So the Story Goes

THE BABY IS DRIVING

2011-10-23T15:42:00.000-07:00

it took him a long time to decide. we encouraged for two years, we practiced, we cajoled, we offered presents and money. the youngest has always done things in his own time. now he is proficient, he will take his final driving test on Halloween and we will have our last bird leave the nest.

a bittersweet moment in life!

LIFE GOES ON THROUGH THE DARKEST DAYS

2011-08-28T10:06:00.000-07:00

AGAIN CUT AND PASTE

this is the worst month of the year for me. i have cut and paste my entry for today. i spent the day with my family, i light a candle and i just be with the ones i love. thank you for your thoughts and prayers on this day.

i know that if you are reading this, you probably know what i am talking about. but every year i want to document again what this day represents. it has a double sadness for me. it will always be the worst day of my life..............ever. it has been 10 years now since i lost my daughter. she would be 31. old enough to be a mother, to make me a grandmother. or perhaps she would have had a career, as a teacher, an attorney, an artist. maybe she just would have been like me; in a job that is not a career but one i care about. i don't know what she could have been, i just know she was special. she was smarter than most. she was beautiful. she was kind. she was full of energy and life. but she was also mentally ill. my daughter made my life special in many ways, she made me a mother. she taught me to laugh. she made me see things i would overlook. she loved cows! she loved a good mystery. she could do math like nobody i know! she spoke spanish impeccably. she was artistic. she was goofy. she was independent. i miss her every single day of my life. i have seen her ghost and still do to this day. she has spoken to me in my dreams. losing my daughter changed me from who i was to who i am; drifting through life waiting to see her again. her story is long and complicated and full of mysteries. i will not bore you with the details of her life and i will not horrify you with the details of her death. i just hope you all are with me in thoughts and prayers on this day. my grief is unending to this day.

and the reason for my double sadness: my mother also died on this day. after my daughter's death, she went to bed..... and stayed there. she was not healthy to begin with, but going to bed made it worse. it was two long years of her illness becoming worse. many days were spent in the hospital. many times i was angry with her because i needed her to be there for me. many times i cried and cried on her shoulder, but she just was too sad herself. she tried to console me, but she could not face the loss of my daughter, her first grandchild, herself. when my mother died, much too young, i know it was not from smoking and COPD as the doctors would say, it was from a broken heart. there is more to her story with my daughter. they had a very special relationship. and they died minutes apart, on the same day, two years apart. it was unbearable. it still is. i hope you can see my sadness, how it will never go away, how i long for both of them, to talk to them, to touch and hug them again.

and the reason i have gone on with my life after losing the two most important people a woman can have in her life: my oldest son, Samuel, and my youngest son Robert. without these two amazing boys, i would be lost. they make me smile still, when smiling is very hard. they make me remember that there is a reason to go on. they make new memories for me. they hold my hand when i need it the most. they make me madder than heck by being kids and make me love them more than is possible because they are MY kids. they are funny and musically talented and steadfast in their love for me. they are always there and listen when i cry about their sister and hug me and try to help me remember the good moments in my daughter's life. they are the best thing i have in my life and i love them so very much.

and the man that stands next to me, that holds my hand, that comforts me in my deepest darkness, the one person who is ALWAYS there to listen, to let me cry, to know and understand the depths of my despair, my darling husband. he has been a rock in my life. he is a giving and loving man. he has suffered his own loss of his father and his brother, yet he goes on. he is strong and wise and yet sensitive enough to cry with me at times. i can not express my gratitude and joy in having this man in my life. i love him with all my heart.

and the final person i need to introduce to you is my dad. he is actually my step-dad. he has been in my life since i was about 7. he raised me. he paid for everything when i was little. he taught me to be a good employee, to follow the rules, and yet how to let my hair down and have fun. he loved my mother from the beginning to the end and continues to love her still. he passed away on June 26, 2011,wanting to be there with my mother. he suffered a massive stroke in february,2008, but he was always aware of my mother's picture. this is the man who told me of my daughter's death. this is the man who held me as i collapsed in grief. this is the man that i tried to visit often, to let him know what he meant to me, that he is MY FATHER, more than any man could be. he grieved with me and has felt my losses more than anyone else.

i am blessed to have the people i have, those i have lost and those i still have. i hope you have the same in your family.

family is the reason for living.

always august

2011-07-31T23:41:00.000-07:00

it seems i always post in august. well, some updates:

my dad passed away in July. it has been so hard to realize that of my mom's kids i am now the oldest member of our family. i miss my dad, but i have missed him so much since his stroke a few years ago. he was tired. sad he is gone, sad he had to suffer so long.

started nursing school in December 2010. i am an older student and it is HARD. but i am keeping up with the youngins and getting As and Bs so i am happy with that.

oldest boy is off on his own and doing well, has a beautiful girl in his life. i am happy for him.

youngest boy is starting senior year and still is my baby boy. he is just now getting ready for his driving license. i am happy he is maturing, but i hope he stays home for a few more years.

my dearest one, the hubby, was laid off in december from his job of 30 years. bummer. but had so many job offers the very same day! he is working for a company that is not as established as the last one and building their product. he is stressed but i know he can do it since he is the best at his business.

still trying to scrap in my very limited spare time between school and work. i miss it so much. but only a year to go and i will be done with school for a little bit. then i will get my scrap on again.

hello to all my old friends out there. and see you soon.

and august comes again

2010-08-29T22:18:00.000-07:00

this is the worst month of the year for me. i have cut and paste my entry for today, but the actual day was yesterday. i spent the day with my family, i light a candle and i just be with the ones i love. thank you for your thoughts and prayers on this day.

