it doesn't hurt that the kids have a HOT teacher either! :)

Altered Books and Other Things...

2010-04-21T16:10:00.004-06:00

I am currently working on altering some books. Old training books that were headed for the trash at work...books that I have purchased at the library book sale and I am working on altering a Red Lobster menu into a scrapbook (a gift from a waiter who shall remain nameless, but is the COOLEST waiter EVER!...you know who you are Queen!) LOL! :)

My DH bought me a new camera for Christmas, so I will post photos soon... the darn blasted thing did NOT come with a memory card OR a USB cord!...so much for meeting the needs of your customers SONY!!- way to make the consumer pay EXTRA in this already sucky economy...oh well... I have a memory card now, but no USB Cord. So if any of my gal pals have an extra Sony Cybershot USB Cord lying around because you now have a new camera...send it my way!...(hint, hint Ellen & Kimberley)

As soon as I get the photos on my memory card and/or a USB Cord...I will post the pictures to my blog...but for now...I am off to get the porkchops and potatoes out of the oven cuz my good friend Ellen is coming over for dinner and to watch last night's Madonna episode of GLEE. (I almost watched it without her...but I waited!)...after that I am going to work on my books and will have pics up soon.

I am altering an old Zagat restaurant book...a computer manual a novel, a dictionary, and turning a chunky kids board book into a mini scrapbook for my oldest daughter who just graduated Nursing School.... so...stay tuned!

Hump Day!!

2010-04-21T10:36:00.004-06:00

It's WEDNESDAY! Affectionately known in the work place as "Hump Day". I am not sure why this is referred to as Hump Day...but I know that it falls in the middle of the work week...so...like a camel, whose hump(s)is/are in the middle...maybe that's where it originated. OR....maybe, as my friend Robin pointed out today at work...maybe it's because Monday is down and then you go up to Tuesday and then Wednesday is at the top and you are on the downward slide toward Friday!??....If anyone has an answer to why it's called Hump Day, please feel free to let me know! :)

I do know that I am NOT a Monday morning kinda gal (which I have blogged about before; although I do LOVE any Monday morning that I get to stay home from work)...but back to the work week... I do get excited when Hump Day gets here because it means that I only have 2 more days until my favorite time of the work week arrives....5:00 pm on Friday...YEA!

Funny Video- How to Make a Pie

2010-04-13T14:53:00.005-06:00

I was perusing Amazon.com today at lunch for some cool Assemblage and Altered Art Books and it lead me to "How to Sew a Button: and other stuff your Grandmother knew". There was this video at the bottom of the book list, along with another one on How to Tie a Tie. I thought this one was so funny that it made me laugh out loud...hope you enjoy it as much as I did...and I just might purchase the book because of the funny video! LOL!...Enjoy! :)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m2Y4A0E70OW35R

Monday Mornings...

2010-04-12T07:45:00.002-06:00

I guess I should be excited about Monday Mornings...but I'm NOT! Mondays are like the day of the week when you haven't had that first cup of coffee yet. You have to wake up, get a shower and drag your tired butt into work after getting the kids off to school. Once you get there, you are supposed to promote a positive attitude because you work for Corporate America...and we are supposed to always be "politically correct" in today's world--(even though there is nothing "correct" about politics!)

It gets better after I have those first 2 cups of morning java...but that kicks in late morning/ early afternoon. I am just NOT a Monday morning type of gal. I am somewhere still stuck in my "Country Tyme Lemonade Lazy Sunday afternoon" leftovers. Still stuck under those covers and sleeping in late until I want to crawl out of my warm sanctuary to brew that hot liquid love in a cup. I guess you know by now that I am having a love affair...with coffee! LOL! :)

The weekends are just too darn short and the work week waaayyy too long! I guess that once I get through this Monday, it means that I only have 4 days left until glorious Friday evening at 5:00 pm gets here...and I can once again yell "Woo Hoo! It's 5:00 girls, let's get outta here!"

She Did It!...and we are so PROUD!

2010-04-02T11:34:00.003-06:00

Our oldest daughter Tiffany has graduated from Nursing School and has had her pinning ceremony. We are sooooo HAPPY...EXCITED...and all of those other joyous emotions...for both her and us. It seems like just yesterday we were reading books at bedtime and snuggling on the couch/recliner! Now #1 is a BIG GIRL with a HOUSE and CAR of her own and a COLLEGE education and even a REAL JOB! She put in an application at a local hospital one day...they called her to set up an interview the very next day...and she was told that she has a job the day that she had her interview. That's incredible! She has a job in Critical Care with a $5 shift diff for the 7p-7a shift waiting for her as soon as she passes her State Nursing Boards. We are also EXTREMELY PROUD of her as she was the Nursing CLASS PRESIDENT on top of her studies and working at Kroger Pharmacy to pay for school. I am truly ENAMORED at all that she has been able to accomplish and know that the world is HER oyster....but she is a DIVA and already knows that...(you know that I love you Tiffany Lynne)...seems like just yesterday that I was singing to you and rocking you in the rocking chair when you had your days and nights mixed up as a baby...and now here you are....as I get older and headed for the rocking chair for myself...LOL! :)

I LOVE YOU!!!!!...Mom

I Am A Christian

2010-03-31T06:17:00.002-06:00

I Am A Christian

Posted using ShareThis

Right Brain or Left Brain....

2010-03-30T11:37:00.006-06:00

I took a "test" that my friend DEB has on her blog. Stuff like this interests me...well them so do programs like "The Lobotomist"...the tvs show "Fringe" and Criminal Minds...LOL!...some of this I agree with...the rest I am in perfect blissful denial about- HAAA!!! :)

Thank you for taking the Creativity Test. The results show your brain dominance as being:

Left Brain : 42%
Right Brain 58%

You are more right-brained than left-brained. The right side of your brain controls the left side of your body. In addition to being known as right-brained, you are also known as a creative thinker who uses feeling and intuition to gather information. You retain this information through the use of images and patterns. You are able to visualize the "whole" picture first, and then work backwards to put the pieces together to create the "whole" picture. Your thought process can appear quite illogical and meandering. The problem-solving techniques that you use involve free association, which is often very innovative and creative. The routes taken to arrive at your conclusions are completely opposite to what a left-brained person would be accustomed. You probably find it easy to express yourself using art, dance, or music. Some occupations usually held by a right-brained person are forest ranger, athlete, beautician, actor/actress, craftsman, and artist.

Your left brain/right brain percentage was calculated by combining the individual scores of each half's sub-categories. They are as follows:

Your Left Brain Percentages

34% Reality-based (Your most dominant characteristic)
31% Sequential
30% Logical
27% Linear
27% Verbal
17% Symbolic (Your least dominant characteristic)

Your Right Brain Percentages

56% Random (Your most dominant characteristic)
44% Nonverbal
43% Intuitive
37% Concrete
36% Holistic
16% Fantasy-oriented (Your least dominant characteristic)

What Do These Percentages Mean?
Low percentages are common in the Brain Type Test and are not indicative of intelligence. Instead, medium to high scores (30 - 50%) are desireable, as they show an ability to utilize a processing method without an abnormal reliance on it. Special focus should be paid to highly dominant (50% or above) or highly recessive (0 - 30%) methods, as they tend to limit your approach when learning, memorizing, or solving problems.

If you have Highly Dominant characteristics, your normal thinking patterns will naturally utilize these methods. Conscious effort is required to recognize the benefits of other techniques. Using multiple forms of information processing is the best way to fully understand complex issues and become a balanced thinker.

If you have Highly Recessive characteristics, your normal thinking patterns naturally ignore these methods. You may only consider these under-utilized techniques when "all else fails," or possibly not at all. It is important to recognize the benefits of all of your brain's capabilities in order to become a balanced thinker.

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Left Brain Categories

Reality-based Processing

Reality-based processing is used by the left hemisphere as a method for processing information with a basis on reality. This processing tool focuses on rules and regulations. An example of this would be how a left-brained person would completely understand the repercussions of turning in a late assignment or failing a test. A left-brained person also usually easily adjusts to changes in their environment.

Your Reality-based Analysis

You process information with a basis in reality, but are not limited to it. You may recognize the repercussions of you actions, but proceed to do something anyway, in the heat of the moment. You can complete projects to whice you are emotionally attached as well as random tasks.

Sequential Processing

Sequential processing is a method used by the left hemisphere for processing information. The information that is received is processed in order from first to last. Information is processed in a systematic, logical manner. Through sequential processing, you can interpret and produce symbolic information such as language, mathematics, abstraction, and reasoning. This process is used to store memory in a language format. Activities that require sequential processing include spelling, making a "to-do" list, and many aspects of organization.

Your Sequential Analysis

You show moderate ability to organize information sequentially. You are capable of processing information you receive in a systematic, logical order from first to last. However, at times you will process information you receive quite randomly, or may give it only a semblance of order. You are probably an average mathematician and speller, and may or may not enjoy tasks such as making "to-do" lists.

Logical Processing

Logical processing is a method that is used by the left hemisphere to take information piece by piece and put it all together to form a logical answer. When information is received through reading or listening, the left hemisphere will look for different bits of information that will allow it to produce a logical conclusion. This aspect of the left hemisphere is what aids you in solving math problems and science experiments.

Your Logical Analysis

When processing information using this method, you may consider the information before you and produce a logical answer, or you may tend to go with your gut. You may discover that you can "guess" your way through S.A.T. questions about as accurately as you can deduce them. It is important that you nurture your ability to use logic whenever it is needed, but do not neglect other methods of processing information if you hit a logical roadblock.

Linear Processing

Linear processing is a method by the left hemisphere to process information. In this process, the left brain takes pieces of information, lines them up, and proceeds to arrange them into an order from which it may draw a conclusion. The information is processed from parts to a whole in a straight, forward, and logical progression.

Your Linear Analysis

When processing information using this method, you will occasionally feel the need to see the "whole picture" before you are able to achieve results. At other times, you are able to piece all of the parts together in a straight and logical progression to form a whole, which then enables you to understand what you have processing. The information, your mood, and your level of comfortable are all factors that determine your response to a linear processing problem.

Verbal Processing

Verbal processing is a method used by the left hemisphere to process our thoughts and ideas with words. For example, through verbal processing, a left-brained person giving directions may say, "From this point continue east for two miles and turn north onto Bellevue Road. Continue north on Bellevue Road for seven miles and turn west on Main Street". With verbal processing, exact, logical directions are given in a very sequential manner compared to a right-brained person who, in giving the same directions, would use more visual landmarks.

Your Verbal Analysis

You have a moderate verbal ability. Using this method you process your thoughts and ideas with words. You tend to combine technical details with illustrations, depending on whatever strikes you. For instance, if giving directions, you might say, "Continue two miles east on Court Street and take a left at the McDonalds," combining the exact details of street names and mileage with prominent landmarks.

Symbolic Processing

Symbolic processing is a method associated with the left hemisphere that is used for processing the information of pictures and symbols. The majority of functions associated with academics involve symbols such as letters, words, and mathematical notations. This process is what aids you to excel in tasks such as linguistics, mathematics, and memorizing vocabulary words and mathematical formulas.

Your Symbolic Analysis

You have difficulty processing the information of symbols, and would rather see the real object in order to understand. You probably hated algebra. For example, if solving a math problem, you need to "draw out" the problem to understand and solve it. You rely on the visualization of real objects instead of their symbols. Tasks such as memorizing vocabulary words or mathematical formulas are more difficult for you.

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Right Brain Categories

Random Processing

Random processing is a method used by the right hemisphere for processing information. The information that is received is processed without priority. A right-brained person will usually jump from one task to another due to the random processing by their dominant right hemisphere. Random processing is, of course, the opposite of sequential processing therefore making it difficult for right-brained individuals to choose to learn in sequence. In order to overcome this, a right-brained person may want to attempt to learn sequence by using colors since the right hemisphere is sensitive to color. For example, you may want to associate the first step with green, the second step with blue, and the last step with red. Consistently using the same sequence will allow you to see that this strategy can be applied to many tasks involving sequence.

Your Random Analysis

You show a strong ability at random processing. You are good at completing tasks in an unspecified order, and don't waste time creating lists when they aren't needed. You are also able to make "leaps of logic" and make discoveries a sequential thinker could never dream of making. However, you may have difficulty with spelling or certain aspects of mathematics, such as geometric proofs.

Nonverbal Processing

Nonverbal processing is a method used by the right hemisphere to process our thoughts with illustrations. Reliance on this method is why it is occasionally difficult for right-brained people to "find the right words" in certain situations. A right-brained person cannot just read or hear information and process it, but first must make a mental video to better understand the information they have received. For example, through nonverbal processing, a person giving directions may say, "Continue going straight until you see a big, red-brick courthouse. At the courthouse turn right, and go down that street for a couple of miles until you se a gray stone church which will be on your right. Straight across from the church is the road to the left you need to take." With nonverbal processing, the directions that are given are extremely visual compared to the exact, sequential directions that would be given by a left-brained person.

Your Nonverbal Analysis

When processing your thoughts and ideas, you use tend to use both illustrations and words. When giving directions, you probably use both visual illustrations such as, "keep going until you see a McDonalds on your right; then turn left at the Home Depot", and technical terms such as, "travel for two miles and turn east onto First Street."

Intuitive Processing

Intuitive processing is a method that is used by the right hemisphere to process information based on if it "feels" right or not. For example, a right-brained person may choose an answer on a test because they had a "gut" feeling and often they will be correct. Another example of this is how a right-brained person will know the correct answer to a math problem but will not understand the procedure of how they arrived at the correct answer. A right-brained person will usually have to start with the answer and work their way backwards in order to be able to see and understand the parts and process that create the whole.

Your Intuitive Analysis

When processing information, at times you are able to go with your "gut" instincts. At other times you may doubt your instincts, or prefer to put information together piece by piece to form your conclusion. You should be careful not to ignore your intuition, but at the same time do not solely rely on it.

Concrete Processing

Concrete processing is a method associated with the right hemisphere that is used for processing things that can be seen or touched. It processes much of the information you receive from real objects. For example, a right-brained person is not just satisfied that a mathematical formula may work, but will want to know why it works. A strongly concrete person often finds it easier to solve a mathematical problem by "drawing it out" because it allows them to visualize it. The more a concrete person can visualize something the easier it is for them to understand it.

Your Concrete Analysis

At times, you feel the need to see a real object in order to understand it. At other times, you are able to understand a problem on a symbolic level. For example, you may find that in solving math problems, it occasionally helps you to "draw out" the problem in order to understand and solve it.

Holistic Processing

Holistic processing is a method used by the right hemisphere to process information. The information is processed from whole to parts. A right-brained person, through holistic processing, is able to see the big picture first, but not the details that accompany it. A strongly holistic person may often find that prior to listening to a lecture given by an instructor, they must first read the chapter so that they better understand what the lecture is about. This function is also what provides to you your visual spatial skills. It also aids in tasks such as dancing and gymnastics. Through holistic processing, memory is stored in auditory, visual, and spatial modalities.

Your Holistic Analysis

You show some ability to process data holistically, starting with the whole and working backwards to find the parts, which inform the whole, to form your conclusion. When you process information in a linear manner you are able to start with the parts and work up to form the whole. It is important to be comfortable with both methods, as both are equally necessary in the learning process.

