fire

so sad. we are in the midst of a terrible fire. it is suggested to be started by an arsonist. it has burned 10000 acres, killed 4 firefighters, 1 firefighter is in the burn unit and fighting for his life. the skies are filled with smoke and ash and our hospital is on alert with all employees required to stay till further notice. the havoc and pain people cause. my heart is hurting.

painting

well ds18 moved out and we are moving ds12 into his old room as it is the bigger room. it is a big mess in my house right now. we are painting, putting in a new closet organizer, waiting for the new bed to come in, moving about 4,000 books from one room to another, and just pulling my hair out. on top of that dh wants to garden all day, i have a house to clean and i am exhausted. i reached a point today at about 6:30 where i just said that is it for the day. i sat down and scrapped this page. i was due some me time and i took it. ds12 loves his new room all ready and he has picked new paint, new bedding, arranging all his furniture. it has been great doing that for him. ds18 has visited more since he moved out than we ever saw him when he lived at home! i miss him so much, but he is growing up and moving on! he is being very responsible and taking care of everything. how is it possible that he is this old? so, tomorrow we are going out to breakfast and then back to home depot for some more paint. tomorrow we are painting the middle room, which will be my new scrap room. i was excited at first, but now i am thinking about all the work ahead of me. it will be nice when it is finished and all my stuff is out of the den/office and i can close the door and be all by myself! it will be so sweet! dh is also very happy about it. lol.

farmers fair

here is my latest lo. evidence if a beautiful life.

we went to the farmer's fair tonight. i really do not enjoy this kind of thing anymore. we have had some colder weather lately and of course it was too cold for me. dh was cranky and ds12 brought a friend and i had to make sure to watch them both. tough with kids that age, they tend to wander off! so we went, i took my camera and made myself useful taking pics. it was actually fun to take the pics of the rides at night, very colorful! should make a great lo! dh and i took pics in the booth, that was funny! we are both too big now to fit! we of course ate way too much! we went into the exhibit and looked at the scrapping entries. i try not to be a snob, but my gosh. these were the simplest scrap pages i have ever seen! i shoulda entered! dh made jokes about everything; the table settings, the crocheted items, the kids pictures, the floral displays. he thinks it is all so dumb. then we went into the photography part. there were some very cool pics! we both agreed that there was one that should have won 1st place and it did not even place!

so our sweet dog, jake, was sick today and i took him to the vet. they do not know what is wrong with him and decided to keep him over night. he is dehydrated from vomiting, but they do not see anything to point to why he is vomiting. at first they thought intestinal obstruction, but later this afternoon, they were leaning more towards some type of poisoning. eeek, i hate any type of poisin. try not to use it at all. so he is gone for the night and we miss him! i hope he is not too lonely for us!

ds18 is still in the midst of moving out. he is half here and half there. today he came by to eat and use the computer. i wish he would just take his computer to his own apartment! it is tough when he walks in. i miss him a lot and wish he would stay home a little longer. but he is an adult and well, he makes his own decisions now!

where have i been?

lost, busy, scrapping my life away, working, cleaning, on the phone way too much and neglecting my blog.

here is a sweet lo of ds12 and our library visits

well, no more DTC. that was weird. no notice, just posted on the site. hmmm. okay. thought i was more liked than that, but guess not. no biggie, life goes on. just kinda strange to find out that way. an e-mail heads up would have been better, more understood. but guess some times it is too hard to give the news. it was a little hard to hear. i really tried very hard there.

so i have joined a couple new sites. i am anxiously awaiting a brand new kit, and i really love what is in it. it has excited me more than any other kit i have gotten. and it is a new site. so in on the beginning which is fun, fun, fun! i really hope this place takes off!

fall has arrived. overnight it has started to be a little cooler. thank god above. i can almost deal with the 85 degrees. so hopefully it will get colder and colder. i love this time of year. i called my sis today and begged for baked apples. she is good to me and will make them for me this weekend. i can't wait. my sweet neice left for college and will be back this weekend. i think i will take her somewhere to play! maybe a manicure? we shall see. i need some girl time.

ds18 has told us today that he has found an apartment and wants to move out. ..................... ................................................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................................................