i know that if you are reading this, you probably know what i am talking about. but every year i want to document again what this day represents. it has a double sadness for me. it will always be the worst day of my life..............ever. it has been 9 years now since i lost my daughter. she would be 30. old enough to be a mother, to make me a grandmother. or perhaps she would have had a career, a teacher, an attorney, an artist. maybe she just would have been like me; in a job that is not a career but one i care about. i don't know what she could have been, i just know she was special. she was smarter than most. she was beautiful. she was kind. she was full of energy and life. but she was also mentally ill. my daughter made my life special in many ways, she made me a mother. she taught me to laugh. she made me see things i would overlook. she loved cows! she loved a good mystery. she could do math like nobody i know! she spoke spanish impeccably. she was artistic. she was goofy. she was independent. i miss her every single day of my life. i have seen her ghost. she has spoken to me in my dreams. losing my daughter changed me from who i was to who i am; drifting through life waiting to see her again. her story is long and complicated and full of mysteries. i will not bore you with the details of her life and i will not horrify you with the details of her death. i just hope you all are with me in thoughts and prayers on this day.

and the reason for my double sadness: my mother also died on this day. after my daughter's death, she went to bed..... and stayed there. she was not healthy to begin with, but going to bed made it worse. it was two long years of her illness becoming worse. many days were spent in the hospital. many times i was angry with her because i needed her to be there for me. many times i cried and cried on her shoulder, but she just was too sad herself. she tried to console me, but she could not face the loss of my daughter, her first grandchild, herself. when my mother died, much too young, i know it was not from smoking and COPD as the doctors would say, it was from a broken heart. there is more to her story with my daughter. they had a very special relationship. and they died minutes apart, on the same day, two years apart. it was unbearable. it still is. i hope you can see my sadness, how it will never go away, how i long for both of them, to talk to them, to touch and hug them again.

and the reason i have gone on with my life after losing the two most important people a woman can have in her life: my oldest son, Samuel, and my youngest son Robert. without these two amazing boys, i would be lost. they make me smile still, when smiling is very hard. they make me remember that there is a reason to go on. they make new memories for me. they hold my hand when i need it the most. they make me madder than heck by being kids and make me love them more than is possible because they are MY kids. they are funny and musically talented and steadfast in their love for me. they are always there and listen when i cry about their sister and hug me and try to help me remember the good moments in my daughter's life. they are the best thing i have in my life and i love them so very much.

and the man that stands next to me, that holds my hand, that comforts me in my deepest darkness, the one person who is ALWAYS there to listen, to let me cry, to know and understand the depths of my despair, my darling husband. he has been a rock in my life. he is a giving and loving man. he has suffered his own loss of his father and his brother, yet he goes on. he is strong and wise and yet sensitive enough to cry with me at times. i can not express my gratitude and joy in having this man in my life. i love him with all my heart.

and the final person i need to introduce to you is my dad. he is actually my step-dad. he has been in my life since i was about 7. he raised me. he paid for everything when i was little. he taught me to be a good employee, to follow the rules, and yet how to let my hair down and have fun. he loved my mother from the beginning to the end and continues to love her still. he is here, but wants to be there with her. he suffered a massive stroke in february,2008, but he is aware of my mother's picture. this is the man who told me of my daughter's death. this is the man who held me as i collapsed in grief. this is the man that i try to visit often, to let him know what he means to me, that he is MY FATHER, more than any man could be. he grieved with me and has felt my losses more than anyone else.

i am blessed to have the people i have, those i have lost and those i still have. i hope you have the same in your family.

family is the reason for living.

hello 2010

2010-01-02T15:39:00.001-08:00

it is a new year and hopefully a new start. it has been said by me before that i ignore my blog, but i really am going to try to pay more attention this time. so hello to 2010, a new year, a new start and hopefully some new creativity.

workin too much

2009-04-05T21:10:00.000-07:00

yeah, it has been a long time since my last post. i have been working too many hours and when i am home, i just want to veg out! i love my job, love that i still have a job and know that it is an important job. just need a little down time! so this weekend i went to a crop with my scrappy friend kat. i love this girl. we had a good time. i made some new friends and hope to scrap with them again soon. this crop was for Autism Speaks. we did raise a little money. but we had a great time! so if you do not know about autism, do some research. google it. autism is on the rise. researchers are unsure if the increase is because we are better at diagnosing it now or if there is an actual increase in autistic children. early intervention is acutely necessary. i have an autistic nephew that i love dearly. he is such a smart boy and so sweet. never be afraid to ask questions and educate your self about this disorder. you might find yourself loving somebody who will add much to your life.

tomorrow i will post some los!