Fantasy-oriented Processing

Fantasy-oriented processing is used by the right hemisphere as a method for processing information with creativity. It focuses much less on rules and regulations than the processing method of a left-brained person. Due to the fantasy-oriented processing mechanism of a right-brained person, they do not adjust well to change. Instead of adapting to the change in the environment, a right-brained person attempts to change it back to the way they liked it. But fantasy-oriented processing also provides the advantage of creativity to right-brained individuals, and since emotion is integral of the right side of the brain, anything a fantasy-oriented person becomes involved in emotionally will aid their ability to learn.

Your Fantasy-oriented Analysis

You have a low ability to process information in a fantasy-oriented way. You have the tendency to focus on rules and regulations rather than on creative approaches. You generally do not have a problem adjusting to change in the environment. You may lack creativity, but you do not need to become emotionally involved in tasks in order to complete them.

Sad News Indeed....

2010-02-10T09:20:00.004-07:00

Well...one never knows how or where to start sometimes...so I am just going to start here. My dear MIL Ginny passed away from her brain cancer shortly after we rang in the New Year. This was my "Proverbs 31" example...how to be a wife and mother. She taught me all of the things that my own mother never taught me in life. How to cook, how to clean...how to make homemade noodles...what the value of family is...how to love someone even if you don't like what they do or how they act, etc...

She was the epitome' of the word "Mom". Heck!- even her co-workers at the last job she held at Carnival Foods Deli, called her either Mom or Grandma! If you called in and asked for the Deli, you had to say "Is Grandma there?" because if you asked for Ginny, they had to stop and think for a minute who you were calling for.

There were some funny moments that we shared over the years...some crazy moments..some sad and serious moments and all of those other "Mom-ism" moments that a daughter and her mother would share. And yes, she treated me just like Sue. Like I was her daughter, not her Daughter-in-Law. Sue and I would joke around over the years about who she liked best, just like two siblings would, and we both would always say that she liked "Donnie" best! (My husband and Sue's brother) :)

Once you had met Ginny, there was a unique bond of the heart that you shared and it seemed as if you had know each other your whole lives. I actually had the honor and privilege of having know Ginny for half of my life. I was 40 when she moved on to go live with Jesus; and Donnie and I had met just after I had turned 20. I turned 41 on February 8th, and I missed the card from Ginny that always told me she loved me this year :(

We would tease each other from time to time too and when she would get sassy she would point her index finger at me, and I would always say "Calm down, Virginia!"...then we would crack up laughing or smile and she would say "Oh, you!" :)

The grandkids all called her "G"...because really she was so special that she didn't even need a full name, kinda like when the music artist Prince decided to use a symbol for his name... the great-grandkids all started calling her "GG"...and That she was.. a "good gal"...GG :)

I am sure that there will be many moments when I will miss Ginny over the years to come, especially on holidays, birthdays (she was a firecraker baby- born on July 4th)... familt gatherings. I am just glad that during the last days of her life we were able to have those conversations that mean the most... the ones about life, love, family and our personal relationship with God/Jesus. I can rest confidently in the fact that she loved the Lord and has accepted Him into her life years ago and knew where she was going. I was able to re-assure her nefore she passed on, that NOTHING can EVER separate us from that LOVE and she died peacefully in her sleep.

I had to laugh (and felt bad about it at first)...as Donnie and I made it to Sue's before the guys from the funeral home showed up to take her. Ginny had told Sue that she wanted me to have the diamond earrings that she wore everyday because they were special to her and she wanted to pass them down to me as a gift. She used to tease me all the time about leaving them in her ears as her cancer progressed, and she told me that she was going to die with them in and when I went to reach down to take them out of her ears, she was going to reach up and point her index finger at me and say "Gotcha!"...we had more than just a few laughs over that one :) Well, Sue took them out a day or two before she passed away to keep to give to me. When Donnie and I got there and went into the bedroom to pay our respects, the dentures that she wore had shifted out of her mouth slightly and her head was tilted a bit. The minute I walked into the bedroom, a combination of tears ands laughter overcame my body at the same time. Tears for the loss of someone that I deeply love...and laughter because it looked like she was laying there, while somehow still saying "Gotcha!"

Virginia...you were truly a gem that will be missed dearly, everyday of our lives...make sure that you are helping Jesus to put our room next to yours in Heaven!

Love, Shannon (Donnie, Tiffany & Paige) <3

Card Showers....

2009-11-16T10:18:00.003-07:00

A prayer request went out this morning for a gentleman from our church who just had a bone marrow transplant and is depressed. I thought I would post a card shower for him and my mother-in-law,Ginny, who is dying from brain cancer. Please send them each a card to let them know that someone is thinking about them, praying for them and help to brighten their day! (thanks in advance!)

The James Center Blood & Morrow transplant unit
Randy Yost
Room 357
300 W. 10th Ave.
Columbus, Ohio 43210

Ginny Wilson
c/o Sue Benner
1107 W. Church St.
Newark, Ohio 43055

Family Matters...

2009-11-05T10:45:00.005-07:00

It's been a little while now and we have been going to Donnie's sister Sue's house to visit with my dear MIL Ginny. She has good days and bad days and I am sure "everything else" in between days too. The other night I decided to cut her toenails, give her a foot massage and paint her toenails a pretty shade of shimmery pink. She looked at me and told me how good it felt and it almost made me cry. It was such a small and simple act of kindness, and I didn't think anything of it at the time. I just knew that she couldn't cut them herself because she was too weak. I love her, so I decided to just "do it", as Nike says. As she sat there, just relaxing with her eyes closed, I started to think about all of the things that we take for granted,and how even the simpliest acts of kindness can affect our emotions and general well-being. Then I started to think about how wonderful a world we would be living in this side of Heaven if we all treated one another with the love of Christ and not as the rest of the world treats us. Never forget that family does matter...especially those family matters of the heart...like scratching your child's back at bedtime, telling your family that you love them, or painting toenails and foot massages! :)

Brains and other things...

2009-10-21T09:01:00.004-06:00

Well, it's official...Ginny has brain cancer. After a CT Scan, an MRI and a Colonoscopy, the docs have conversed and have stated that the cancer in her colon would be treatable, but due to the 4 tumors on her brain, they aren't going to be concerned with radiation/chemo to that area. She has started radiation treatments because she wants to try to live long enough to see Donya's baby come into the world. Our niece, Donya, is having a boy.

I am getting better...and should be well enough by this weekend to go and visit Ginny for the first time since we both were in the hospital. I am glad that I just had to get a breathing treatment and after an allergic reaction to an antibiotic and a nubulizer machine and home treatments, am able to breathe again. I struggled with the fact that we were both sick at the same time, because my husband and I have been together for almost 21 years now and my MIL is just like my mom. I wanted to be there for her and to hug her and hold her hand and tell her that I love her. But, so far...I have had to do all of that via the phone.

The brain is a very funny organ...it tells our entire body what to do, how to move and how to act. When I watch tv shows like House, Three Rivers and Grey's Anatomy, you are declared "dead" and ready for organ donation when your brain functions cease. I wonder how brain cancer works. I know that sounds dumb, but I really do. Does it eat away at your brain, or do the tumors just grow bigger and crowd out the cranial space? I am not sure how it works, but I do know that Ginny was given a diagnosis of 3-6 weeks without treatment and 6 mos with treatment by her Oncologist and about a month by the surgeon.

I hate it when mortal people put a "timeline" on life! I know why it's done...I get it...but I still detest the whole thing because no one is God. Only God Himself knows when our time on this side of Heaven will be over, because only God alone has numbered the hairs on our heads and the days of our existence on this planet we call Earth.

I had to go to the apartment last night and help her grandaughters,(my nieces), go through her belongings. That is never an easy thing! Ginny and Donnie's sister Sue, had set aside some things that she wanted us to have and to look through to see if we would like to have them. That process is a funny thing as well. You don't really want anything, except maybe some photos or something small to remember them by...but it really can be touching to see what they want you to have. I went home with photos of my MIL and my daughter at the Pumpkin Patch over the years that she had kept in a small "Brag Book", some sweatshirts of our local school system (which my MIL had worked for several years as a lunch cashier when my husband was in Junior High and High School, and our daughters attended/attend)...some recipes...a cake plate, some kitchen utensils, and the thing that I had actually asked for- a glass plate with a domed lid.

This plate is what I fondly refer to as "the cheeseball plate". My MIL can make a mean cheeseball and she has brought one or two of these to every family holiday since my hubby and I have been together.That's a long time...and a LOT of cheeseballs...but everytime I see that plate or one of those cream cheese, dried beef, green onion cheeseballs, I smile and think of my darling Ginny. So you can bet that every holiday family get-together, I will be making the cheeseball and bringing it on the cheeseball plate.

When it Rains ...it sometimes POURS!!!

2009-10-15T11:15:00.006-06:00

Well...as a Christian who loves the Lord and believes that Jesus is her Savior, brother that she never had, and best friend...I sometimes struggle when people remind me that we are to THANK GOD FOR ALL THINGS. I know what this means, and in my heart I know that this statement is true and just. But sometimes it just mixes with the humanness of this side of Heaven and leaves my heart and head a bit heavy...like this week.

Donnie's mom, who was doing so good after her cancer treatments, is in the hospital currently with what they thought might be pneumonia. She was having trouble swallowing and they thought it might have been from her meds. They scoped her throat and did a CT Scan and nothing was wrong. So they decided to do an MRI of her entire throat and head. Donnie called me this morning, teary, to let me know that his sister and mom were waiting on her Oncologist to get there, because his sister, who is a nurse and the radiologist both stated that it look like she may have brain cancer. Donnie said that she had started to say things a few weeks ago that didn't go together and didn't make sense...I am waiting on a call back again now for further confirmation.

This comes on top of me, being off work due to sickness and having to take Paige to the doctor, who was not feeling well. (You can believe that she got the FluMist while we were there!)--- We are both on meds at this point. I had to go to the ER yesterday morning because I had a fever and couldn't breath... and wound up having to get a chest x-ray and a breathing treatment for Acute Bronchitis. They sent me home with an antibiotic (and I am allergic to just about every one out there!) and a steroid. After 2 doses of both, today, sitting at work, I break out into a full flushed face, neck, chest and throat, with a VERY red rash. I called my Doctor's office.....(3 1/2 hours ago...hellooo!!!????) and they said to quit taking both meds and they would send my info back to the doctor and call me back...would that be BEFORE or AFTER you close for the day???!!! God love 'em! I know they are busy, but you would think that an allergic reaction to medication would somehow seem important to someone else besides me.

I know that Paige and I will get well...and no matter what happens with Donnie's mom, that she will be brought to a place of wellness too...even if that means that she is soon to be made whole again and be staring into my brother's face and surrounded by his loving arms...it just gets so hard at times, especially times like this, when everyone is sick including yourself...to thank God for the deck that we have been handed as of late. (I wish I could find the owner, I would hand back the deck!) But I will once again trust in the promises that God has made very clear... that He will NEVER leave or forsake us... that His love is unconditional... that He is ALWAYS with us, even to the end...and that He WILL made us whole and new..in His perfect timing. For these things and much, much more...I am truly THANKFUL. Maybe it's just my job to cling to Him right now and crawl into His lap and let Him love on me...so that I can feel well enough to love on the rest of my family...

Maya Angelou's Phenomenal Woman

2009-09-17T14:39:00.006-06:00

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Fall Classes for Men (LOL!)...I love guys, but this IS funny!

2009-09-16T14:43:00.002-06:00

Fall Classes for Men at

THE ADULT LEARNING CENTER

REGISTRATION MUST BE COMPLETED
by Friday, October 22nd 2009
NOTE: DUE TO THE COMPLEXITY AND DIFFICULTY LEVEL
OF THEIR CONTENTS, CLASS SIZES WILL BE LIMITED TO 8 PARTICIPANTS MAXIMUM

Class 1
How To Fill Up The Ice Cube Trays--Step by Step, with Slide Presentation.
Meets 4 weeks, Monday and Wednesday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM.

Class 2
The Toilet Paper Roll--Does It Change Itself?
Round Table Discussion.
Meets 2 weeks, Saturday 12:00 for 2 hours.

Class 3
Is It Possible To Urinate Using The Technique Of Lifting The Seat and Avoiding The Floor, Walls and Nearby Bathtub?--Group Practice.
Meets 4 weeks, Saturday 10:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 4
Fundamental Differences Between The Laundry Hamper and The Floor--Pictures and Explanatory Graphics.
Meets Saturdays at 2:00 PM for 3 weeks.

Class 5
Dinner Dishes--Can They Levitate and Fly Into The Kitchen Sink?
Examples on Video.
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM

Class 6
Loss Of Identity--Losing The Remote To Your Significant Other.
Help Line Support and Support Groups.
Meets 4 Weeks, Friday and Sunday 7:00 PM

Class 7
Learning How To Find Things--Starting With Looking In The Right Places And Not Turning The House Upside Down While Screaming.
Open Forum
Monday at 8:00 PM, 2 hours.

Class 8
Health Watch--Bringing Her Flowers Is Not Harmful To Your Health
Graphics and Audio Tapes.
Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 9
Real Men Ask For Directions When Lost--Real Life Testimonials.
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM Location to be determined

Class 10
Is It Genetically Impossible To Sit Quietly While She Parallel Parks?
Driving Simulations.
4 weeks, Saturday's noon, 2 hours.

Class 11
Learning to Live--Basic Differences Between Mother and Wife.
Online Classes and role-playing
Tuesdays at 7:00 PM, location to be determined

Class 12
How to be the Ideal Shopping Companion
Relaxation Exercises, Meditation and Breathing Techniques.
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM.

Class 13
How to Fight Cerebral Atrophy--Remembering Birthdays, Anniversaries and Other Important Dates and Calling When You're Going To Be Late.
Cerebral Shock Therapy Sessions and Full Lobotomies Offered.
Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 14
The Stove/Oven--What It Is and How It Is Used.
Live Demonstration.
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM, location to be determined.

Upon completion of any of the above courses, diplomas will be issued to the survivors.

Falling Down...

2009-09-16T08:40:00.006-06:00

LITERALLY!- the concrete and bricks at work on the sidewalk are uneven.... and low and behold, I fell and tripped on a raised corner of the concrete. Talk about feeling like that old lady on the commercial who says "I've fallen and I can't get up!"...I was determined to get up even though it hurt like hades! I had to take time off work and couldn't use my hands (because I used them first to break my fall- it sounded like a bellysmacker in the water!), so I just sat in the recliner all day and dozed off and on in between pre-recorded DVR shows. I now can tell you every bizarre food that Andrew Zimmern and Anthony Bourdain have eaten in the last 6 episodes...who won the Cereal Bridges 2 Food Network Challenge...who has been Chopped and which Models of the Runway and Project Runway Designers I like best. It was a sad and sorry existence and a stupid way to be able to be at home. I would have even preferred ironing clothes to that. And to make it worse, I have several swaps that were due on SCS and I had to PM my 4 hostesses to let them know, that while I am NOT flaking, I would be later than the due date, due to my inability to pick stuff up and use crafting tools!!...You know...we take our bodies for granted most days and never even think about how intricately God has created us to be and in that same regard, how it is a miracle that our bodies over time can heal themselves. But, if you ever get bored, try not using anything but your fingertips and you'll get a taste of my latest frustration! Stay tuned later this evening for gruesome pix!