that is the silence from dh and me. we would like him to stay home a little longer, to grow more, to save more, to get more college under his belt. but he wants to go. dh says all the time "Let Nemo go." heh.


ds12 has completed 6 months of tutoring and has done really well. we have decided to give him a break until january to see how he does. if he starts sliding back again we will sign him back up. he loves to go and loves his tutor anyways.

my newest fav lo!

i entered a contest at Scribblesonline.com and well, i did not win, but i just love some of the los that i did. and this one especially. i loved the pp, had it in my stash and when the challenge was posted, new it would be perfect for these pictures. i just love how it turned out. you can see my ds12 having his first boogie board fun and he LOVED it! we will definitely be taking him back! and these stars i had from a kit and of course they just worked perfect! so anyways, i did not win the contest, but i won in my heart because i stretched and played and had a good time!

catch-up

seems i have signed myself up for too many contests and challenges. what was i thinking? so i just finished an 8 week contest at scribblesonline.com. it was a lot of fun and i really enjoyed it. but i also signed up for scrap the month of september at willowtraders.com. it is scrap each day for a small journal. so i have already fallen behind on this one. my journaling is done, but nothing else. i need to get some pages done. and then there is the myscrapshak.com fall in love with scrapping contest. it is also a daily contest. did 3 days and then got lost. my work has been so demanding and then i come home and crash. i really want to get a lot done this weekend, but my HOUSE needs to be cleaned! bummer. hard to decide which ismore important....scrap or clean. lol! i will work it out, but hey, i need to sleep too!

so i want to post a lo, but i can't until the contest is over. i did a lo that i just love and think it is one of my best ever. that will be coming soon.

talked to a friend today. she is having a make and take next friday and then a crop on saturday. i am excited! i love to get together with fellow scrappers, but where i live it does not happen so often. so i am really looking forward to this.

my 19th wedding anniversary is next week. dh asked me what i want. i said.... nothing, i only want a 1 carat diamond ring and we can not afford it so nothing. he said....we can get it. huh. not if i don't feel like we can afford it. i have enough beautiful jewelry he has given me. he has been so good to me through the years. but i really would love that big beautiful diamond!

let's go surfing now

new challenge from WT!! blog about your weekend plans.

well, this is an exciting weekend because we are leaving in one hour to go stay on the beach. we are going back to where we used to live and staying in a hotel on the beach. it will be a lot of fun! we plan to take ds12 boogie boarding, his first time! ds18 unfortunately has to stay home cuz he has to work, and we will miss him terribly! i plan on taking 2 books, getting lots of new pics, eating some great food, scrapbook shopping and just some great sweet time with dh! we love the beach and it is such a fun place to take the kids. we actually bought some new beach chairs and wow, what a difference! our old ones are 20 years old and they have really changed! i got one with flowers on it, ds12 got one with surfboards and dh got a plain striped one. i am really excited about this trip, cuz i need a break! ds12 started school yesterday, big 7th grader! work has been tough and i really need to relax! so have a great weekend everyone, i am planning on it!

creating

well, all my life i have created things from very little. i love to craft, i love art. i have many tastes in arts and crafts and really enjoy just about any type of art. the funny thing is, i have tried so many and actually mastered many craft techniques! i used to teach craft classes at a local craft store. it was fun, but i really love to create at home. i used to make many things and give them away. i don't have much to show for the many years of crafting. i used to make all of my clothes! i would not even consider buying clothing! gasp! i have knit, and crochet, paint (all types), quilt, cake decorating, all kinds of fabric crafting, flower arranging, water colors, macrame, tatting, pretty much anything you can think of. I would have to say my favorite is to paint. i really love to paint. i am quite good at it. i can look at something and recreate it very well with a paintbrush. i wish i had pics to share, but it has all been given away. i have very few things left to prove what i do. maybe i should make things for myself! my newest obsession is scrapping. i have so much scrap stuff now, i can scrap everyday for a year and still have something left! and i love it. i try to do something every day, whether it be page planning or actually scrapping, or journaling. i am a scrapper. well you can see that by my posts! anyway, i don't have my favorite creation to share, since it was a gift, so i will tell you about it. i crocheted a poinsettia doily for my mother. she loved it so much it stayed out year round. and that is why it is my favorite. because my mother loved it so much!