2009

2009-01-11T18:38:00.000-08:00

i won't make promises to post more often, that would be an empty promise! i am the worst blogger! but here i am to say happy 2009, get your buttocks in gear, change it up, make your life a little different and perhaps a little better. i have started by vowing to take more pictures. pictures of my town, my family and myself. just to document a better record of our days. that is what my blog started out to be afterall! however, life seems to get in the way and so now i need to make myself do these things. i also want to be a little healthier. make my thighs a little thinner, walk a little, shimmy a little, just move a little more. i can do it. i have done it in the past and it is easy if i just get moving. i hope you all had a fab holiday season. i hope this new year brings you many good things and that the world can be a little bit nicer place to live. hope.

here you go

2008-11-07T21:09:00.000-08:00

so my good friend kat reminded me that i have a blog. again. i am so bad about updating. i just have too many other things i want to do. and i run out of time. so a brief update of my life. i read the twilight series...twice. i helped my niece strip and stain a beautiful dresser. i went to a few crops with kat and shirley and had a wonderful time {see above lo}. i went on a retreat with kat and shirley for 3 days, totally awesome time. i moved my office at work and worked 12 straight days and was exhausted. my ds20 started working for dh and he has had a great exposure to real life and had to grow up really fast. i went to a football game at the high school to hear ds14 in the band...for 12 minutes and i was done and left and went to dinner. [apparently football is not my thing]. i lost 3.5 pounds and you can not tell. oh well. i stopped taping and watching one life to live and general hospital for the first time in so many years i can not remember. i just could not keep up any more. i am working on organizing my scrap room that is a complete disaster, well in my terms disaster. i can't find anything. i need labels. working on that. well that is about it in a nutshell. thanks for reading!

scrappy monday

2008-09-01T23:11:00.000-07:00

today i spent the day with my friend kat. we scrappy shopped, had lunch and then went to my house to scrap. we had a great day and i love to spend time with her. this is the lo for the latest tallyscrapper challenge and i like how it turned out. it is good to have friends like kat, accepting, patient, kind, and well, we laugh a lot about, em, er, things! she is a good friend!

2008-08-27T23:10:00.000-07:00

the saddest day comes every year

August 28

i am just cutting and pasting this as i have nothing more to say except i still feel the same as the day she left me.

i know that if you are reading this, you probably know what i am talking about. but every year i want to document again what this day represents. it has a double sadness for me. it will always be the worst day of my life..............ever. it has been 7 years now since i lost my daughter. she would be 28. old enough to be a mother, to make me a grandmother. or perhaps she would have had a career, a teacher, an attorney, an artist. maybe she just would have been like me; in a job that is not a career but one i care about. i don't know what she could have been, i just know she was special. she was smarter than most. she was beautiful. she was kind. she was full of energy and life. but she was also mentally ill. my daughter made my life special in many ways, she made me a mother. she taught me to laugh. she made me see things i would overlook. she loved cows! she loved a good mystery. she could do math like nobody i know! she spoke spanish impeccably. she was artistic. she was goofy. she was independent. i miss her every single day of my life. i have seen her ghost. she has spoken to me in my dreams. losing my daughter changed me from who i was to who i am; drifting through life waiting to see her again. her story is long and complicated and full of mysteries. i will not bore you with the details of her life and i will not horrify you with the details of her death. i just hope you all are with me in thoughts and prayers on this day.

and the reason for my double sadness: my mother also died on this day. after my daughter's death, she went to bed..... and stayed there. she was not healthy to begin with, but going to bed made it worse. it was two long years of her illness becoming worse. many days were spent in the hospital. many times i was angry with her because i needed her to be there for me. many times i cried and cried on her shoulder, but she just was too sad herself. she tried to console me, but she could not face the loss of my daughter, her first grandchild, herself. when my mother died, much too young, i know it was not from smoking and COPD as the doctors would say, it was from a broken heart. there is more to her story with my daughter. they had a very special relationship. and they died minutes apart, on the same day, two years apart. it was unbearable. it still is. i hope you can see my sadness, how it will never go away, how i long for both of them, to talk to them, to touch and hug them again.

and the reason i have gone on with my life after losing the two most important people a woman can have in her life: my oldest son, Samuel, and my youngest son Robert. without these two amazing boys, i would be lost. they make me smile still, when smiling is very hard. they make me remember that there is a reason to go on. they make new memories for me. they hold my hand when i need it the most. they make me madder than heck by being kids and make me love them more than is possible because they are MY kids. they are funny and musically talented and steadfast in their love for me. they are always there and listen when i cry about their sister and hug me and try to help me remember the good moments in my daughter's life. they are the best thing i have in my life and i love them so very much.

and the man that stands next to me, that holds my hand, that comforts me in my deepest darkness, the one person who is ALWAYS there to listen, to let me cry, to know and understand the depths of my despair, my darling husband. he has been a rock in my life. he is a giving and loving man. he has suffered his own loss of his father and his brother, yet he goes on. he is strong and wise and yet sensitive enough to cry with me at times. i can not express my gratitude and joy in having this man in my life. i love him with all my heart.

and the final person i need to introduce to you is my dad. he is actually my step-dad. he has been in my life since i was about 7. he raised me. he paid for everything when i was little. he taught me to be a good employee, to follow the rules, and yet how to let my hair down and have fun. he loved my mother from the beginning to the end and continues to love her still. he is here, but wants to be there with her. he suffered a massive stroke in february 2007, but he is aware of my mother's picture. this is the man who told me of my daughter's death. this is the man who held me as i collapsed in grief. this is the man that i try to visit every day, to let him know what he means to me, that he is MY FATHER, more than any man could be. he grieved with me and has felt my losses more than anyone else.

i am blessed to have the people i have, those i have lost and those i still have. i hope you have the same in your family.

family is the reason for living

what?