The Autumn Months Splendor

2009-09-02T10:45:00.003-06:00

The Autumn Months Melody
The hot summer days are gone and rolled by
The cool autumn months have once again arrived
The autumn majestic spirit permeates the land
It is another new day of autumn
The far sun above the horizon sends its rays and gentle warmth
on the valleys, mountains and hamlets
Nature has dressed in beautiful colors
The jolly trees are painted with red, yellow and brown
The autumn trees adorn the valleys and mountains that hug the skies
It is a portrait of panoramic dazzle
The brisk wind blows over the meadows
The cool wind sweeps the plains and fields
The tall trees dance and bow gently in grace
The tree branches hiss, swing and sway
The shivering leaves quiver with the wind
The green pastures are dotted with a mosaic
of dried brownish scattered leaves
Joining autumn happy symphony
The singing joyous birds, the playful beavers
The swimming silver fish in the water streams
All bring a solemn joy
The sun slowly climbs the immense skies
The autumn patchy clouds cast their shadows on the peaceful land
All painting an awesome picture of beauty, love and harmony
How beautiful are the melodies and splendor of the autumn months!

Sherif Monem

Back to School Salute to Teachers and School Staff Across the Globe!

2009-08-26T08:49:00.001-06:00

Teacher Applicant

After being interviewed by the school administration, the prospective teacher said:

“Let me see if I've got this right.

'You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages, and instill in them a love for learning.

'You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self esteem and personal pride.

'You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, and how to register to vote, balance a checkbook, and apply for a job.

'You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of antisocial behavior, and make sure that they all pass the final exams.

'You also want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of their handicaps, and communicate regularly with their parents in English, Spanish or any other language, by letter, telephone, newsletter, and report card.

'You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps.

'You want me to do all this and then you tell me... ”I CAN'T PRAY?!?!?!”

Scrapbooking/Crafting Day!!!!

2009-08-22T08:33:00.006-06:00

I just posted one of Julia Child's famous recipes to get you inspired over the weekend (those of you who will be home and can cook all day)...I can't tackle this one today, but do intend to make it when the snow flies and I'll let you know how it turns out. I am getting ready to make Gracie's Biscuits to take to my bi-monthly scrapbook and crafting day with my homegirls! :)

Gracie's real name is Nancy Wright and I had the pleasure of going to church with her, her husband John and daughter Stacey years ago at HPC. The church motto was "Love Grows Here" and it certainly did! Gracie and Bud (John) were elders in the church and had raised animals and horses on their farm their whole life. They were definately hard workers. Stacey and I shared a love for vintage things and she even had decorated her bathroom with really cool vintage clothing, etc...and the effect was spectacular (wish I would have thought back then to take a picture of it)...anywho, I was trusted enough as part of her adopted family to have her secret Buttermilk Biscuit recipe. And while I can't share the recipe because she asked me not to give it to anyone, I will post a picture later of how they look when they come out of the oven.

They smell soooo good baking and they are so light and fluffy (probably the combination of buttermilk and baking powder)...and I think of and remember fondly the fun times that we shared in Gracie's kitchen, as she taught me so many things in that farm house. I love them dearly and we run into each other every so often...but writing this post, I realize that I need to keep in touch with them better before they are no longer here...because as Gracie used to say "I ain't no spring chicken!"

So I dedicate these biscuits to you Gracie!...thanks for the memories! :)

**UPDATE:The recipe was such a secret that I couldn't find it and had to make biscuits with a different recipe. Everyone liked them, but I thought they sucked. I later found Gracie's recipe and will be making these in a few weeks the next time we meet...will post a pic then!

You gotta LOVE this recipe!

2009-08-22T08:29:00.001-06:00

Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon Recipe - ABC News

Shared via AddThis

Rest in Peace Julia Child

2009-08-21T21:07:00.001-06:00

Bon Appetit!

2009-08-19T10:16:00.004-06:00

I went with my best friend to see Julie and Julia the night it came out here (August 7th) and have finally gotten around to posting about it! I LOVED EVERY PART OF IT!!!! It was so cool to watch Julia Child on The PBS Network when she had the show "The French Chef". She used to place whole tuna fish and other assorted large portions of meat and would teach you how to prepare the complete dish from start to finish, including how to cut the section of meat that you needed.

As I mentioned in a previous post below, I love Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci together...and they played the parts of Julia and her husband Paul so well. I won't spoil anything for you if you have not yet seen the movie...but it kept me in stitches most of the time and even made me cry in a few parts.

To tackle someone's entire cookbook of 524 recipes in 365 days is a feat that I have to admit I would never inflict upon myself....but you gotta respect Julie Powell for taking on this task and learning about who she was in the process and midst of it all. And she was and is a blogger/writer, which made it even better. You can still find some of her old blog posts on the Internet by typing in The Julie/Julia Project.

I LOVE to cook....LOVE to entertain...and LOVE to bring friends and family together, and even though I do not have a copy of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", I do have "Baking with Julia" that needs dusted off and I do believe that a few recipes are calling my name....when I whip them up, I'll let you know how they turned out. Until then....

BON APPETIT! (in my best Julia Child accent!)

Cleaning Day!

2009-08-15T08:24:00.007-06:00

faAt noon today, I am going to help my friend clean her humble abode. She was recently divorced because her louse of a husband who has cheated on her numerous times over the years walked in one day and told her that he didn't love her anymore. Really!?!...could you not have figured that out years ago, you crackhead!?...he isn't a crackhead, but that's the closest thing that I could think of at the moment, without going off on a man-bashing tyrade!

Anyhoo...she had to go from a multi-room house to a 3 room apartment, so as you can imagine, we have a LOT of purging, organizing and cleaning to do. She says that it's hard for her to have to let me see her "mess"...but I told her, "Hey! Think nothing of it, that's what friends are for." And I truly believe that she would drop everything in a heartbeat to come to my rescue if I needed her...so I get to reap the blessing in disguise of knowing that I am helping her to get the interior of her house shiny and new. And if you think about it, nobody likes anyone else to see their "messes"...if they did, the dishes would never get shoved in the oven or dishwasher, or the clothes in the closet that were on the floor...or the other things that people do when they get unexpected guests and friends drop by.

I have always likened the interior of one's soul to the condition of your home. What I mean by that is, to me at my house, I am always in a state of some sort or another of organization and "tidying up"...therefore it reflects an outward view to the world, who happens to "drop by"...what the inner condition of my spiritual life is like at that moment. (Which always fluxuates between spick and span and dusty)...just like my struggle this side of heaven to be like an alien in a foreign land.

For me, I am always in a constant state of "tidying up"...maybe I yelled at my kids or hubby that day...maybe I was so mad that I dropped the *F*Bomb...maybe I was so tired that the laundry just sat in the basket until it was all wrinkly and then I got mad all over again. Whatever the case may be, it's like that with my walk with God too. I get mad and I yell at Him "Now would be a GREAT time to come down here and take me home, God!"...(I have never dropped the *F*Bomb at Him)...but that laundry basket metaphor...now that's a good one...so if I am not in His Word or don't do what He tells me to do, then my soul becomes all shriveled up and wrinkly, just like those clothes!...and I do believe that God is my Father...so I talk to Him as I were His daughter and we have that "parent/child" dialog most of the time.

I am working on how to organize...(or get rid of)...all of the "stuff" that I have accumulated over my 40 years on this planet. Some of the stuff is clothes that I keep as I convince myself that I will someday be that size 6 that I once was...instead of the size 14-16 that I am now. You would think that as I struggle with an underactive thyroid that I would just get rid of them...which I am, but it has not been an easy road, I can tell you that. It's almost as if it is a personal mourning over what I once had, and in a way...who I once was.

I am getting ready to switch doctors because I feel that mine is not even keeping up on when I have to get my blood work done, as I always have to call him and then he says, "Oh yeah, you should have had that done last month."...DUH!??? Everyone keeps telling me to seek out an Endocronologist...a doc who deals with the thyroid and the immune system...so I am toying that idea around currently.

But just like my house and the inner condition of my soul...I must constantly search and seek out the "better things" and the "specialists" that God has set before me, in order to be walking down the narrow road. Boy, does that wide road get confusing at times!

So, for me....I get to be blessed today, knowing that I am helping a close friend "air out her dirty laundry" ...and free the fetters that have kept her soul locked up fo several months now...getting your hands dirty by helping out a fellow sister in Christ...it doesn't get much better than that! :)

My favorite Veggie Tales Song EVER!!!!!

2009-07-30T11:16:00.003-06:00

In celebration of my oldest daughter's birthday today....I am getting in touch with my "inner child" and posting for all to enjoy- my personal favorite:

Julie and Julia Video by MySpace Trailer Park - MySpace Video

2009-07-28T21:03:00.003-06:00

Julie and Julia Video by MySpace Trailer Park - MySpace Video

Shared via AddThis

** I have to see this movie! I love Julia Childs and used to watch her show on PBS. I love Amy Adams and Merryl Streep and they are both in this movie that is based on true life stories...one of Julia Child's life and one of Julie Powell's life in both of their searches to "find themselves". I have pondered the thought of whether or not I am living up to the full potential that God created me for...as I often wish that I could quit working for "Corporate America" and start my own business where I can be creative and make art and people get in touch with their "inner child" again. I have a vision of what it should look like....who I want to come along with me for the ride....and what it would look like filled with people. The only obstacle is that thing called Money (to start my dream job)...and that thing called Health Insurance (my need to have a stable job that supplies the medical insurance that my husband cannot obtain due to his existing health issues)...maybe someday, I too can chase after my dreams....but at this point I am willing to sacrifice them to insure that my family has what they need. I can't wait until this movie comes out on August 7th! I am "feeding" that part of my inner soul that longs to be a free spirit(maybe I am part Bohemian and don't know it!)...with the hopes that dreams can and do come true, no matter how old we get. I know this to be true because my God tells me that it is...but sometimes taking that "leap of faith" means waiting patiently(which I don't do very well)....so one window can close, so that a door can open...

2009-07-28T08:13:00.005-06:00

I LOVE glitter (if you read my blog, you are going "DUH!" right now in your head :)
If I could...I would wear my makeup to work like this everyday. I think that Swarovski crystals ROCK OUT LOUD!!!... and when I wear makeup, I tend to pick the brightest color in my outfit and run with it. Now I know what you are thinking "Great Scott Batman! I bet she looks like a throw back from the 80's!"... Trust me.... I blend well, so believe it or not...it's NOT what you imagine~(Tammy Faye Baker, move over!...I am NOT taking makeup lessons from you girlfriend!)

I LOVE CHOCOLATE!

2009-07-24T07:41:00.005-06:00

I absolutely...positively....without a doubt....LOVE...LOVE....LOOOOOOVVVEEEE Chocolate! As far as I am concerned, it is a food group! I can justify that because it is made from the Cacao Bean...and a bean is a vegetable, so it just HAS to be good for me...and the Food Pyramid says that I should eat at least 4-6 servings of veggies a day! :)

Dark creamy chocolate is my ultimate fave...if you piss me off, if I am having a bad day, if the world just doesn't seem as it should...give me some dark decadent chocolate and you are my new best friend (second of course to Jesus!)

I choose this "veggie" when I go to the movies...when I am needing something sweet...and since I am an avid scrapbooker and art freak...I snapped this pic of my fave food group to share with all of you. Enjoy!

Sometimes Life Ain't Always What It's Cracked Up To Be...

2009-07-17T07:58:00.005-06:00

I am generally a fun-loving, easy-going person by nature, and have even been referred to by my friend Jenny as a "cartoon character". But somedays, do you ever wonder how you got where you are? I mean sometimes...life just "ain't" (yes, ain't!) what it's cracked up to be. Cracked...would be the logical word for it sometimes!

This morning my husband had an explosive outburst of rage that seemed to come out of nowhere and it was directed straight at me! (Actually most of my bi-weekly paychecks are direct deposited into our joint checking account and he only gives me the checkbook when it's time to go to the grocery store...and then, I have to listen to him complain about how much I spent and what I bought! I can take a lot, I mean A LOT! before I get mad and come undone). So, I guess the fact that I tried to take $20 out of his wallet this morning is what set him off. So, in all actuality, I guess you could even say that I caused that explosive outburst in him. And...I guess the fact that I said to him,(after he told me to shut up), that I have a "constitutional freedom of speech"... more than likely infuriated him even more. (There was some feeling of satisfaction in saying it, and knowing that he would have never thought to say it, that made me feel better).

I just get sooooo tired of having to ASK for money and explain WHY I want it and WHAT I am going to do with it!- I scrapbook!... I read...and we have a teenager!- what do you think that I am going to spend it on, genius!?!

I can see...(and live it most days)...why the #1 thing that couples fight over and marriages end over, is money. Being a Christian,(you would have never known it this morning!)...it gets hard to stay on the course and not fall off the wagon. I really can understand how people can get so mad at each other that they walk away or hurt each other. Before I knew Christ and accepted him as my personal Savior, I could have really hit my husband over the head with a cast iron skillet and never thought twice about it!(really!)

Life...as we are told, by Christ...IS going to be hard, and it is going to be filled with trials and tribulations...and I guess even the occasional frying pan! :)

Glitter...ooooohhhhh!

2009-07-15T11:20:00.003-06:00

I LOVE Shiny things....gems...crystals...glass...silver paper...metal...as long as it sparkles and blings, I feel like a Princess. Well, you can imagine my surprise when a friend introduced me to Stickles. Glitter...in a tube...with glue that actually works! Most glitter glues dry and are opaque, not translucent; or they constantly clog up in the tube. Not Stickles! The end of the tube is narrow so that it doesn't clog very often, leaving you able to craft away. When I use my Stickles for my ATC's, cards and projects, I just know that it will dry clear and only the shiny glitter will show through in all its blinging glory! I think it is one of the best embellishments and will buy it until they don't make it anymore.(Along with the chipboard letters covered in glitter). I hope they don't discontinue it, as I am the queen of "if i like it, they will no doubt, quit making it!"

Me and ACHMED! :)

2009-07-14T06:20:00.002-06:00

I am getting ready to go on a Road Trip in September with my gal pals. We go on a bi-annual Scrapbook Retreat with a bunch of WONDERFUL ladies that we met from the Dayton/Kettering Ohio area. We eat...we laugh...we eat... we sing...we eat...we scrapbook...we eat...we alter stuff... we eat...we do make and takes...we have a card swap, etc...you get the drift, we get stuff done in between eating for 3 days straight! :)

I have met some GREAT ladies and have developed some friendships that will no doubt last a lifetime.
Just to name a few:Teresa/Jan/Diane/Stacy/Stephanie/Lorraine/Sherri/Robin - we are definately going to remain great friends for life, and I look forward to seeing them twice a year. Anyway, I met this really cool gal last year (Sandi) who sews purses and cosmetic bags and sells them. I am NOT a sewing machine gal and am envious of those who are. Come to find out, Sandi LOVES Jeff Dunham as much as I do!