little blessings

ya know, my job is a hard one. all of my patients are very ill, whether it be physical or mental illness, very ill. some are so desperately ill that they die. of course, we all will die someday, but these poor patients of mine struggle and try to stay healthy, but still die. i usually can handle it because i do my very best to give them everything they need each and every day. i have conversations daily with them, they call me when ever they have a need, or just to talk. my case load this week jumped from 57 to 77. huge increase. and i was overwhelmed. a small one died. unexpectedly. i was so sad this morning. but then i had 2 patients call me and tell me how very much they appreciate me, my listening, my caring, my always being there for them. it helped. and then i got an email that made me smile. it told me how good i am, how caring i am, how much i am needed. it reinforced exactly why i do this job, why i am in this business, that i am needed and my internal strength is helping someone. i can crumple from the sadness, the overwhelming feeling of not being able to change anything, but then i have someone state a simple statement that makes me feel..okay.

so my little blessings came in on a day when i needed them, when i did not expect them, and i cherish them.

also, on a more positive note, my ds18 finally got his books for college. it has been a struggle, he has resisted all attempts to guide him and so seeing him make this step made me a very happy mother.

thank you god for all of your blessings!

I have been absent for toooo long!

yeah, neglected blog!

well, i have been busy. work is busy, then home life is busy, and not enough down time. but i left work early today, i had had enough. i can only take so much sadness and then i just have to walk away. so enough about work.

met ds18 and transferred ds12 from his car to mine, off to the library where ds12 received a free book for completing 7 weeks! and next week he gets the t-shirt. he has done this program every year and i thought he would balk this year, but he didn't. i am so proud of him for being an eager reader and for jumping into the teen books this year. his newest pick is a 243 page book. he got it today and read about a third of it. he rocks! then we went to Tarjay for some personal items; a movie, a book, shampoo, you know, just the little things we NEED! and then we went to dinner. ds12 was anxious to sit and read while we ate. people probably think we are weird, but i am not going to say no if he wants to read! not enough kids do! so then we came home and watched Shaggy Dog and ds12 then went to bed. it was a sweet evening and we enjoyed ourselves!

tomorrow i have soo much to do! this house needs a good cleaning, lots of laundry has piled up, dh wants me to help with the gardening and i have a contest entry to complete. it will be busy, but i will accomplish it all. i am SUPERWOMAN!

on a more negative note. ds18 has just given me fits this week, but i will persevere. he has really pushed my buttons, been a meanie, actually called me the B word! and just all around nastiness. dh keeps telling me to walk away, but it is so hard! how could my sweet angel turn into this exorcist demon? it is just beyond me. but....c'est la vie.

so above is a recent lo i completed. i am loving it! what do you think? you can't see the flowers on it but they are tranparent orange acrylic. i really love this lo. dh was looking out to sea and it just is a sweet pic. we had a wonderful time that day at the beach and it brought back so many good memories of when we lived there. i would love to move back!

We had a wonderful time today!

we went to the beach today, back to our old haunts! we took ds12 and he had a blast. he loved it! i can not believe our little guy is so unfamiliar with what dh and i are SO familiar with. we plan to correct this! desert living has made him so innocent to the beauty of our world! he had so much fun and of course i took about 120 pictures! these are just a few, just to share the fun!

yoho, yoho, a pirate's life for me!

no pics today, but we got to go see pirates! it was fun! we got a huge container of popcorn, ds12 got cookie dough candy and dh and i shared a soda. we don't go to movies often because i think it is too expensive, but i knew this was one we wanted to see on the big screen. ds12 was glued! it is a very long movie and he did not take his eyes off the screen! and dh was a little bored at parts but he even liked it. [it is not his usual fare!] all in all, it was a fun day. cleaned a little in the morning, a JD movie and scrapping in the afternoon! of course, not much was going to happen to day because of the heat. it was too hot for anything! we were predicted 120 degrees. it felt like it. our ac never turned off. we set it at 82. we also have several fans going. we used a ton of electricity today, but it was necessary! most people set their ac at 76 or so. this summer has been a killer early and i am dreading august and september. another reason we want out of this area! too bloody hot!