2008-08-16T18:49:00.000-07:00

forget it! i can not be a regular blogger. i just do not remember to update! i finished the class with shimelle and hey, that had a blogger prompt on it, but i still just let it slide. sigh.

last night i scrapped with my friend Kat, who i adore. she is so funny and fun! tina came and she is a riot too. i had a great time. i only got 2 los done, since i was so busy listening to my girls! so here is one. i could not scan it; it is too lumpy. so it is on my mantle and that is the clock in the upper left corner and a candle in the bottom right corner. i much prefer a scanned lo! so summer is almost over, even tho it is still blazing hot here. ds14 will go back to school on the 25th. he is starting high school. i struggle with this. he is my baby and growing up way too fast. he is a wonderful child and i love him so much. ds20 is considering college again and i am keeping my fingers crossed. he really needs to do this. he is smart and is just wasting his potential. i am going to keep suggesting this to him.

poetry

2008-07-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

blog prompt four is about poetry, inspiring poems, what i would want to share. i am a private poetry reader. i stand alone in my real life friends as a reader and lover of words. i will share an older poem that has stuck with me since i was a child.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

dh, this is how i love thee.

do you love poetry?

2008-07-21T14:35:00.000-07:00

my first lo for my freedom:time

i am not internet savvy, so don't know how to meld the two pages together.

what's in your suitcase?

2008-07-21T10:41:00.000-07:00

today's blog prompt from my freedom is what you think is necessary to pack for a trip. this is hilarious to me. i am a terrible traveler. what with my germ problem, fear of creepy crawlies, and fear of getting lost, i practically take my entire house with me! i always take my own pillow. gotta have that. i always pack extra clothes because you never know when you might have an accident where you get wet or spills or falls, you name it. i always take extra books, because i run out of things to read quickly. always take a crossword puzzle book and several pencils, spare shoes, a bag for dirty clothes, and usually some knitting. as you can imagine, my suitcase is always heavy, or i take too many. in the winter, i usually arrive at my hotel then hit a walmart or local store where i can buy a new blanket to sleep with. yep, can't use the blankets in hotels. sigh. and don't get me started on essentials such as toothpaste, shampoo, etc. gotta take full amounts cuz you can't take a chance in running out. i am not a fun traveler. but my dh is very patient with me and even helps by letting me use some of his space. my dream way to travel will be when we get our rv. all my own stuff. never a fear of germs, or running out and best of all, my own library. so i guess you could say my suitcase will actually be a vehicle (rv). lol!

ps it is ok to laugh at me. i know i am silly. just the freakyness of living as me!

time travel

2008-07-20T16:29:00.000-07:00

the next blog prompt from shimelle is about time travel, where i would want to go anywhere in time for a day. the first place i would pick would be suzi's last day, but that is too private to discuss here. so i will go to my second pick.

i would just love to spend a day in ireland,scotland or england, in the 1800's at a ball, in a beautiful ball gown, being "brought out" by my parents. i love to read of the days when life was more romantic and polite. i love all of jane austen's books. i would love to be courted and receive written letters and be expected to do artful past times, of course, i would have to belong to the upper class for this. lol. i think it was a beautiful time and i wish we could have it again, along with a proper toilet, refrigerator and stove. and air conditioning. well, it is a dream...right?

time

2008-07-19T22:29:00.000-07:00

The first blog prompt for shimelle's class is about time. Of course, this class started 2 weeks ago and i am just now finding the time to blog about it. I guess that is a good representation of how i do not have enough time. Time is tough for me. I work a job that is stressful, and when i get home at night, i am tired and want to do nothing. my time is stretched out like every woman who is a wife, mother, daughter and employee. i guess everyone has the same demands, but some can handle time organization better. i used to be better at this. i guess age slows you down. so my theme for time is you have to go back to go forward. not sure who said it first, but i like what it says. i look back and think about all the time that has passed and how i have changed. i want to be introspective and learn from my mistakes and maybe repeat my successes. so as i now start this class a little late and little unorganized, i will move forward and learn from my past. time is of the essence!

Tagged! who shall i tag?

2008-07-19T18:37:00.000-07:00

so my scrappy friend rachel tagged me! i have not played this game for a long time, so here goes!

Each player answers 5 questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged. Let the person who tagged you know when you have posted your answers.

What were you doing 10 years ago?
I was working from home doing medical dictation. I was caring for my niece and nephews, as well as my own 2 boys. My daughter was in her last year of high school and getting ready to graduate from high school and go to college. I was bored out of my gourd and looking for something new. It took a couple more years, but I found scrapping, which has opened up my world to new friends, new adventures and photograpy!

5 things on today's to-do list:
Have the air conditioning man out to check on our leak.
laundry
gardening
scrapping for my class i am taking

I am addicted to:
chocolate
nectarines
coffee
my kids
scrapping

Things I would do if I were a millionaire:
i would pick a family in need and help them.
i would make sure that my boys both had a sum of money to help buy a house.
i would give dh a dream vacation where ever he should want to go and a kitchen filled with all the goodness he could ever need so he could cook as much as he wanted to.

Places I have lived:
so many!
El Paso, Texas
Cody, Wyoming
Rapid City, South Dakota
Phoenix, Arizona
Westminster, Gardena, Long Beach, Palms, Hungtington Beach, and San Jacinto, California

and I am tagging:
I read many blogs, but I have few that I can tag, so .........
kat my good friend and fab scrapper
shirley a scrappy friend and also very inspiring scrappy wise
shaunte a fab scrapper
rachel another fab scrapper
ree who i long to be like and who is a most wonderful photographer and cook, she does not know me, but just check out her blog!

ok, so there it is. play if you want. or not, no problems!

back soon with another post, since i am supposed to be blogging more with my class i am taking. i am an F student so far! lol!

my freedom

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

started a new class today with shimelle called my freedom. it is a photo, blogging, journaling, scrapping class. i am excited because i think it will really get my creativity going. i have been slacking, too tired after work to scrap, not taking pictures, and really not being creative at all. amazingly enough the first prompt is very timely. so off i go to take some pictures. i will post some here later, but will try to blog a little more regularly as that is part of the class. should be a fun class.