As we were driving to JoAnn Fabrics to select my fabric for the purses that she created for me to proudly carry (picture will be inserted later)...we happened to see this person dressed up to promote the local Halloween store at the Shopping Center close to where we were going. I screamed at Sandi "Look! There's Achmed, the dead terrorist!" and we got so excited that she turned the car into the gas station close to the corner that "she" was standing at waving at cars passing by. We had her put down her sign for a minute so that Sandi could snap a quick photo of the two of us together.

So, this is my "shout-out" to Jeff, Achmed, Sandi and all my scrapbook retreat friends... PREPARE YOURSELVES..because it's almost time for your bi-annual dose of "Fun Times with Shannon" ... HAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

You Gotta Love This One!

2009-07-12T18:50:00.009-06:00

Okay...so I went out of town today with my friend Ellen to see her mom (who I lovingly refer to as "Fluffy's Mother"). It was a road trip..therefore, it was an adventure to behold, as always! Ellen and I make up our own fun along the way...we talk...we sing... we car dance...we are loud and obnoxious and just downright fun! We always make each other crack up laughing no matter what. I am not sure if it is being stuck in a car for an extended period of time, or if it's just that we are so stupid that we are funny ...(those of you who know us, please keep your comments confined inside the peanut gallery!) HA!!!

Well....on the way back we passed this sign on the side of the road and being big "Step Brothers" and Will Ferrell fans, I had to stop at the next street and turn the car around to take a picture of the sign. It's one of those rare moments in life when you find someone that shares the same sense of twisted humor that you do. I wanted to drive down that road to their house (singing along the way.."the Nina, the Pinta, the Santa Maria")... just to meet these cool people,and to see whether they had any drums or bunk beds for sale.... but it was already after 8 o 'clock in the evening, and we figured the Lawn Sale "activities" were over for the day. Enjoy!

Fortune Cookies and all that jazz...

2009-07-08T06:47:00.005-06:00

I LOVE fortune cookies! I don't even eat the cookie itself because I don't like how they taste. But I get soooo excited over the Take-Out containers that are white with the red writing and symbols on them with the wire handle...and the fortune cookies. I love eating with chopsticks and slurping my soup. And at the end of the meal... I sit back and open my cookie and read what "Confucius" has to say :) My last fortune cookie said: "Your mind is filled with new ideas." My mind IS filled with new ideas! I often have thought if I lived in California, that I would march right over to Disney and apply for a job as an Imagineer...it would be a dream job, no doubt!...(and my friend Jenny often refers to me as a "cartoon character"). Now, as a Christian, I am not into reading my horoscopes and I don't believe in Owija boards, tarot cards or crystal balls (but I do like a good Harry Potter movie now and then or Lord of the Rings)...but there is something just magical about unfolding that little piece of white paper with blue writing. Sometimes it makes me laugh out loud, and that's where the magic comes in!

Some of my favorite ATC's from swaps...

2009-07-03T07:33:00.007-06:00

I hosted a glitter ATC and a coffee ATC Swap over on SCS (SplitCoastStampers)...and will post my faves from those later, but here are some of my current faves from ATC swaps that I have participated in on SCS:

More faves from the ATC collection...

2009-07-03T07:29:00.005-06:00

Even more faves from the ATC world...

2009-07-03T07:23:00.006-06:00

ScArY ATC's

2009-06-30T19:55:00.012-06:00

I LOVE scary movies...I am not sure if it is the thrill of the chase, the will to stay alive or the ways that they try to outsmart the bad guys...but if it causes you to turn your head...peek, scream or jump...I have to see it! I am a member of Splitcoast Stampers and host and join swaps on a pretty regular basis. I recently joined a "Frightening Films" ATC Swap hosted by Darkest Dreams. I chose to do ATC's from two of the movies that creep me out the most- the SAW movies and Jeepers Creepers. I stitched the outer edge of the SAW card to give it greater effect...If you've seen amy of the movies, I bet some of those people wished they could have stitched their parts back on! I just learned to scan on my pc this evening and haven't figured out how to send them to my picasa program to make them larger. The wording at the bottom of the Jeepers Creepers ATC says "What's Eating You?" and the SAW card says "Every puzzle has its pieces" and "Yes... there will be blood". I also added Crystal Effects to Jigsaw's eyes so they look like real puppet eyes! Oh yeah, one last thing...don't forget to tuck the covers around you tonight! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!

G-Girl and Shea...

2009-06-29T07:05:00.003-06:00

I love this girl! This is Jenny, mother of Sadie Francis and one of my best friends. We met at work a long time ago when we applied, and were accepted, into the same department. My friend Judy was the supervisor at that time and she has the kind of voice that is soothing when she reads to you (she would make a GREAT children's storyteller). Anyway...Jenny and I started dozing and nodding off during that "fun-time adventure" of being read policies & procedures for an hour. This was forever and fondly known as "the running of the bulls" from that moment on. Jenny is a doodler by nature. During staff meetings, on the phone, etc...she doodles in notebook margins. She drew a bull dozing off with some zzzzz's coming out of a thought bubble. I thought we were going to laugh so hard we would pee our pants! I was the Wedding Coordinator at her wedding to Eric (or Erk, as I lovingly call him!)and was "Aunt Shannon" the whole time she was pregnant for Sadie. So you might say, we have adopted each other into our hearts and into our collective families. I call her G-Girl or Jennaaayy (like from Forrest Gump) and she calls me Shea. Jenny is only one of three friends that I can spill my guts to...bear my soul...cry...scream...curse...be loud with and no matter what...she still loves me anyway and does not label me, like the world tends to do. I am not too loud, too outgoing or too anything for her...when I am with Jenny, I am just right! :)

Early Summer Mornings & Volleyball Conditioning...

2009-06-28T09:54:00.000-06:00

I just LOVE this picture of my youngest daughter. She altered it with Picasa. I LOVE the saturation tool on Picasa, and am growing quite fond of the whole photo altering concept. This picture was taken last year right before the Volley for the Cure game at the High School. Paige played Middle School Volleyball for the school team and this summer has to get up and go to the High School (she will be a freshman this fall-yikes!) for Volleyball Conditioning. A mini form of "bootcamp"...and then it's off to the YMCA Day Camp, where she is an L.I.T.(Leader-in-training) to become a C.I.T (Counselore-in-training) and then later on, that probably will be her summer job while she goes to college...being a Camp Counselor (unless she goes away to college)...but that is too far off for my brain to comprehend. I am having a hard enough time wondering where the time went, as my oldest daughter will graduate college this fall with a degree in Nursing and my BABY will be going off to High School!! Later this summer it's Volleyball Camp and in early August (before school starts) they will have Volleyball try-outs for the 2009-2010 LV High School team. I hope she makes it...as it's the love of the sport that keeps her waking up each morning and heading off into the heat and humidity of the day.

Chunky Books..Coffee..and an old tv show...

2009-06-28T09:28:00.001-06:00

We "cropped" last night...I worked on an altered round chunky Love, Elsie book that I got on clearance at the Lobby of Hobby yesterday for $2.81!- what a steal!! I love, love, love Elsie Flanagan's style...papers, embellishments, etc...so when I found this book marked down, right beside an Acrylic book that had been marked down from $12.00 to $4.80, I bought them both. I have covered the Love, Elsie book with striped magenta/pink paper on the outside,and on the inside white pages I took Tim Holtz's Distressed Inks and just made designs with ink as I smeared them along the outer edges and across the pages. I am not sure what I am going to do with this book yet- but it is now ready for whatever might inspire me! I am also going to work on a coffee cup project that I saw in "Outstanding Mini Albums"...I love coffee...coffee houses.. the whole aromatic atmosphere and vibe...so it should be pretty easy to create that one...all I will have to do is take a trip to Caribou Coffee and check out the menu for some creative inspiration. The moose that is Caribou's logo/mascot reminds me of a tv show that I used to watch all the time~Northern Exposure. I loved that show...I wish they would air re-runs at some point. Oh well...a trip to Caribou (the only Starbucks we have is inside of our Kroger store..and that is just NOT the same as it being a separate store!)...later today will no doubt prove to be inspiring....I'll let you know how it turns out.

Peace Out...

Other Books Recently Purchased...

2009-06-26T06:15:00.000-06:00

I took some of the other books that I purchased on Amazon to work to look at the other day. Some of them are really great...I tend to buy books strickly by the title at times and sometimes that has left me slightly disappointed, but mostly it turns out to be a very cool and sometimes wonderfully surprising thing!

Some of my most recent purchases include:

Travel Scrapbooks
When Life Gives You Lemons
Your Scrapbook Your Story
Imperfect Lives
Mixed-Media Journals
Our Family Scrapbooks
Mini Albums
Exhibition 36
1000 Artist Trading Cards
1000 Artist Journal Pages
Taking Flight

I host a scrapbook/mixed-media/beading...."whatever you want to bring with you to work on" gathering once a month at our church, and plan to bring along several of these books, along with my Wreck this Journal~(that I haven't opened in a while)...for some MEGA inspiration. I have several ATC's that I have to finish and mail this weekend...one is due in Canada by July 7th, so it should arrive right on time and the others are US, so they will be a few days early. I have to finish "frightening films"- Saw & Jeepers Creepers, Bette Paige/Vintage Pin-Ups, Love, Seasons, Occasions (I picked retirement because I wish I was some days!)...and I want to start working on an altered book that I started painting and gessoing at the last "get together". I think I will take pictures of it now (empty) and then in stages as I get each "layer" put on. I'm not sure what it will wind up being, as I generally let the art take over the project...but since our trip to the Holocaust Museum (which I will write about soon)...I have been somewhat obsessed and can't get the horrors and atrocities out of my head. Maybe writing about it will help me somehow...but I doubt it will ever help me to understand why....

Creativeness Continues....

2009-06-24T12:21:00.000-06:00

You Are Highly Colorful

You are intensely alive and very passionate.

You are optimistic about the world and about people.

You feel very connected to others, and you tend to be a harmonizing force.

You are vibrant and receptive. You are ready for whatever the world has to offer you.

The Watercolor Test

Secrets....shhhhh!!!

2009-06-24T09:35:00.001-06:00

Well...I just LOVE books!
And I just got my last of 6 shipments from Amazon.com the other day. I order like this probably 2 times a year and call it my treat to me! One of the books I purchased is called The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women- a portable mentor by Gail McMeekin. It features interviews with 45 women such as: Sarah Ban Breathnach (Simple Abundance books and Foundation), Sigrid Olsen (International Fashion Design Firm), Christina Pickles (Emmy award winning actress and screenwriter), Marilou Awiakta(Cherokee/Appalachian poet,writer, activist and author), Michelle Cassou(Artist,Painter and co-founder of The Painting Experience Studio)...and many others.

Here are the "secrets":

* Acknowledging Your Creative Self
* Honoring Your Inspirations
* Following Your Fascinations
* Surrendering to Creative Cycles
* Committing to Self-Focus
* Conquering Saboteurs
* Consulting with Guides (for me this will be God and mentors)
* Selecting Empowering Partnerships and Alliances
* Transcending Rejections and Roadblocks
* Living in Abundance with Positive Priorities
* Subtracting Serenity Stealers
* Planning to Achieve Your Goals

This book is supposed to help engage your creativity, Master your challenges as a creative woman and actualize creative results.

I tend to glean what I need or what stands up in accordance with my faith beliefs, so I will let you know how it goes! I believe that the God of our Universe is a VERY creative Spirit indeed...I mean, just look at the trees, the clouds, the flowers, our children, etc...how can you now be inspired to be creative? It's everywhere we look!

Blessings,

Shannon

Busy....Busy....Busy

2009-06-18T07:31:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to check in so you all knew I was still alive and breathing! :)

Busy with work...softball games...YMCA Day Camp...Volleyball Conditioning....Summer Vacation...sleepovers...birthday parties...weddings...etc...etc...etc...

Have been busy re-organizing my creative space at home and making recipe, ATC, and Card Swaps on Split Coast too. This weekend, or sometime soon, I am going to ask my friend Ellen to show me how to scan on our new Printer/Copier/Scanner (which has been on my "to do" list for a while now!).

Donnie has been healthy and has NOT had to go back to the hospital for any extended stays (PRAISE THE LORD!!!!)....so he is just trying to stay hydrated, because when you have Short Bowel Snydrome and you are on TPN, you have to make sure that you do what you can to insure that your electrolytes don't get out of whack!

I miss my SBS gals and promise to try to post at least once a week...I will add this to my "List" and make sure that I get back in the blogging swing.

Love to All,

Shannon

UPDATE!

2009-05-17T07:37:00.000-06:00

LOTS has been going on and I haven't had time to post...chaperoned my youngest daughter's 8th grade trip to Gettysburg and Washington, D.C...at work I have taken on a new role...my niece is getting married and Paige is a Junior Bridesmaid, so off for fittings, scrapbooking with my gal pals...making swaps for SplitCoastStampers....will blog more later today...just wanted you all to know that I am okay and didn't totally forget about my gals in my SBS group!...I have a FAB idea that I am making now and will share pix (as soon as I remember how to upload them here!)

Have a great morning ladies! :)

Shannon

Job Cuts and Loss of Friends at Work...

2009-03-12T06:55:00.002-06:00

Well...it has been a CRAZY last few weeks at work! The economy has finally reached our "Andy Worhol" looking Corporate Office and our floor was literally cut in half. Some supervisors had to take pay cuts, others were demoted to phone reps and still others had total job eliminations. Our staff went from 50 to 25 and now 3 call centers are merging into one great big call center to meet all your needs! It has been a challenge to try and learn while the phones are ringing off the hook non-stop. I know....I know....I have a job and I should feel thankful for that!!!!...and contrary to what you have read so far, I actually AM. The economy SUCKS right now, and I have had to watch my friends lose their jobs, and then listen to the news that all of the "bail out money"...(millions of dollars) that went to AIG is being used for employee bonuses!?...okay, I am trying to understand this one because I do understand contractual agreements, but am I wrong to think that without that bail out money they could have lost their jobs too!?...and now they have jobs and will be getting bonuses, while all of the little businesses, like the one my husband owns, had to make loan payments in lieu of giving himself a paycheck this past week!!! Okay, Mr. President...I am ready for your "big change" to come down the pike of that superb "Stimulus Package" that is supposed to help out those businesses...that too will take time, I know....I am just frustrated and stressed and just down right sick and tired that our country, The Home of the Free and the Brave... the land that I love...the land of opportunity has been reduced to a shamble of poverty and not being able to make our ends meet...and don't even get me started on all of the free benefits of illegal aliens in this country, who haven't paid a dime into our tax or Social Security system...or the wages that members of Congress and our elected officials get to take home each week. I wonder how it would feel if they had to drive themselves around or fly on a commercial flight instead of taking that private jet???

OUCH!!!!