monday bloggin!

yep, been absent from my blog for a week! but i had a lot to do. work, scrapbook, work scrapbook, etc, etc! and then saturday was the snc at myscrapshak.com and i scrapped for over 12 hours!!!! it was heavenly! i really had a good time! here is one of my finished los. i decided to do a story about us album and this is my very first 8.5 x 11! it was so easy to do! so tonight i went to Ts and got a new tablecloth and placemats for the dining room table. i love eating in there, i cant believe for 15 years we only ate at the dining room table on holidays! it is really a nice place to eat! and hey, i get to sit down, cuz everyone helps set the table and clean it off. so we have real family meals! with all of us! lol!

so my little guy is half done with the 120 hours of sylvan time we have paid for. he is doing very well. he has gone from an F in math to an A. just goes to show how a little one on one attention can really help. too bad the school district does not care enough to see this. for some reason, God only knows why, they seem to think they have succeeded in helping him. ha. ha. ha. not even. it is expensive but so worth it to see my little guy smile and feel good about himself. and know that he and i and dad did it all.

ds18 is off with his band tonight. they have a show tomorrow night and are practicing. i am thankful that they practice somewhere else. the few times they have practiced here it was soooo LOUD and well LOUD. they make music but it is LOUD!! he is happy to be playing again. he was sad when the last band broke up. but today he said something very adult:
i have realized it is just play and not really going anywhere. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i about fell over. really. he has had the dream of making a living with music, being a rock star, etc, forever. and i have told him repeatedly, follow your dream, but make sure you have a job to fall back on. he is enrolled in college and has a job he works very hard at, so maybe he really does listen now and then. i just hope he does not give up his dream already.

Whew

that was a slow holiday weekend! we did absolutely nothing! well, we did go to the mall out of town, and out to breakfast, and did a lot of gardening, and hung a new blind in ds12's room, and i cleaned the house, and scrapped a lot. but really nothing much done. lol!

so today was back to work and school. blech. i was tired and did not have any kind of attention span. my poor patients did not hear from me today. i only talked to people who called me. not a lot. so my boss told me i need to take some time off. i have tons of pto and i have actually more than anyone else. so gonna plan a weekend away. gotta talk dh into that!

i went furniture shopping today. i have a deep obsession for oak furniture. all of my furniture is oak. except my bedroom. so i priced some today. and guess what? it is on sale 30% off. so now to drag dh out to look. i think he is almost talked into it. the biggest selling point is that he will not have to drag it upstairs as the delivery guy will take it up and set it up! he will cave. he always always always gives me what i want. i just need to wait long enough. teehee!

July 2,2006

Wow, fun day today! Got up early and went to breakfast at our fav local family owned restaurant. then we immediately drove out of town to the mall in the next town over. Of course we were too early! so we went into the mall to the coffee shop and sat and read the paper. then we were first in the store to return an item and get a new one! clothes for me! yahoo. got a new pair of jeans. 2nd pair this year. previously i had not bought jeans for about 6 years. so now i have 2 pair of jeans! then we got back in the car and drove home. i then started rearranging my scrap room....again. hopefully for the last time! we took our old stereo system out of the entertainment center, put matching baskets in there and now all my scrap stuff will be stored like that. in full view behind the glass doors, but looking neat cuz of the baskets. dh seemed to like it. so now to keep things neat and clean!

tomorrow work for me, summer school for ds12 and work for ds18. dh has the day off so i made a list for him! ha, we shall see how much he gets done! i asked for my shelf to be painted white and hung. i asked for some plants to be planted in the ground and i asked for the kitchen to be cleaned. not too much, cuz of course he has his own things to do!

off to scrap and watch GH!

saturday blogging

here are just a couple shots of our saturday.

i love to get pedicures now. for years i resisted because i really hate people touching my feet, or anything touching them for that matter. never go barefooted, socks or shoes at all times. but i decided i needed this time for myself and it makes my feet pretty so here they are. now i need a tan!