2008-07-04T22:01:00.000-07:00

here is one of my most recent. i went to a crop with kat and had a great time. lately, i have not had enough time to scrap and this was really necessary. i needed the down time, the girl time, and the scrap time.

i have been missing my suzi so much and every now and then, it is just too hard. the feelings just never go away. if you know, then you know what i mean.

today was the 4th. we celebrated by cleaning windows, fixing a kitchen cupboard and me fixing a rib and baked beans dinner. boy am i tired! then i retreated to my scrap room to make a cd cover for a friend to hold the cd of the pictures i have edited for her. she was really happy with the last one. it was about 20 years old, had food on it, and was very faded. i fixed the color, edited out the food stains and printed it out. it looked like new. i was happy to do it for her.

on monday we are going on our annual trip to the water park. it is strange that now we only have one child at home to go. robert will be bringing a friend, but wow, just 2 kids! we are still getting the cabana, i plan on keeping out of the sun as much as possible. i know the guys will have a great time! i hope to get lots of good pics.

note:sherri, if you are reading, i am thinking of you. i wanted to contact you but i lost all your info. i pray for you and your family. take care.

did you miss me?

2008-04-21T22:01:00.000-07:00

so, again i have been absent. i just don't seem to remember to post a note very often. i am overworked, when my free time comes, i just want to clean, scrap or play with my family, and really no one is reading! lol. it is just a journal for me so i can post when i want to, right? i just need to remember that i might be missing some milestones that i might want to remember some day!

so life is still difficult with my gallbladder issues. or lack of a gallbladder issues. this last weekend was exceptionally bad. could be related to work stress, but probably because i ate food with fat in it. need to really avoid that because the consequences are quite uncomfortable! the really sad part of all of this is that i will never be able to lose weight because my diet consists mostly of safe carbs. oh, well, not really caring too much about this, as i just want to be a little healthier!

dh has been offered a new post but has declined. i am sort of ambivalent about this. i think he is afraid to make changes at his age, but hey, change can be good. i will support him no matter what. we all know that he has to be happy on the job or life is just miserable! i appreciate his work ethic and know he will make the right decision for his family.

ds19 continues to live with ds gfC. i hope they are happy but occasionally i worry that he is not quite ready for this commitment. he does speak well of her, but hmmm, just not sure. i hope this can be a long term thing for both of them to grow a little and perhaps love each other.

ds14 has grown so much recently. we had to go again and get new jeans. just 3 months since the last purchase. we took a trip to town and saw his peds dr. she was quite surprised at his growth spurt but he is still under weight. at least he is at the 50th percentile in height. she stressed the point of eating more meat. we will continue to work with him on this to help him grow.

we are still in our bowling league. the funny thing is we both now have injuries! who knew bowling could be so disastrous to our joints! we are sticking it out and are now signed up for the summer league. we hope to have ds19 and his gfC with us. it would be a lot of fun!

i will leave with my latest lo that i have created for a challenge at http://www.tallyscrapper.com/board.php i really love this site, so warm and friendly. it is my new scrap home and i hope all of you will come visit. well, if i have any regular readers, thanks for visiting!

right here right now

2008-02-09T23:03:00.000-08:00

my latest lo of ds13, about him becoming a young man.

so valentines day is almost here and i am not ready. i need to get some cards made, some candy bought and plan a dinner. should be able to do that tomorrow! work has been crazy mad busy, but i got a new helper and i am very excited that she will really make things easier for me. i have been taking a photography class and it has opened my eyes to new ways to use my camera. why did i wait? so hopefully my pics will be crisper and my los will be better! (one can only hope).

so ds13 took a tumble today and gave himself a concussion. he is ok, but it was scary for a little bit there. we need to watch him for a few days. ds19 is working all the time or playing with his band so we do not get to see him as much as we would like, but hopefully we will have some family time tomorrow.

we went to see juno last week and it was such a fun, cute movie. some adult themes, but ds13 was ok. i would not take any younger than that to see it! my niece came with us and we had a great time.

2008-01-20T17:46:00.000-08:00

DS13 and his middle school band. also his group of friends in the bottom picture. all very talented young muscians.

been gone too long, but now i am back to stay

2008-01-20T17:27:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been months. Life just got too busy and i strayed from my blog. Quelle horror! So I am going to update a little more often. Not that I have a loyal following or anything, but it is my journal of our life and should have pics to orient us to the timeframe. So here I am back at it! We had a very nice Christmas, too much food, gifts and good times. The boys both loved their gifts and I especially loved what dh got me...a new lens for my camera! Now all I need is a mountain trip to get some great long distance shots. dh was very happy with his new shiatsu. He sat on it for hours, until we read the directions... you are not supposed to use it that long! LOL So now it is the new year and of course, no resolutions. I am a think it and do it kind of person, not a planner aheader. We do make a list on New Years day of what we want to accomplish in our house. This year we are redoing our bathrooms upstairs. New shower with tile, new paint, a shelf in the master bath and a new picture in the boys bath. We also want to do a brick ring around our willow. That is if our willow survives from the big winds. It is looking pretty poorly right now. So ds13 had his Christmas concert and it was really awesome. My lo today is from that concert. We are so impressed with the band director and what he has done with this group of kids. They are so ready for high school band. Well, thanks for reading and hope to post more soon!

The Falls in the fall.