2009-02-10T12:32:00.000-07:00

Well....I tripped over a shoe in my daughter's room 3 weeks ago (you know, you tell your kids to pick up their stuff for a reason!) :)

Just when my left ankle was no longer swelling...I dropped the entire weight of my scrapbook bag on the same ankle and almost fractured it!!!- so now I look like a total doofus with an ankle brace on to hold my severly sprained ankle in place. This has been a real challenge at work, as I am supposed to prop my foot up and ice it...okay, prop my foot up at a "phone/desk" job and ice it how!???

Since I work in a big basket, I have managed to find a basket the size I need today and I brought one of those ice packs from home and wrapped it in a cloth napkin...Mac Gyver would be proud, no doubt! It is funny to see me typing and trying to face the computer while my leg is turned sideways!!!...I'll post some pix later :)

FEB 11TH UPDATE:
I called the doctor's office today to see how long I have to wear this sexy ankle splint/brace "thingy" and they said 4 weeks. 4 weeks!!!! ...I will be limping around and walking at a much slower pace than what I am accustomed to...so therein lies a whole new challenge!...I will keep you posted :)

Recipe Swaps and the Weather...

2009-02-04T11:31:00.000-07:00

I have been "keeping my sanity" by joining several recipe swaps on Split Coast. Some were "late" (past the due date) due to the snow/ice/rain mix that we have had as of late. I am sooo tired of snow (it started again this morning and we could get up to 6 more inches!!!)...don't get me wrong...I love how the trees look and how they glisten (hello!!!- I am Little Miss SPARKLE)...and the glittery sheen on the white lawn makes a fabulous sight, esp. at night when the moon is shining...I am just tired of not being able to get around because of the road conditions and I am done with being C-O-L-D (brrrrrr!!!!)

I decided to start hosting some swaps...so if you log on Split Coast and go to Swaps/Recipes...look for my swaps:

Recipe Swaps:
Presidential/White House
Jello
Muffins
Spice Mixes & Seasonings
Smoothies
Dinner On The Go
Coffee

I am also hosting a GLITTER ATC swap too...let me know if you read these and have any questions...all of the details are out on the Split Coast Forum...since I can't get out much right now...I am trying to stay warm and craft away in my Scrapbook Room.

I have also signed up to do an "Altered Book Round Robin" with my friend Deb at our monthly Scrapbook Crop this month. You bring a book and an idea of a theme that you want (love, friendship, numbers, etc...) and you give the book to someone. They have until the next month when we scrapbook again to alter a double page or a few pages back to back, and then give your book to another person the next month. By the time you get the book back, most of it will be finished and will have pages altered by your friends, making it even more special. It might take a while, but as my book "progresses" I will try to take pix and post them. (Although, I have been very BAD about pix lately!)...I will try and upload some for my recipe swaps that I have completed.

Stay Warm! :)

I AM STILL ALIVE!!! :)

2009-01-27T13:00:00.001-07:00

WOW!!!

It has been crazy and hectic with the holidays, work, winter school break and Donnie has been in and out of the hospital over 6 times between Christmas Eve of last year and he is having surgery again, tomorrow...so it has been a "wild ride" to say the least!! Sorry I have been "M.I.A" for a while. :(

I have also been helping Donnie's mom in between her chemo and radiation treatments with house cleaning, trips to the grocery, etc...and being Mom and Youth Worker and Sunday School Teacher at church...in my "spare time" I have joined and am hosting a few recipe swaps and a Glitter ATC swap on Split Coast (check them out and join!- I would LOVE to have you!!!!)***I am of course, who else, but LittleMissSparkle on Split Coast...

To all of my SBS#24 gals....I have MISSED you ALL!!!!! and hope you all have been well... thanks for the comments of concern and the prayers..I really appreciate all of it and hope to bring some good news for a change soon. Donnie will get his PICC line taken out tomorrow and a new Groshon chest catheter put back in so that hopefully all will be smooth sailing from this point forward for a while and he can live a somewhat "normal" life!...well...as normal as someone can with Short Bowel Syndrome, having to hook up to an IV machine every night for 8 hours when they go to bed...

When this last bout of issues arose for him (he picked upi ecoli during a hospital visit)...we were having to do at-home IV antibiotics for 3 weeks. "Get the meds out an hr before to warm to room temperature, run for 45 mins, and then uphook and flush with saline"...this was H-A-R-D when we were both still trying to work. Fun-times as the work week consisted of "after work meds, bedtime meds and 4-5:30 am meds"...I only know that the Good Lord Himself brought us through that one without killing each other or Paige for lack of sleep- ha ha! :)

You gotta laugh sometimes or you would go insane....

I PROMISE to keep you all updated and blog more often...I miss my coversations with my SISTERS and want to look at your blogs tomorrow or later this evening, as I am off tomorrow to go to Donnie's surgery at 6:30 am (and we are supposed to get a major snow/ice storm later!)...more GOOD TIMES- jk! :)

I miss Sally's cool artwork...Leona's beautiful layouts, Jenn's inspraitional messages and all of the other WONDERFUL and FABULOUS things about my creative sister-friends that I LOVE- Christina, we have LOTS to catch up on and music to talk about too...I have to check out Anna' lastest challenges, what's going on in Wendy's world in Wales, and soooo much more with all of my other sisters...I better get going and get to it! :)

Shannon

Days One and Two...

2008-11-17T07:57:00.000-07:00

Day One and Two of my 100 day challenge were just that! - A Challenge!
I had a Baby Shower and a Wedding the first day and a Community Thanksgiving Dinner on the second day. Talk about a challenge to find something that I could eat- thankfully there was salad and made from scratch cranberry and apple salad.

It is amazing what a HUGE emphasis our culture puts on FOOD and EATING...it is a social event. You meet with friends for drinks and food... your family reunions and holiday gatherings revolve around fellowship and food...we go to church functions that usually have food, etc... etc... and you get my drift...

...and, as my SBS Shelly has mentioned...it is EXPENSIVE to eat properly!...I am still waiting on the FDA, CIA, FBI, or the Pres himself to lower the cost of fresh foods and raise the cost of the preservative death in a box ones...yeah, like THAT will ever happen. If that happened, we might not have as many health issues and might not have to go to the doc as much or pay the pharmaceutical companies an arm and a leg...and the cycle of viscious money-grubbing continues!

I have learned so far, that I NEED a great juice machine, a food dehydrator and I am not sure what else yet. Good thing my hubby is always wanting to know what he can get me for Christmas and my birthday in February :)

I have also learned that I need to get organized and plan ahead with food prep, so that I can have what I need at my fingertips throughout the work week and not have to "prepare" stuff--- for that is where and when I will fail this challenge for sure, and just grab something that is more "convenient". I am so grateful to Bunny Berry and all of the bloggers at her Raw Fu Blog. I can find so many recipes, tips, and gadgets in order to make this feel like less of a challenge and more like a new way of life. This way, I can do what others who have walked this path before me have done and learn from them in the process. I sort of feel that I am almost walking on a "sacred path" of sorts. Kind of hard to explain the emotional side...almost a spiritual journey, as I am on a quest to find what God has intended for my "temple" that He has bestowed upon me (my body), should really and truly feel like and function.

I don't know that I have ever had that feeling, since I have been eating this way my whole entire 39 years on the planet. So it will be a challenge...but it will be an adventure and a journey at the same time. please keep me in your prayers if you think of me, because that will help me to succeed in my journey and quest to a better me! :)

Thank you... thank you... thank you for your love, support, and kind words of encourgement... they mean the world to me! It's funny if you think about it... to think that some people in the world will ridicule me and try to discourage me from what I am doing...thinking that I am a freak... for merely attempting to eat "the way nature intended", to coin a phrase...oh what a messed up society we live in, folks.

November 15th is nearing....

2008-11-12T06:56:00.000-07:00

Well, my lovelies...the day is arriving...November 15th is THIS Saturday!
This is the first day of my Raw Fu 100 Day Challenge. I have some mixed emotions going on right now. I am getting excited, and scared at the same time. Seeing as how my entire house is a cesspool of pre-made, pre-boxed, pre-packaged food...I can see the extra $$ going out already for those vitamin giving,organic,fresh foods. Why does the government or the FDA, or whoever is to blame, make it so damn hard and expensive to eat right???!!

You can go to the grocery store and get great deals and sales on 10 for $10 microwave meals and pre-packaged, pre canned foods...but then you hit the fruits and vegetables aisle, (let alone the greater expense for the organic ones), cost you a full day's pay, your right arm, left leg and signing your life away on some secret document just to be able to pay for the stuff!

"They" preach to us Americans about eating right, exercising, and shove a "new and improved" Food Pyramid down our throats...how about THIS concept???...try charging LESS for the foods that will heal your body and are good for you and MORE for the foods that won't...I mean, come on now people...WAKE UP!!!...don't all those preservatives and chemicals that we can't even pronounce cost a hell of a lot more to manufacture than good 'ole homegrown foods???

OH...I KNOW!!!...we pour $$$ into the Meat and Dairy companies and LESS to nothing for the Farmers who grow the fresh foods...man!...I thought I lived in a messed up world before!!...sorry I am venting and sounding so cynical...but you gotta love a blog...that online "journal" of sorts in which you can use that Constitutional freedom of speech and the right to express yourself! :)...I just hope that doesn't change too with our new President elect. I gotta give one thing to Barack...his political campaign slogan of "A Time for Change" has sure motivated me to make some necessary changes in my own life!

Heaven Forbid... the government sure as heck won't help me do it, in the food world.....okay everyone, I hope to find encouragement along the way in this new venture and on this journey away from "the norm"...sad, really, to think that eating correctly is a venture away from the norm, and not the norm!..I have been putting some blogs under my "Blogs I Love" section and between Bunny Berry, who has graciously allowed me to be brought "into the fold"...and the other bloggers, who are walking that "narrow" path in life...I will find what I am searching for...

I plan to blog each day about my 100 day journey. I will warn you now...plan on some venting, whining, and just plain carrying on until I get this thibg figured out. I am on a quest to feel better, look better, have more energy and possible lose part of myself (the fat part!) in the process.

Wish me luck and say a prayer for me when you read this!

Love and *HUGS"...Shannon

I am feeling better every day! :)

2008-11-08T07:46:00.000-07:00

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

For all of your prayers, nice comments and just down right genuine love, care and concern across the globe for me and my family. Your prayers and friendship has been truly appreciated! Donnie's kidney wound has healed and the scab is starting to fall off (gross, I know!)...Paige is almost finished with her meds and spent the night last night again with her girlfriends...I was feeling good enough to have all the girls stay at our house on Thursday night (no school on Friday because of Veteran's Day on Monday)... and I actually got up and went to work on Friday...and I am feeling well enough today to go to my church scrapbook/craft day that I host once a month! Miracles, large and small still do happen and I am thankful that I worship the God of those miracles! :)

I have to get a reader card for our pc to be able to upload pictures; but my friend Deb is gracious and lends me hers once in a while. She will be there today, so I am going to borrow it over the weekend to get some pix uploaded of those recipe and card swaps that I told you I was working on before I caught the epizoodek! )I don't know about you gals(Karyn & Christina), but this cough and stuff seems to be hanging on for all it's worth!...I feel like I am living in one of those Mucinex commercials where the Mucus Family is trying to take up permanent residence!

That is another reason that I am wanting to better myself, both physically, as well as Spiritually. I want to see just how God has created us, internally...I want to see if eating the way that He instructed us to, will really help my body rid itself of years of built up "sludge" and heal itself from the inside out. That is another reason that I am signing up for a 100 Day Raw Food Challenge, over on Bunny's Blog "Raw Fu". (More about that later!)...but right now, my lovelies...I have to scoot on over to the church...it starts at 10 am and runs until we get tired and I lock up (usually around 2 or 3 am on Sunday morning)...any later than that and I might as well forget getting ready to teach Sunday School at 9:45!

Have a great day...and until next time...keep looking upward for your answers...keep on being thankful...keep loving your family and friends and keep on using that glitter!!!! :)

Shannon

It is a Historic Event....

2008-11-04T21:33:00.000-07:00

Well folks....it has just been announced since 100% of the polls have reported. For the first time ever an African American has won the race and has become our newest President. Either way we voted, it would have been a decision that made the history books- either we would have an African American President, or we would have had our first woman Vice President. I try to only talk about politics with my closest friends, but I must admit that I am an independent voter who makes educated and prayerful decisions- and for the past few elections I have voted Republican. I too, am ready for a change. I am still not sure that Barack Obama is the change that I am ready for...so I pray the best for him and his family, and for the decisions he will make for our country on the whole...just as I have for every President that I have voted for in the past.

Even though John Mc Cain was soooo old...I just liked, and still do like the guy! And if you watched your television all evening like I did, you have to admit that he gave one hell of a speech to usher in our new President. He definately has class.

Here's to the next 4 years... to a brighter economy...to well thought out and educated decision making from that big White House...and to better days a head. God Bless The President!

2008-11-02T11:20:00.001-07:00

You Are Pumpkin Pie

You're the perfect combo of uniqueness and quality.

You're able to relate to many types of people with many different tastes.

But you're by no means generic or ordinary.

In fact, you're one of the most original people around.

Those who like you are looking for something (or someone) special.

You tend confuse people when they first meet you. But you're not as complicated as you seem.

Even though you have a lot of spice and flavor to you, you're never overpowering.

You are a calm and comforting force in people's lives.

What Kind of Pie Are You?

I owe...I owe...(Thankfully) to the Doctor (Again!) I Go...

2008-11-02T05:18:00.000-07:00

Can you tell that I have a sarcastic sense of humor?? :)

It's not that I am ungrateful...it's just that my daughter has just gotten well and now she has had congestion for over a week and over the counters have done nothing for her and this morning at 4:42 she was in the bathroom puking!...so again, I trudge off to the doctor (this time her Pediatrician)...with my $25 co-pay in hand...(which by the way used to only be a $10 co-pay a few years ago).

I cried out to God this morning,in the only place that I got to be by myself when my kids were little,(the bathroom)...and asked Him to just make my family well!!! PLEASE!!!...it's not that I am ungrateful...because I am of the many, many blessings in my life, and the things that my family and I are able to do that other people aren't....it just gets frustrating and I am getting tired of feeling like we all are walking around in this house, or the morgue of death as I am calling it right now,...carrying the "epizoodic"!!...(Sara, I now know what the epizoodic feels like-LOL!)

I'm not sure about you, but I sure think that the older we get, the harder it seems to be able to get rid of stuff. I never remember getting sick like this when I was a kid! And I even unknowingly tried to become a human science experiment! (more about that for another time and blog entry). I am just one of those people who absolutely despises having to take a pill for what ails me! We have become such a "pill popping" society and culture..."Here, take a pill for this and then oh, by the way, that causes these side effects, so take this pill too to counteract the effects of the first one!"...AHHHHHH!!!!!- will someone just sign me up to have my bikini area waxed and all of my eyelashes pulled out instead!!!????