and our saturday has been quiet because our plans changed at the last minute. instead of going out of town to the mall today we are going tomorrow... after breakfast out! so here is what ds12 is doing, ds18 is working, dh worked in the garden and i am cleaning floors, yuck!


but it is only for awhile then i am off to clean my scrap mess up. why does it never seem cleaned up? just always messy! need to purge some of that stuff!

willow traders push!

well, everyone is blogging daily, so this is a challenge for me. i have a simple life. not a lot going on now. prom is over. graduation is over. work is work. come home and surf the net or scrap. maybe i need to add some excitement in my life. did go to the library tonight with ds12. that is always a favorite thing for me. hmmm. well it is the fri before the 4th weekend. lots of people have 4 days off, i have sat, sun, and tues. thats ok, i do not want to miss my messages. so i will work half day mon cuz i told my boss if not alot of work, leaving early! she laughed. its a good place to work!

this is the first year we are not involved in the parade. ds18 graduated and since i am no longer involved in band, no parade participation. some parents! sheesh they really should do this! it gives our band great exposure! so i guess we just will miss the parade this year. it is really too hot anyways to be out there (about 106 right now).

i have a lo planned that is going to be a little different. i am excited! it is going to be more art not just a lo. i will post it IF it turns out the way i want it to.

a young man at work is expecting a baby soon. we have a baby shower next week. somehow i just found out! no one bothered to tell me when i started working there and since his wife has not come in while i have been there, i did not know. usually i make a blanket, but no time now! will have to buy something this time!

so happy 4th of july weekend to all of you patriots! say a prayer for our soldiers and their effort to keep America free!

avatar

lets try again

Thankful Thursday

I am so thankful today for what i have:
a loving husband who made dinner for me
a loving ds12 who willingly listens and tries so hard to be good for me
a loving ds18 who is growing into a man in front of my eyes
a job that is ok to go to every day
enough money to have good food, a wonderful home, a car that does not break down and, of course, scrapbook goodies!

i love my life and i want to live it in a more loving way. that is my goal. to spread the love, to share the love, to help the love along. too many people are bitter, angry, miserable and hopeless. it is part of my job to give them hope by loving them. some of my cases are only over the phone, but i hear every day how i help them. i am challengeing everyone who reads this to go out and give just one person a little more love tomorrow. (i have always said, when you are your worst is when i must love you the most) maybe just that little bit will make everyone a whole lot happier!

NEW AVATAR, HEY IT HAS BEEN OVER A YEAR!

where have I been?

SO here is a recent lo i completed (and like very much) from a kit that i received and can not remember which kit club. how decadent that i receive so many kits i can not even keep track of what comes from whom!?!?!?!

it has been months since i last blogged. well, life has been slightly busy, new job, too many birthdays, school problems, 2 proms, 2 gradnights, 3 graduations, and finally summer has arrived. i am happy to report that ds18 has turned 18 and graduated. now if he would just be an adult like he professes to be! and hey, since when is tattooing your entire body an ok practice? i just hate it. one is ok, sort of, but a sleeve? my precious boy's beautiful skin forever scarred and, well, ugly. he likes it. thinks it is cool. his gf is noncommittal. i just do not get it.

i am also happy to report that ds12 turned 12, one step closer to an empty nest! he passed 6th grade...barely. so summer school started today! he is enrolled in tutoring, doing very well with that, just can not get the whole school, do your work, and TURN IT IN for credit. we will work very hard on that in 7th grade. he has no choice. his mother is ultraorganized. where did he get this blah gene?


dh is working harder than ever. he is grayer than ever. all for the family. glad that he is home a little bit more and not traveling so much. but i know come September, he will be gone a lot again. sigh.

i am once again facing some choices. i want to go back to school, have debated for 5 years now the pros and cons. kids are old enough now for me to be gone at night. but now that i am working out of the home, i come home so tired. also, what would i study? don't want to be a nurse now. can't even stomach the thought of teaching since i have had to deal with the NCLB crap out there for years now. don't want to do business studies. have considered art, but what the heck can i do with that living in the country? maybe just take some classes and educate myself for myself. nothing wrong with that, right?

SEE YOU SOON?!