2007-11-18T16:32:00.000-08:00

We had a trip to Niagara Falls recently to visit my dh's mother. She is elderly, not as healthy as we would like her to be and we needed the boys to see her. So we flew out to see her and visited Canada and many other sites. The best for me was the Butterfly Sanctuary. I got so many beautiful pics and really enjoyed being there. Of course ds19 would not set foot inside. He has been terrified for many years of any creature that flutters, moths, bees, butterflies, you name it. TERRIFIED. Running screaming wildly terrified. We ate out at many different restaurants, namely; Planet Hollywood, Montana, The Keg, Bob Evans and many others. I ate way too much but really enjoyed it. Mil was doing ok. She could be healthier, we do worry about her being alone and winter coming. She is resistant to moving closer and dh's job necessitates us being here. The Falls were of course majestic and beautiful. I think every American should visit at least once. There is nothing like it on our planet. The weather was interesting, rain and snow and down to the 30's. I was frozen most of the time; the locals thought I was weird in my mittens, scarf, and heavy coat. They thought the weather was fine. Of course, dh is not affected either! Poor ds13 had tons of school work to do, but he finished it and did a very good job! I am proud of his accomplishments and that he completed what was required. He is okay! I happily came home to 95 degrees here in SoCal and happily also was able to scrap los of the Falls. I only took about 500 pics in 6 days, but hey, I could have taken more!

Tag you are it!

2007-11-11T21:04:00.000-08:00

i got tagged by my scrappy friend Marci! http://negranzablog.blogspot.com/

The rules are as follows:

1) Link to the "tagger" & post the rules.
2) Share 7 facts about yourself- random / weird facts.
3) Tag 7 people & link to them.
4) Leave comments on their blogs, so they know they've been tagged.

1.I was a natural born redhead, but it faded to blonde when i was about 13.
2.I went to Fashion Design school for college; loved the work, hated the people.
3.I am a Harry Potter fan and plan to read the series again for the third time.
4.I have to eat chocolate every single day.
5.I would prefer to stay home every single day and never go anywhere!
6.I do not like to shop; i make a list and stick to it and leave the store as soon as possible.
7.I wanted six children, but only got three. I would love to have at least one more, but that is impossible now.

i have tagged only blogs i read regularly and people who inspire me! thank you to all of you!

Sheri, the scrapping grocery game queen! http://www.zooreturns.blogspot.com/

Liza, my scrappy friend knows how to have fun! http://www.luculent.blogspot.com/

Shirley, my scrapping/blogging hero http://standingontheedge.blogs.com/

Laura, the scrappy girl who inspires me to continue writing http://writergirl.typepad.com/

Linda, my fellow scrappy celtic hippie! http://www.ramblingsofanoldlady.blogspot.com/

Angela, spiritually inspires me while she scraps! http://landofteenageattitude.blogspot.com/

Michelle, another scrap diva; i love her work! http://michellestrach.blogspot.com/

And I scrap because...........

2007-10-20T15:57:00.001-07:00

I am a scrapbooker. That may make some people laugh, some people might ask "What?", and then there are those that understand. I started scrapping about 5 years ago. I was dragged kicking and screaming into this world of paper and photographs. I have been an artist and crafter all my life. I never was interested in paper art. I loved paint and fiber and wood. But a good friend had a party and wanted me to come, so I did. Of course, I completed 2 pages that night and went home saying, "Well, that was ok." But as I started researching the art form, looking at different stores and deciding perhaps this was something I would like to do, it slowly became the major art in my life. I gave up my woodworking. I paint only sometimes now. My knitting lies dormant. I have now devoted a room to scrapping. I love to shop for scrap supplies, I love to organize my supplies and I love to create a history for my family. Scrapping entails many different skills and the best one is the story telling. I am telling my children what I know of our history. My mother is gone and now it is up to me to remember these things and pass them down. I don't have many relatives to help me, it is purely based on what my mother told me before she died. I want my kids to have a history, to be proud of who they are and where they came from. I want them to have a way to remember all the great things we have done as a family. I want them to be able to jog their own memory when I am gone, so their kids will know where they came from.

The other thing about scrapping is the shared community. I love to network with scrappers all over the world. It is so much fun to see that regardless of where we are, our circumstances, our life structure, we share many different things. The scrap world brings us all together. I would post a lo today, but unfortunately, blogger is not letting me. But if you scroll down, you will see some of my los. Not always perfect, I am no expert and can knit better than I can scrap, but I love the art involved. It defines me now as an artist.

Fall favorites

2007-10-02T20:29:00.000-07:00

It is now fall. Fall in california is a subtle thing; but i always notice the little things. i like to tell my family the earth has turned. the air is suddenly a touch cooler. the air is slightly more moist. the light is just a little different. you can smell the difference in the air, just a very small difference. but it gives me such a boost of energy! i love fall because it brings my favorite holidays. i just love halloween. it is fun to dress up, to give out my favorite candy and to decorate with all the spooky things. i love to watch all the halloween shows and actually torture myself with the scary ones! and then comes my birthday. i actually get to eat cake and have a good reason! and my most favorite holiday... thanksgiving. i love the food, the family time, the reason for the holiday. it is the best time of year! it is the most comfortable time of year. it is when people can dress up in warm snuggly clothes and wear big fluffy boots and visit snow! i love to go to the apple orchards and pick our own. then we make applesauce and apple pie and apple tarts. i love to go to the pumpkin patch and pick all the odd pumpkins. i love the fall crafts and fun games at the patch. we always go on a hay ride. it is my favorite time of year.