...and thankful that I have a job and health insurance, that hundreds of thousands of people do not have...and thankful that we are not a "socialist" country and I can choose which doctor I get to see...I will thankfully be standing in line at 7:30 am to see the doctor, who also provides a sick child walk-in clinic every morning before the office opens for regular business hours. They even have separate ares of the building for sick kids and kids who are noy sick...although I have to admit, that has always baffled me...because germs know no boundaries, right!??? So in reality, are we making the well kids sick, or are they making us well?? :)

If anyone else out there is sick right now...hang in there for this too shall pass and we will be celebrating (only I think that comes later after the wellness has settled back in). Well my lovelies...my computer is in the basement in our family room, so I can type (in between coughing and blowing my nose), without waking up the rest of the family. But alas, I just pulled the last tissue out of the box...(this makes box #3 to bite the dust). My other box is in my crafting room upstairs between the bedroom that my hubby is in and the one my daughter is in. If I can sneak in there and am able to create a little without waking them up, I might have some pix to post soon- YEA!!!!!...BTW, I didn't get to craft the other night when I said that I was heading to the hot shower and then to craft...I headed to the hot shower and it drained me so much I headed to bed instead! LOL!...so I am waaaayyyyy overdue to post some photos...which I should have as soon as I get the three swaps finished that I am working on.

Happy November!!!

2008-11-01T16:42:00.000-06:00

HAPPY NOVEMBER!!!!

It's the month when we all remember to be thankful for something and despite my venting, whining and groaning about being sick right now...I truly AM thankful that I can breathe now...man do we take that one for granted every day! I feel for all of those people who have to be on breathing machines or hook up to an oxygen tank, or use inhalers...it sure humbles me and brings me back to a "reality check".

I know that even though I get frustrated at allergies, colds, sinus conditions, etc...that there is always someone out there that is a heck of a lot worse off than I am. I am thankful to God that I can walk, talk, breathe, swallow, think, speak and do all of those things that come so naturally and seem so basic to us. They aren't so basic or natural to those who can't do them without being assisted in some way. I know that they would give anything to be able to have my stuffed up nose and congestion...just to be able to be off that machine and breathe better!

So this shout out goes up to You God...my Lord and my Savior...for sending me the best gift that You could ever bestow upon me (Jesus)..let me never forget that He is the air I breathe! :)

As we start to make those Thanksgiving vacation and/or travel plans...let us not forget to be thankful for all the blessings we have in life on this planet called Earth. For the mere fact that I can type this and you can read it, is reason to be thankful...tell your loved ones, while you still have the chance...and they still have the chance to hear you say it...just how much you LOVE them. For we never know if this will be our last holiday that we celebrate together. You may never get a second chance...then again, you might---but what if you don't? There's no sense in setting yourself up for regret that can be avoided.

A spoonful of sugar, makes the medicine go down...

2008-11-01T15:50:00.000-06:00

I love that song from Mary Poppins and it really does make the medicine go down...probably because most meds are the most vile and disgusting tasting things on this planet! Our bodies smell or taste them and instantly go into anapylactic shock!! Nooooo, nooooo, I'll be good, really! Just don't send down those gross meds!!! This thought is coupled with the fact that I am allergic to just about every antibiotic on the earth...my doc even looks at me from time to time and asks "So just what CAN you take??" HEllloooooo!!!!! You are the doctor, don't you have it in my chart doofus???!!...but that's okay, I have a list because no one can ever seem to remember! And how the heck would I know what I can take!?--I haven't had to take it yet!!!.... I sure hope that I never have to have any major emergency surgeries!...I don't think one of those life alert arm bracelets comes big enough to fit them all on...unless I want to walk around looking like Mr. T....I pity the fool! :)

At least the RX that I am on is a lovely turquoise color. It somehow makes the pills go down better since the information page from the pharmacy state that is what people take to prevent malaria! Okay, so that made me laugh out loud....is there something about my silly little sinus infection and humming right ear that you want to fill me in on doc???...or is it just about all that you can think of since every other med except Cipro and this so far... gives me an upset stomach,muscle stiffness, a swollen tongue, itching throat and a rash???...Ahhhh, the perils and joys of cold and flu season. I generally get a flu shot every year at work due to my underactive thyroid, which regulates the immune system...but you can't get them when you are sick and the medicine warnings talk about telling your doc BEFORE you take this medicine if you are taking any live vaccines. So this year instead of getting a free flu shot, it looks like I will be searching for one later at a reduced cost somewhere???...that makes me think of those black market underground clinics that you hear of..."Two Dollar Flu Shots! Step right up!!" :)

I have successfully now gone through 3 whole boxes of Puffs Plus and Puffs with Vicks, my nose is now red AND peeling because it is so dry and raw...and when I put some vaseline on it to try and combat the soreness, I woke up the next morning with blemishes and that made it just that much more enjoyable! I tell you...it's one of those rare moments in life that you just have to laugh to keep from crying....it also makes me wonder how my two blogging sisters, Christina and Karyn, are getting along because they are hugging the Puffs tight now too...it just might turn out that this cold season is like a lion....but I am still hanging onto the Lamb! :)

This too shall pass....

Conversations with God...

2008-10-30T12:38:00.000-06:00

In my previous blog entry, I said that I talk to God as my Father and my friend because He is! I am so glad that us Gentiles have been "grafted in" through Jesus and this is something that I do not take lightly, or take for granted. I am by NO means perfect! There are days when I am sure God looks down at me and shakes His head in disgust and disappointment at something that I have said and/or done. Like talking about someone or not being in His Word or skipping church. But, I know that He loves me just the same in those moments, as when I am doing the things that are pleasing to Him.

I often ponder about how God sees me and how I should act according to His Word and His instruction for my life that He has plainly laid before me. I used to talk with God in my journals and have written several devotions as I talk with Him. I really don't like to put things on the internet that can be "taken", but I am supposed to share with you one of the devotions that I have written because "someone" needs to read it...so I just ask that you do not take my "conversation with God" and market it as your own. My prayer for you today is that you read it... let it absorb into the very being and fibers of your heart and soul, and start your very own conversations with God. Let this be your springboard to do what God has created you to do...be in relationship with Him...through conversation, prayer, writing, art...let your life speak to and for Him my lovelies! :)

Master Gardener,

Today I come to You, and ask You to weed out the depths of my heart and soul.

Uproot any anger, bitterness, jealousy and pride that may be there. Pull out any resentment, greed, idolatry and things that are not pleasing to You. Dig out deep-rooted grudges, and plow up stubbornness with Your holy trowel.

Where You have prepared the soil, dear Father, I ask that You plant seeds of life, love, joy, happiness, gentleness, self-control, patience, peace, grace and kindness. Sprinkle in some wisdom and fertilize with lessons that can only come from Your hand.

Water my soul with Your Word, and grant life to the places in me that seem to have faded and withered...but still wait for the gentle pruning of Your hand. Knowing that the lessons may be uncomfortable at times, but that without that pruning, I would be wild, dirty and of no good use.

Bring forth sprouts of newness and let colorful flowers blossom, so that people who may not know You, will notice only Your splendor when they look...and come to know how wonderful the mighty works of Your hand truly are.

Pick up the rocks and debris that fall on the soil, trying to prevent roots from standing firm...and discard them in the weed pile. Never to be completely crushed or consumed, but always turning upward to face the Son and growing stronger in You.

May I live my life in total devotion to You God, so that I may be counted among the favored roses that bring forth a sweet smelling fragrance in Your garden of life.

Love Your Daughter,
Shannon

Do you ever find yourself asking this question??

2008-10-30T12:02:00.000-06:00

Okay...so I didn't go to work today because I didn't sleep a wink last night because I couldn't breathe!! (Yes, Christina and Karyn...LOVE those Vicks Puffs and hope you feel better soon!!! :)

So, FINALLY at 7:00 this morning I was tired and sat back in the recliner to catch a few winks. I woke up at noon only to discover that my vision in my right eye is now blurred! So I call the doc and I have to go in tomorrow morning at 10:15 because he said that is not typical with a sinus infection!

Do you ever find yourself asking God this question...What else could go wrong!???...I generally tend NOT to ask that question...because in His infinate wisdom and humor, He will show me!...I am just so sick at this point of my family being NOT WELL!!!!!!!...and I figure my blog, rather than my friends or family face to face, is the perfect place to VENT!!!!... this way, I can yell all I want without it being confrontational in anyway...and yes, I talk to God just like He is my Father and yell to Him as well ...

I do truly appreciate all of my blogging sisters and friends that I have made along the way...and truly covet your prayers for the wellness of my family above all else. I whole heartedly believe that God still works miracles in our generation and I am holding out for the one that is coming for my family's wellness.

For those of you who have been praying for my DH, Donnie, his kidney wound is closing up now and is no longer leaking any fluids YEA!!!!! :)...he did say that his right side was killing him so bad two nights ago that he could barely move (???)... his kidney stone and wound area is on his left side. He will follow up with his doc about that one, and has to go back on Nov 5th to follow up with his surgeon at Ohio State.

As I get older and my husband and I will be together 20 years in 2009, I also find myself asking this question- How would I go through life if I had all of his medical issues? The man only has a foot of small bowel,has been through 8 major bowel surgeries, several Hickman and Groshon catheters on his chest... has to hook up to an IV every night for 8 hrs to take nutrition and suppliments and he continues to go to work everyday and run a small business. Sometimes I get frustrated when he doesn't feel like doing anything around the house or with Paige and I, but he truly is one of my heroes and I love him with all my heart! :)...sometimes I just forget that he can't function and have the stamina that we have. And God love him, he has cspoken to several people, kids and their parents who have been diagnosed with Short Bowel Syndrome or Crohn's Disease, even though Crohn's is different, when someone in the area has to go on TPN, sometimes Donnie will get a call from someone wanting to know how he copes and what he does to take care of himself. It's hard sometimes, but the end result is definately worth it. To be able to have him here, hooking up every night, rather than in a hospital or nursing home makes all the difference in the world. By all rights and means, he should have died in 1984...but God chose to bless him with the greatest miracle He could give Donnie...the gift of life and a second chance at it! Had that not occured, we would have never met...and it sure gives me a reality check when I start to whine about having an underactive Thyroid and having to take Synthroid everyday. Whoopeee!!!! I have to take a pill every morning...then I think of what Donnie has to do every night and I really and truly see the blessings that God has given to me.

I pray for strength...for wellness...and for the ability to "keep on keepin' on"!...and with God by my side, I think of one my favorite quotes from a favorite author, Maya Angelou..."Still I Rise!"

p.s. Maya has a new book out called Letter To My Daughter...she has a son, no daughters, and said on the Today Show that she wrote the book for you and me...check it out, I am and I am sure I will love it as much as her other stuff.

Ed's Place: A New Award - Premio Dardos

2008-10-29T20:30:00.000-06:00

Thanks Ed for this FAB award!- you are soooo generous!!!!- go to Ed's blog and check it out for yourself- Ed is one of my Sisters from my Sisterhood of the Blogging Stampers Group#24 and her work is just as fantastic as the rest of my sisters-we are a talented bunch of gals!!! :)

Ed's Place: A New Award - Premio Dardos

Who knew!???

2008-10-29T17:46:00.000-06:00

So...I had to stop at Wally World on the way home to pick up, what else, some more kleenex!! I really have to get up and down the aisles in the grocery store just to look at stuff once in a while...who knew that there are now Puffs with Vicks!- what a brainiac idea :)....I LOVE Vicks when I am sick. It is one of the few things that actually make me able to breathe when I get like this. Thank God I don't get sick very often, but I seem to get a lot of sinus infections in the winter- and it snowed on Monday afternoon like it was starting to breathe that wintery breath on us here in Newark!...much love and hugs to my sister Christina, who is also sick right now with a cold...have your hubby get you some of those Puffs with Vicks and make sure that you take your vitamins and drink plenty of fluids. If the sinus pills I just took don't knock me out, I am going to work on my "You Be The Artist" ACT's that are due to the hostess on November 7th and my "Touch of Honey" 6X6 recipe cards for another swap. I am hooked to swapping on Split Coast Stampers!!! I am Little Miss Sparkle there too, so you will know me if you come across any swaps that I joined. I have mailed out 4 swaps so far that will be trading/swapping back out on November 3rd. I can't wait to get 10, 6, 11 other cards that are different than mine... again, Who Knew???!!!...I swear, I have to get out more!!! :)

I won't forget to take some pix and post them here soon...I want to make sure that I get them all done and mailed in plenty of time to meet the due dates and then I promise that I will upload some pix...I can't wait to show you what I have been working on. Since I get to be the artist and there are no color or vendor requirements on my ACT's, I want to take my time to create something cool...since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and this is my first time creating and swapping ACT's, I am using a stamp that has the word "beauty" on it. I hope the girls who get them love them as much as I know that I will love the ones that I get back in return. I will post pix of the swap returns that I get back as well so that you can see what I am talking about.

Well my lovelies...I am going to go and steam in the shower and then watch America's Next Top Model before I head to "Shannon's Creative Corner"...I am telling you, with this red nose, I should just go as a Christmas Elf or Rudolph for Halloween. We are dressing up as Rednecks for our theme this year at work, so I will be sure to take plenty of pix as well... My brainiac idea is to go as roadkill or dinner, however you wan to look at it- but I am a cross-bred animal, so I will look like a racoon mixed with another animal, I kinda make stuff up as I go along. My friend Judy is going to go as a Granny and chase me around the room trying to hit me on the head with a ladle to cook me up for dinner. Should be FUN TIMES at the Big Basket!...who knew???!!!???

It Was Inevitable!

2008-10-29T10:54:00.000-06:00

It was a dark and stormy night...well really, it was the bursts of snow and the berimetric change in the atmosphere...coupled with the fact that kids are always at our house, that I now have sinus pressure and a stuffed up nose!!!!!!! I don't want to be sick!!!!!! I have to be well to take care of everyone else!!!!! Okay, I am done whining now.

I really am a sight for sore eyes with a nose as red as Rudolph's - LOL! :)

Thank God for Puffs Plus and Mucinex and water...is all I have to say!!

Getting through the Gauze...

2008-10-27T17:55:00.000-06:00

I officially am a gauze and dressing "guru"! I can change a dressing like nobody's business---and with clean efficiency too, I might add. Yes, yes...I am tooting my own horn and am thankful that God has patience to know that I could do what a few days a go I was dreading and knew that only He could get me through. (A little sleep hasn't hurt the process either...although, I am not sure how many more nights on the couch I can take- hee hee!)

Seriously, though...Donnie is healing (Thank you thank you thank you for all of your prayers...they are still needed, as he is not completely healed yet...and I really and truly am sleeping on the couch)...it is quite comical, as my legs do not stretch all the way out because I am longer than the couch. Seeing as how I am only 5 foot one and 1/2 inches, this amuses me greatly when I find myself with my legs bent up or flopped on the big built in cushions on the end of the couch...if I could take my own picture, you would be laughing out loud too!!

Paige's staph infection is dried up and is going away and now she is getting a cold ...lesson learned on her part about going to the football game in the torrential downpour!!...she is currently sleeping after a hearty dose of Robitussin Nighttime and some hot orange tea. Sweet dreams of better days my baby :)

Believe it or not, I managed to get two recipe swaps finished and mailed to Cheree on Split Coast Stampers. I joined several 6x6 recipe swaps and a few 4x6 ones and will post some pix as soon as I get a chance to upload them on here to show you what they look like. I am Little Miss Sparkle on Split Coast too, but I can't figure out how to link my blog to the bottom of my signature when I sign up for swaps???...maybe one of you smarties can lend a hand and let me know how, so I can seem smart too ...LOL!..oh the joys and perils of pc learning curves...that and the time of my posts always show 4 hours earlier than what it truly is...it's 8:11 pm here in Ohio currently- not 4:22 ????