Blogging prompts

2007-09-26T21:39:00.001-07:00

i have started a blogging prompt at http://www.theschoolofscrap.com/viewtopic.php?p=75758#75758.
i hope you will all join in and use these prompts as tools to journal on your blog. as a general rule, i like to hear the history of people. so my first prompt is about your blogging history.

i started blogging at Scrapblog. i posted a lot of different things there, joined some challenges, read a lot of different blogs and posted many different los. one of the things i learned about was that anyone could easily get to my blog by googling my name or my blog name. What a great surprise that was! i never knew until then how easy it was to find..... me! i have blogged about funny things, sad things, the growth of my children, my marriage, pretty much anything that i think about. it is my own personal diary, but you are welcome to read it! i have read back to the beginning and i learned things about myself! i live a very good life with a wonderful family. i have many wonderful friends! i like my scrapping, my old los and my new los! when i read some of my older posts, i was surprised that some made me get tears in my eyes. i have had some rough times, but i persevere. a blog is better than a diary, because it is so much easier to type when i am on the computer than to sit down and write in a book. i have started paper journals many times and usually it only lasts a couple days. my blog has lasted years. i am a sporadic blogger because life does get in the way. but i have come back to my blog and carried on. my blog has taught me a few things too! i am not as obsessed about perfect spelling and punctuation as i used to be. i can post secrets here and really, i do not care who reads them because it is my secret and most people will forget in a few days after reading it. i can link to my favorite sites on the net and i can meet lots of new people who post on my blog. i did switch blogs a while ago for only one reason: Blogger was easier to use! i am no geek when it comes to computers and i need all the help i can get! so that is my blogging history. Thanks for visiting and see you soon!

Scraptivity

2007-09-25T21:59:00.000-07:00

lo of the day: two

I joined a birthday bash crop at The School of Scrap this weekend and had a great time! i scrapped a ton, made some cards, los, and got ready for a mini album that i need to put together. I really love weekend crops, so inspiring! i have to clean my scrap room now and maybe make some more cards with my scraps. Everyone should come and play at SOS. Lots of fun challenges, classes and great members!

I did not get to go to the scrapbook store and crop last Friday, but that is ok. I am still not feeling ok from my surgery, but every day i am a little better. Maybe i can go this friday! My dh has been absolutely wonderful to me and has taken very good care of me. I am a very lucky girl to have him. Someday i will tell the story of how we met. It is funny!

I have been working very hard at work, but yesterday was surprised with a call from my ds13's school. The nurse said he was there feeling ill. Of course, i thought he was faking. I went to check him out and lo and behold he had a fever. Nurse Cindy said ds13 never ever came into the office so she believed him. so off we went to take him home. i got him set up on the couch and went back to work for a couple more hours then went home to take care of him. he was pukey. i hope i do not get it, cuz that would be the final straw! lol.

ds19 is getting ready for his big move. unfortunately his truck broke....again. of course he has no extra funds so Dad came to the rescue again. i am glad we can help him, but gosh almighty, he is breaking my piggy bank! well, at least he has us to come to.

i am thinking about maybe trying out for another DT spot. i know it is heartbreaking not to win, but i think i should challenge myself now and then. so i will be on the lookout, maybe join another site and wait for the call. hopefully, it will not be so upsetting if i do not make it, but heck, can't lose if i don't apply!

my thoughts have been centered on my dd so much and i miss her. a young lady at my work is just about what her age would be and i love to spend time with her. she makes me feel like i can actually interact with a girl again. it has been very hard to see my nieces and my friends daughters all grow up and make lives for themselves. i wonder every day about how my dd would be now. i yearn to be a grandma and wish for a little girl to treat with pink goodies. boys are fun, but moms NEED to be with a girl. i always feel left out of the guy stuff. just having my own little pity party here!

ps don't you hate the way i type. Who knew that for years i typed reports for a living that had to be exactly perfectly spelling, punctuation, capitilization right. i am sooooo lazy now!

RolErcOastER Ride

2007-09-17T13:29:00.000-07:00

Phew, what a month. on Sept 2 i went to the hospital for terrible pain in my stomach. found out i had gall bladder stones, was admitted, found out i had a terrible infection from the stones and had surgery on Sept 4. i was in the hospital for a total of 5 days. lots of pain and antibiotics and no eating any food at all for 5 days. then i finally got to go home. it is amazing how much quicker you can get better at home rather than in a hospital! the nurses were awesome, i had the best surgeon, but there is no cure like being home!

ds19 is all set to move again; this time to his own apartment with no room mates. he has decided he can not live with room mates. he says they are too messy and inconvienent. i have to laugh at that one. he is a messy kid! he is very happy with his girl, they never fight and do everything together. i am glad he has a stable relationship. i would rather this than him dating a lot of no-names. his girl is very sweet!

ds13 is back in school and doing very well. he loves all of his teachers and says that as an 8th grader, he rules the school. i am glad he has come into his own and is feeling more comfortable. i just hope we can get thru algebra!

our sweet jakey dog died on August 28. it was very sad. he was our baby for 13 years and we miss him very much. he had been sick for several months and the vet could never find the cause. i knew it was happening and made sure the boys had time to say goodbye. dh and i were with him went he went to heaven. it was sad, but we are happy he is no longer sick. we will always remember him. he was a wonderful friend.

i have to say that i have realized just how many friends i have over the last few weeks. so many people have offered to help and have sent flowers and cards and good wishes. it is so nice to know that there are people you can look to for help.