Well my lovelies, I am heading off to take a nice steaming hot shower with some Coconut Shower Cream from The Body Shop...if I close my eyes long enough, it will smell like I am at the beach in a tropical paradise...catch ya later!

Donnie is home- YEA!

2008-10-25T08:30:00.000-06:00

Well... they said that Donnie's kidney stone operation was an outpatient procedure...but I know that when you deal with Short Bowel Syndrome that nothing is ever "cut and dry"... they wound up keeping him overnight at Ohio State Hosp and he came home yesterday late afternoon. I had to learn quit how to change his dressing and become a "nurse of sorts". I deal with his medical issues on a daily basis, but open wound care has never been something I had to do until now. I am quite surprised that when they pulled the Nephrostomy tube out of his kidney, they sent him home with the area open. Not to gross you out, but it looks like when you stick a knife in a piece of meat. It just looks like a deep cut with bruising around the area. Please continue to pray for healing and for the wound to close over...I am truly empathizing will all those moms out there whose children wet the bed, because the wound drains urine, so I have had to wash laundry like no tomorrow as well. The docs say that the major drainage will stop in a couple of days as the exit site starts to heal over. My other concern is that he does not develop skin breakdown from the tape and having to lay down for the most part. He does get up to go to the bathroom and walk around a little, but he is on percocet for the pain because he hurts so bad. I just feel so bad for my DH...he has dealt with his short bowel syndrome and has had to hook up to an IV every night since 1984 to get the nutrition that you and I can get just by simply eating...he doesn't have enough bowel to be able to digest properly...so when he gets hit with other issues, such as this kidney surgery, blood clots, etc...I just get so sad for him... really and truly a sadness comes over me for him when I pray. At the same time, I thank God that I am healthy. We really don't realize how truly blessed we are to be able to eat and breathe and see and do all of those things that come and seem so natural to us. These latest issues with Donnie since last Dec (two Groshon catheter surgeries, blood clots, ecoli,kidney) have really, really made me think and pray a ton and ponder about how I should be treating my body as if it were a temple, like God tells us it is. I thank Him that he has so fearfully and wonderfully made us into His likeness and that our bodies heal themselves so fabulously...He truly IS an AWESOME GOD! :)

I love you all and still thank you for your continued love, support, prayer and kind words of encouragement...I know that God has brought us all together for reasons that we can't fully comprehend...but I am seeing now how truly compassionate my little SBS#24 sisters are...and I thank Him for crossing my life path with each and every one of you! :)

Feeling Thankful and Melancholy...

2008-10-22T08:45:00.000-06:00

Well everybody...tomorrow is "the big day"- my DH has his surgery to remove the "big one" from his kidney. We are praying that this has been the cause of his severe back pain over the last few months. He is scared, even though he would kill me if he knew I shared, because he is afraid that he will get an infection since OSU is a teaching hospital. At least they have a high success rate! :)

Paige's staph infection area is starting to dry up and heal (thank you for your prayers) and THANK GOD for the way that HE still works miracles in this generation...although we really don't deserve them based on our actions :)

I have to drive my SIL to her doctor's appt in Dublin tomorrow after my DH gets out of surgery to get a shot in her eye (YIKES!!)...so please take your medication if you are diabetic because this is what happens if you are stubborn and try to do "your own thing"...and she should know better because she is a an RN to boot!

I am truly thanking God right now that I am not sick because I have to be the "strong one" who is there for support, driving, etc...and I truly, truly, truly thank Him that I can do that.

Donnie's mom is getting sick from the radiation and only has two more treatments and then a week of chemo and she is saying that if the cancer has spread through her lymphatic system or have not gotten smaller that she is not going to go through any more treatments. We are trying to deal and work through our feelings and emotions and come to grips with how we feel about that. She is 74 years young and we need to respect her decision, whatever that may be....but it is hard nonetheless.

I read and watched a program on television by some doctors from the Cleveland Clinic who claim that a vegan lifestyle can reverse heart disease and even cures some cancers. Not sure about that one, but I just might start eating better and trying to incorporate a healthier lifestyle, while I am in this current mental space...won't hurt, since I deal with an underactive thyroid and can't seem to lost weight any other way!

Sorry that my blog has not been very upbeat and positive lately...we have just been hit pretty hard with what seems like one thing after another..and I look forward to sharing with all of you, the good that God will bring forth from this chaos... thanks for the prayers and the kind words of encouragement, they, along with your friendship as my "sisters" and fellow bloggers, is truly coveted and appreciated.

Will be in touch after tomorrow,

Shannon

Prayers Needed Ladies!

2008-10-14T10:54:00.000-06:00

My 13 year old has a staph infection (where from ???)and we need prayers that the RX she just started last night will heal it. Also, my DH...who has had a rough year, is scheduled for surgery on the 23rd of this month to have a kidney stone removed that he can't pass...LONG story short (time for airing of some dirty laundry!)...he has had short bowel syndrome since 1984 and deals with having to hook up to an IV pump every night to get the nutrients that you and I can digest, because he only has a foot of small bowel. This past Dec he had to get his Groshon catheter in his chest replaced due to ecoli (no sure how that got in his central line!)and he then dealt with blood clots, more surgery,and his back had been hurting for several months and now we have discovered that he has a kidney stone too big to pass!- needless to say, it has been a hard enough road for him and he tries to take meticulous care to cleanse and sterilize so that he doesn't get infections and get sick. He is scared to death (although he would never admit it!)that he will either contract an infection in the hospital again or develop blood clots again (because you have to stop the Coumadin to have the surgery).

And in between all this, Donnie's mom, Ginny was diagnosed with lung cancer (which they removed all of the tumor- Thank you, Jesus!!)...but since it was in two of her lymph nodes, she has to undergo radiation and chemo and she is starting to get nauseated from all of it...

I normally would never think of going on a blog to discuss our family issues (you know, the intimate details)...but I am a strong Christian and a firm believer in the power of prayer...so please, please, please ladies...place Donnie, Ginny and Paige Wilson on any and all prayer lists that you have through your church, online, etc... and I will definately keep you all posted on how everything is going so that you can update the prayer warriors... I am just getting a bit "overwhelmed" to say the least...as it seems like one thing after another has been pounding our family...I sure hope that God will make something BIG shine forth from this mess!!!

On a lighter note, our oldest daughter, Tiffany, is the new OUZ Nursing Class President!!! YEA!!! :)

If I could reach through this pc and hug you all in advance, I would!

Love ya,
Shannon

I'm Baaaaack!

2008-10-13T15:26:00.001-06:00

I have been gone for a while with month end at work, Volleyball games, and a recent scrapbook retreat to keep me busy...plus, I have joined quite a few recipe swaps on Split Coast Stampers. I will tell you guys all about it soon, but I wanted you to know that I am still alive and kicking! :)

I took today off to "rest"...but had to take Paige to the doctor this morning and the dentist this afternoon, so I think I will just go to bed early!

Chat with ya later!

Dead Camera Batteries!!

2008-09-29T19:38:00.000-06:00

Okay...so am I like the only person in the Universe whose batteries go dead at the WORST times!???...like when I want to take pictures to share with everyone???...so now I have to get new ones and show you the pix tomorrow or Wednesday. Paige lost one of my two re-chargeable batteries and regular batteries go dead so fast in digital cameras. Tomorrow is month end at work and I have the late shift(11am-10pm). I will try to find some batteries before then so that I can show you my recipe swaps that I have completed. Hmmmmm....I wonder how mad my DH will get if I steal the batteries out of the remote control??? :)

Relaxed and Feelin' Fine...

2008-09-28T11:54:00.000-06:00

Well my lovelies...I am back home after church and relaxed from Kendra's last night. It WAS just what the doctor ordered. Relaxing in the hot tub, a quick dip in the pool (that was freezing!)...pizza, a few drinks, and movies. We watched Baby Mama and Monster-In-Law, bit funny movies, so lots of laughter insued as well. We laughed and laughed and laughed and I have to say that I love those gals! :)I think we might get together at each other's houses once a month- it is something every girl should do for herself. I am now finishing my drink recipe swaps and will be sending them tomorrow in the mail to their destinations of Idaho and Texas. I soon will be getting several other cards in the mail and will soon have a 6x6 album entirely devoted to recipes. Sure beats those newspaper and magazine clippings that one can never seem to find when you need them. I will tell them to "smile" and snap a picture of each of them before I mail them at lunch time, so that you can see what my latest endeavor has been.

Hot Tub/Movie Night, Here I Come!

2008-09-27T12:31:00.000-06:00

Today is "chore/cleaning day" at the Wilson household. BUT!...I have been feverishly working on some 6X6 recipe cards for several SCS swaps that I have joined. I do a load of laundry, work on some cards...make food for the family...work on the cards..etc...I will post pix before I send them off to the hostesses on Monday so that you all can see what I have been up to lately. I make 5+1, 6+1 or 10+1 of the same item, and then get different ones back. I think that is a pretty easy way to grow any collection of recipes. I hope to get inspired enough to make several of these for my own family. I also want to work on Heritage/Recipe books for my family to both tell the story of my Great-Grandfather's trip to America on the ship from Sicily, Italy...and incorporate family recipes and my Grandma's handwritten recipes that my Aunt gave to me when she passed away several years ago. But for now, I have to be ready to go with my friend Ellen (The Queen- I will share the story sometime!)...we are meeting Sally and her sister Kendra and our other friend Debby for some much needed, no hubby/ no kids night of pizza, chick flicks,wine and hot tubbing! I am soooo looking forward to this night at Kendra's house. It is just what the doctor ordered. :)...have fun this evening my lovely sisters and I will be BIT (back in touch) tomorrow after church. Party On!

Cards that I have made....

2008-09-24T11:08:00.001-06:00

Here are some cards that I have made and am sharing with you today so you don't think that I only make books- HA! LOL! :)

SO CUTE AND WHAT A BARGAIN!!!!

2008-09-24T08:19:00.000-06:00

Our local scrapbook store Scrappers Gallery is where I met some of the gals that I go on bi-annual scrapbook retreats with. The gallery also hosts a yearly "garage sale" where you sell the stuff that you want to get rid of, and in return you get that amount in store credit to spend. My friend Sally let me come over to her house before the sale and I got "dibs" on some great stuff, as I am a tag and embellishment junkie! She made these two books and then didn't want them, so I got them for a steal at $3 each!- Thanks "Salby"...you know that I will put them to good use. I thought I would share pictures of them to get you inspired for your own "fatpages", "fatbooks" and/or cardboard books as some of your are probably already gifted in altering and don't even realize that is what you are doing! :)

The first book is a book of months starting with Jan and ending with Dec. The second book is a Christmas book.

BOOK OF MONTHS:
Front Cover:

BACK COVER OF BOOK OF MONTHS:

CHRISTMAS BOOK COVER:

CHRISTMAS BOOK BACK COVER:

I've Been Tagged and I'm coming 4 YOU!! :)

2008-09-23T13:22:00.001-06:00

I've been Tagged!
Well, this is a first for me, thanks Stevie! :)....She is a cool gal in my SBS#24 group...you can find her blog at http://createwithstevie.blogspot.com

Here are the rules:

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Seven facts about me...

1. I had my first child at the age of 17 and my second at age 26.
2. I have two gray cats name Skye Marie and Malachi Mae.
3. I teach Senior High Sunday School and am a youth leader at our church.
4. My nickname in school was Sparky!
5. My favorite color is Heliotrope- and yes it is even a Crayola Crayon!
6. I love dark chocolate and secretly wish I was a PIRATE!
7. My favorite art supply is GLITTER! :)

Now I have to tag seven people...

1. Ceal http://simplybeautifulcreations.blogspot.com
2. Sally http://onedragonsdream.blogspot.com
3. Christina http://wernstrumfamily.blogspot.com
4. Jennifer http://paperaddictjenn.blogspot.com
5. Wendy http://www.stamp2day.com
6. Amber http://mommyof3boysiluv.blogspot.com
7. Shelly http//shellysstamping.blogspot.com

Finally, I have to let them know...so look out ladies, here I come! :)

Altered Book 3

2008-09-23T11:25:00.000-06:00

This book was an old pink SU Idea book, with a pink elastic band that comes around from the back to the front of the book. I no longer use it, so I decided to alter it. I painted the back cover blue and don't like it, so I will more than likely sand it and re-alter it. I left it "as is" so that you can see that you really can alter any book. If you will be adding 3-D embellishments, you might want to tear out several of the pages. This way, everything fits and the book will still close- or at least it will stand upright!...Have fun and if you have any questions...feel free to ask :)

FRONT COVER:

INSIDE BOOK:

BACK COVER:

Altered Book 2

2008-09-23T10:39:00.000-06:00

This book is a current "work in progress" (as will be the other book pix that I post... this is an All About Me Book that was a training manual that I have altered to use as a semi-scrapbook/journaling item about me! Hope you like it so far...

Front Cover:

INSIDE BOOK:

Better Late then Never :)

2008-09-23T04:52:00.000-06:00

Sorry I didn't get new book pix posted last night...Paige had a Volleyball game (they won- yea!) and I went to bed after all of the homework, dishes, laundry...were finished.I am having technical difficulties today getting the pix to upload, but I will figure it out and then will also have some pix of cards that I have made and scrapbook pages...ahhh, the joys and perils of learning new things on the computer. I feel like I need a "Uploading Pictures on Your Blog for Dummies" guide! LOL!

More Altered Book Pix coming tonite!

2008-09-22T08:58:00.000-06:00

I will take photos this evening of the third book I am currently working on- it's a"ME" book that I used an old training manual that someone was going to throw away because we switched systems. It is a work in progress and will eventually be completed by year's end. If you're wondering what happened to the second book... that was the one that I wished I had taken pix of, I gifted it to my oldest daughter, Tiffany, who is in college. I will try to snap some pix of it when we get together. I am not sure if she has put any of her photos in it yet, as I gave her a blank book to fill and alter the insides herself- but on the cover, I used E6000 to adhere an angel ornament on the covere and it turned out FAB! I am also currently working on several swaps through Split Coast Stampers, so before I send my recipe swaps out- I will make sure that they have "sit pretty" for their photo op! HA! LOL!
Well ladies...I have to get going for a while now, but shall return- YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! :)

They're FINALLY here!!! :)

2008-09-22T07:40:00.001-06:00

My First Altered Book!!!

This is the first book that I altered and "gifted" to my hubby. It was one of those Hallmark, Valentine type of books with those kids holding umbrellas in black and white with their cheeks, lips, etc that had been colored over. He read the book once and then it sat on the shelf until I came across a book about Altered Books. I knew this would be the first book I would use. I loved the words in the book, so I kept them in tact, but I altered the rest of the book. I know that I have kept you all waiting and I hope that you are not disappointed! :) Feel free to scraplift these ideas, as creativity starters for your own altered books...and don't forget to use your glitter!!!! :)

FRONT COVER:

INSIDE BOOK:

INSIDE BACK COVER:

BACK COVER:

Pictures Coming!

2008-09-17T12:54:00.000-06:00

As I have promised you gals...I will be uploading some pix and changing that Picasa slideshow (if it will let me) to MY slideshow of cards, scrapbook pages, recipe pages and altered book pix that I have completed. Some I have given away as gifts and should have snapped pix beforehand, but who knew that I would ever find YOU in life's path to share them with!? :)

I will start taking pix of things before I "gift" them, so that you can see what I am up to. Currently I joined two recipe swaps on Splitcoast from Jen and Tweedletea and have just completed my 6X6 soup recipes to send for the swap ending at the end of October. I will snap a pix and this will be the Calico Chicken Soup that you will see (before anyone else-so feel special because you get a sneek peek!)

I am getting ready to embellish the "guts" of an altered book that I used for training at one point and no longer have need for. For goodness sakes, don't ever get rid of a book, as you will soon see you can totally re-vamp it and give it an "Extreme Makeover"- which will breathe new life into the darn thing! The book that I am getting ready to finish is the one that I am making for my youngest, Paige. She has played basketball, softball, ran track, and is currently playing Volleyball on the Junior High team this year....soooo, if anyone has cool ideas for these sports, please share, share, share...as I am soooo into "scraplifting"...and please feel free to "borrow" my ideas as well. I don't plan on selling my items, as I craft for fun, not profit. And I actually consider it a compliment if someone else wants to use an idea that I had first. Makes me feel like an artist! :)

Well...I gotta get off here for now, as my break is over. Stay tuned for the pictures and I hope that they don't disappoint- I feel like I am getting ready for my "Grand Opening" or something- how FUN and EXCITING!!!!! :)

Glitter on my lovelies! :)

Shannon

Feels Like F-O-R-E-V-E-R! (and thoughts of Ike)

2008-09-16T20:55:00.000-06:00

Ha! I had to laugh out loud when I typed the title for tonight's blog- it reminds me of my favorite part of the movie The Sandlot (had to see it!) But it really does feel like forever since I have been on here, so I have some catching up to do with my blogging sisters and my one "visitor friend" from New Zealand, who said that it was Spring there now...(I am so jealous!)

While Fall is my favorite season,and I think that Winter snow is beautiful,(because it glitters, duh!)...I do NOT like being cold, or having to dress in layers. I only wear shoes when I have to and that is the first thing that comes off when I get home. I literally wear sandals until the snow flies and I have to wear socks and shoes or risk getting frostbite on my toes. I have watched those shows where you see people's toes that have turned black and had to be amputated- so I am not risking it! :)

I haven't been on here in a few days because the phone lines were down due to the recent 70+ mph winds and storm that followed Hurrican Ike over the weekend. It blows my mind that we felt the effects of it clear in Newark, Ohio- people's trees were uprooted, shingles peeled off the neighbors roof, there were tree branches that just snapped like twigs in the power lines...and that was just on our street alone! The entire overhang and gutters on the back of our house blew off and were laying in our yard mangled like you had just crinkled up a piece of aluminum foil. My youngest hasn't been to school all week (but I think she will have school tomorrow) due to the power outage in our area. My heart, thoughts and prayers truly do go out the victims of Hurricane Ike. From just the effects that we got, I can't even begin to imagine those who are now left homeless, hungry, tired, without the basics of water, food and shelter, etc...Godspeed, my brothers and sisters in Texas. Know that you are in our hearts.

Orchard Memories

2008-09-09T11:11:00.000-06:00

Summer is gone...(where ,oh where, did it go??)...and we are getting ready in a couple of weeks to go apple picking at a local orchard. This has been a family tradition with my kids since they were little. We make an afternoon out of driving around the orchard in search of the "perfect tree" and the biggest, juiciest apples we can find. I used to go to the orchard every year with my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins and my dad and we made a whole day out of it. We picked and picked and had rotten apple fights and ate apples until our bellies hurt! We had so much fun and I will never forget the smell of the orchard, the wind in the trees and the time that we spent together. My grandparents have passed on and they have instilled this tradition in my heart and I think my girls like it too. I know that my oldest, Tiffany, used to love my apple pies and apple crisp (she still does!)... that I learned to make by helping my grandma in the kitchen. When I was little I could only peel the apples, but even that was fun. I used to try and peel the whole apple without the peel breaking- which I got quite good at the older I got! Every time I go to the orchard during apple season or bake an apple pie or make homemade apple sauce...I think fondly of those "good old days" and thank God for the memories.

Bonfires, Weiners and S'Mores...

2008-09-07T01:24:00.001-06:00

Well..here I sit at 3:30 am...chatting with one of my daughter's friends, as everyone else is asleep. Paige had a "late" b-day party/sleepover (she chose the date)- her birthday is 8/6. She decided to have hot dogs, a bonfire and s'mores instead of pizza and cake. And invited her closest friend over- which actually turned into 9 girls and one boy, who went home...because DUH!!! there are NO BOYS at 13 year old girls' sleepovers :)
I am what my daughter's friends call "the cool mom"...as I let the girls go toilet papering and do some of the same stuff that I did when I was a teenager (come on now, admit it... you did it too!)...I make sure that I go with them so that no harm is done and no one gets hurt. And this way, they can jump in the car and we can make a fast get-away...lots of stories about girls, boys, school and lots of laughs...

I got this email today and I laughed out loud! (LOL!)

2008-09-03T13:10:00.001-06:00

The FBI had an opening for an assassin.

After all the background checks, interviews and testing were done,

there were 3 finalists; two men and a woman.

For the final test, the FBI agents took one of the men to a large metal door and handed him a gun.

'We must know that you will follow your instructions no matter

what the circumstances.

Inside the room you will find your wife sitting in a chair . . .

Kill her!!'

The man said, 'You can't be serious. I could never shoot

my wife.'

The agent said, 'Then you're not the right man for this job.

Take your wife and go home.'

The second man was given the same instructions.

He took the gun and went into the room.

All was quiet for a bout 5 minutes.

The man came out with tears in his eyes, 'I tried, but

I can't kill my wife.' The agent said, 'You don't have what it takes. Take your wife and go home.'

Finally, it was the woman's turn.

She was given the same instructions, to kill her husband.

She took the gun and went into the room.

Shots were heard, one after another.

They heard screaming, crashing, banging on the walls.

After a few minutes, all was quiet.

The door opened slowly and there stood the woman,

wiping the sweat from her brow.
'This gun is loaded with blanks' she said.

'I had to beat him to death with the chair.'

MORAL:

Women are crazy. Don't mess with them

The Daily Grind

2008-09-02T04:36:00.000-06:00

It's here... I knew it was too good to be true.. that lovely three day weekend has come to an end. The time has gone by waaayyy too fast and I find myself wishing that I was a SAHM (stay at home mom). Alas, I remember that I have to go to work now because I carry the insurance on the family...DRAT!!! I read somewhere once that you should go to work and act as if everything you did was a sacrifice back to God for what He did for us by sending Jesus to die for our sins. You know, when you take that perspective, it really is hard to complain about having to get up in the morning. Now if I could just get lucky enough to go in later! LOL!...and speaking of the title of this morning's blog...where is my cup of joe anyway!?!

Induction Into The Sisterhood

2008-09-01T17:44:00.000-06:00

YES!..I made it!
I just saw my name on the latest and greatest thing since sliced bread...the SBS #24 list!
I feel like a "Ya-Ya" Sister with divine secrets to share, or those pants that travel around...I think to celebrate, once I get to know them...I shall send all of my sisters a card that is shaped like a pair of pants...just because I can! :)
Can't wait until our group is full and the creativity is flowing like a firehose...

Wilson's Whimsical Words(tm)

2008-09-01T17:34:00.000-06:00

I love words. Plain and simply put....quotes, books, words in titles. And since I was an only child, (who dreamed of having a sister),for 14 long years...(and then she was born!)...I used to entertain myself by reading the phone books, dictionaries, etc...

I used to wonder who Webster was and why he could have his name on a book of words, but I couldn't...thus..."Wilson's Whimsical Words" was born from that idea. Just ask any of my friends and they will tell you that I not only make up words, but I make up silly definitions for them to. One of my personal faves is "Synchronification"...thought of that one after listening to the music group The Police and wondering why everyone in the world can't just "play nice and get along" with one another.

Synchronification: The act of not running with scissors. To get along. To allow the earth to run smoothly without interruptions.

And yes, I can use the word in a sentence too! :)

In between the paint fumes...

2008-09-01T17:29:00.000-06:00

I really am okay, really...but I thought that would be a great title for my next blog. I am taking a break right now from painting book covers. I generally use whatever acrylic paints are on sale at Hobby Lobby or Michaels, but I tend to really like those little paints in the tubes in the art section the best. They tend to be thicker, so they are great for covering up words or the spines of books, since most of them are foil embossed and hard to cover. My friend Deb recently bought a gold and silver foil pen and I am quite intrigued with the concept of making the edges of all the outside pages completely "blingafied"...which leads right into my next topic...

Altering Books

2008-09-01T09:36:00.000-06:00

I absolutely am hooked on altering books. I make them into mini scrapbooks and this has become can I dare say, quite an addiction as of late!???... There! I said it, my secret is out...and man does that feel great! :)

I recently went to our local library's annual book sale to find books that had canvas covers to paint...ones that were falling apart... you know, those books that would other wise wind up in the trash because pages are missing or torn, etc...even tattered books need a home too...so I adopted some and took them home straight away! Imagine the pure joy that I felt just knowing that they would go from "throw away" to "art"...ahhh!!! It does a mind good...

Well in book altering, that is what you do...tear pages out to make room for all of your glorious embellishments, pix, ribbon, shiny things and whatever else you feel inspired to add. I also like to stamp words in my book with Staz-On because it seems to work over top of paint, etc...and as soon as I clear the memory card off my camera (thank you darling Paige), I will snap some pix of what I have made so far and you can see what I work on in my "spare time" ... LOL!

Until then...stay creative and inspired and don't forget to use your glitter! :)

Video Bars...

2008-08-30T20:06:00.000-06:00

Hey there! :)

Just in case anyone is new to video bars...check out mine... Fred and Brookers are hilarious (but I have a weird and twisted sense of humor)...I couldn't get the exact videos that I wanted to upload, as they uploaded with most recent. So be sure to check out Brookers' "My United States of Whateva" and Fred "Loses His Meds".. those are my all-time favorites- ever! :) Of course I work with the youth at our church and teach Senior High Sunday School, so I would look at the things that our kids are watching on You Tube, My Space, etc...but seriously, if you ever want some "mindless" laughter- watch them...it will make you realize how normal you truly are...and as my Dad says "Normal is just a city in Illinois" :)

Sisterhood of the Blogging Stampers #24!

2008-08-30T18:04:00.000-06:00

I hope I get into this group! I have just submitted a request to join this latest sisterhood to share ideas on stamping, scrapping and whatever else us sisters will share. Yeah!.....For all you sisters out there. I am sure that you can tell a little about me personally from my blog and the stuff on it. What you might not know is that I am addicted to glitter and Swarovski crystals...REALLY!...I could stare at them all day. Kinda like when you were a little kid and you caught a glimpse of the colors in your Mom or Grandma's wedding ring...yeah, I even incorporate glitter into my eye makeup from time to time...I'm hopeless!...I can't wait to make it "official" as Tracy says, and start getting to know everyone.

Happy Stamping...Happy Scrapping... and make sure to use your glitter! :)

Taking a Break...

2008-08-30T11:06:00.000-06:00

I am taking a break from scrapbooking to do the daily necessities of being a mom, such as laundry, cooking and cleaning (YUCK!!)...everyone should have a little fairy that comes on the weekend and sprinkles sparkly pink pixie dust over the house and it is magically clean and shiny!! Oh well...time to come back to reality and get done with that "other stuff", so that I can go back to the creating that I really want to do....I have already finished the foundational pages of the book I am altering, so now I can start adding the liquid chalk, ink, glitter, and all of the pictures and embellishments. I think I will leave most of the pages embellished, but let Paige put in her own pix from 8th grade this year...GTG! TTYL!

It's FINALLY 5:00!

2008-08-29T15:00:00.001-06:00

Here I sit...waiting for the last and longest 2 minutes of the workday- that space between 5 and 5:02...it's FINALLY here and off I go to Scrapbookland....look out paper...hello pens... scissors and cutter and all things glittery...come to me NOW!

Scrapbooking Here I Come!

2008-08-29T09:42:00.003-06:00

I am soooo going to scrapbook this evening. I have declined all invites for this weekend...no Swappers Day, no Easton...just pure, unadulterated scrapbooking for three days! I can hardly wait to get home and get started!! I am also almost finished altering a book for my youngest daughter, so she will be elated as well...I am all caught up here at work today; remind me why I have to stay?....oh yeah, I have to answer the phone when it rings....maybe we can "Mc Guyver" rig it to forward to my home phone....

Blah...Blah...Blah...

2008-08-29T09:31:00.001-06:00

I am sitting here listening to someone at work talk about the perils of lost love and "woe is me"...all I can hear is Blah....Blah....Blah and in the back of my mind creeps the question: Is it 5:02 yet!!???...please remove the sharp objects from my desk or I might feel the need to stab my ears out!!! :)

Remember..."It's better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all"

TGIF!!!!

2008-08-29T07:29:00.000-06:00

YIPPPPEEEEEE!!!!!!!
It's finally Friday!!...That ROCKS!- It's a 3 day weekend, thanks to the genius that created Labor Day (you are truly after my own heart)...I asked yesterday if it was 5:02 yet because I work in a Call Center and for some reason known only to management and the aliens, we cannot log off the phones until that time... they say it is to make sure that all of the calls get through the queue. I think if you add up all the extra 2 minutes a day and times that by 5 days a week, and 12 months a year...it's to get extra time out of us. But that's just how my mind works and what I think. Anyways, I so enjoy going to work on Fridays, knowing that when 5:02 rolls around...I am on hiatus until Monday. I am only 39, so I have a while to go until retirement...but it's one day closer to that dream of working in a creative capacity of sorts! So three cheers for Friday! Hip Hip Hooray!!!!

Project Runway on Tonight

2008-08-28T19:35:00.001-06:00

I just LOVE this show! Christian Siriano is my favorite designer to date...he is FIERCE and FABULOUS!!! (sorry Christian!)...and he's only 21, so it just goes to show that it doesn't matter how young or old you are... you can achieve your dreams if you take that leap of faith. I have always held an affinity for fashion- the weirder, the better. I love Vivienne Westwood and her shoes...but I could never walk a step in them... the whole culture just inspires me...maybe that's why I like scrapbooking and paper so much....it's my "fabric and design" of choice. I more than likely will never get the chance to meet Christian...but you have inspired me nonetheless to keep designing in the way that I know how...ROCK ON!

Is it 5:00 yet?

2008-08-28T11:45:00.001-06:00

I wonder how many times people look at the clock during the workday and say "Is it 5:00 yet!?" I think that I spend more time here in a given week than anywhere else. I wonder if they would let me install a refrigerator and coffee maker and roll a blanket and pillow up under my desk? Then I could just live here! It has to be 5:00 somewhere...