dh and i celebrated our 20th anniversary on the 12th. he sent me a beautiful bouquet of red roses. they are so awesome! then he took me to dinner with the boys. it was a wonderful anniversary. i love that man!

i am planning on going to a scrapbook crop on friday night. i am anxious to get back to it as i have not been able to scrap for a couple of weeks. i miss my scrap time!

the saddest day

2007-08-28T09:27:00.000-07:00

i know that if you are reading this, you probably know what i am talking about. but every year i want to document again what this day represents. it has a double sadness for me. it will always be the worst day of my life..............ever. it has been 6 years now since i lost my daughter. she would be 27. old enough to be a mother, to make me a grandmother. or perhaps she would have had a career, a teacher, an attorney, an artist. maybe she just would have been like me; in a job that is not a career but one i care about. i don't know what she could have been, i just know she was special. she was smarter than most. she was beautiful. she was kind. she was full of energy and life. but she was also mentally ill. my daughter made my life special in many ways, she made me a mother. she taught me to laugh. she made me see things i would overlook. she loved cows! she loved a good mystery. she could do math like nobody i know! she spoke spanish impeccably. she was artistic. she was goofy. she was independent. i miss her every single day of my life. i have seen her ghost. she has spoken to me in my dreams. losing my daughter changed me from who i was to who i am; drifting through life waiting to see her again. her story is long and complicated and full of mysteries. i will not bore you with the details of her life and i will not horrify you with the details of her death. i just hope you all are with me in thoughts and prayers on this day.

and the reason for my double sadness: my mother also died on this day. after my daughter's death, she went to bed..... and stayed there. she was not healthy to begin with, but going to bed made it worse. it was two long years of her illness becoming worse. many days were spent in the hospital. many times i was angry with her because i needed her to be there for me. many times i cried and cried on her shoulder, but she just was too sad herself. she tried to console me, but she could not face the loss of my daughter, her first grandchild, herself. when my mother died, much too young, i know it was not from smoking and COPD as the doctors would say, it was from a broken heart. there is more to her story with my daughter. they had a very special relationship. and they died minutes apart, on the same day, two years apart. it was unbearable. it still is. i hope you can see my sadness, how it will never go away, how i long for both of them, to talk to them, to touch and hug them again.

and the reason i have gone on with my life after losing the two most important people a woman can have in her life: my oldest son, Samuel, and my youngest son Robert. without these two amazing boys, i would be lost. they make me smile still, when smiling is very hard. they make me remember that there is a reason to go on. they make new memories for me. they hold my hand when i need it the most. they make me madder than heck by being kids and make me love them more than is possible because they are MY kids. they are funny and musically talented and steadfast in their love for me. they are always there and listen when i cry about their sister and hug me and try to help me remember the good moments in my daughter's life. they are the best thing i have in my life and i love them so very much.

and the man that stands next to me, that holds my hand, that comforts me in my deepest darkness, the one person who is ALWAYS there to listen, to let me cry, to know and understand the depths of my despair, my darling husband. he has been a rock in my life. he is a giving and loving man. he has suffered his own loss of his father and his brother, yet he goes on. he is strong and wise and yet sensitive enough to cry with me at times. i can not express my gratitude and joy in having this man in my life. i love him with all my heart.

and the final person i need to introduce to you is my dad. he is actually my step-dad. he has been in my life since i was about 7. he raised me. he paid for everything when i was little. he taught me to be a good employee, to follow the rules, and yet how to let my hair down and have fun. he loved my mother from the beginning to the end and continues to love her still. he is here, but wants to be there with her. he suffered a massive stroke in february, but he is aware of my mother's picture. this is the man who told me of my daughter's death. this is the man who held me as i collapsed in grief. this is the man that i try to visit every day, to let him know what he means to me, that he is MY FATHER, more than any man could be. he grieved with me and has felt my losses more than anyone else.

i am blessed to have the people i have, those i have lost and those i still have. i hope you have the same in your family.

family is the reason for living.

cropaholic

2007-08-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

so friday i took a friend to a scrapbook crop. she was a newbie and did so much! she completed 3 pages and they were very sweet, cute baby pages. i got her started by introducing her to all the lovely pp there is and then we moved on to cs and woohoo, she loved it (bazzill!baby). then we looked at the different embellies available and off she went. i really love to go to a crop and socialize and rarely get more than 3-5 pages done cuz i talk too much! but having a friend that was so interested and awed really made it special! she called today and wants to go again in another week. i told her i thought i could fit that in! lol!!!! so, no more solitary scrapping. my single sojourn is over and i have found a new scrapbuddy! the best part of scrapping is friends! the host of the crop is my other friend Kat (howdy!) and she runs a smooth crop! everyone has a great time and in between listing our goodies that we want to purchase, Kat also churns out the most fantastic los i have seen! she is very talented and best of all, fun to be with! so again to all my virtual scrappy friends, i love you all! you are what makes scrapping the most fun!

the page above is from our day at the water park. we had such a great time!

2007-08-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

i was pleasantly surprised to hear that i won a little contest i entered. it is at one of my favorite scrapbook sites, www.TheSchoolofScrap.com. i entered at the last minute and really liked the lo that won, so it made my day! slowly but surely i have been scrapping a little more again, trying to get my mojo back, documenting my family! this is a little blurry because it is bumpy and scanned funny but you can see the main pic.

last friday we took a day off and took the boys to the water park. it was a lot of fun. lots of sun and water and food. we always rent a cabana as i am toooooo blonde to be in the sun all day. i stay in the shade and they all play in the sun. the funny thing is i am still sunburned! i think the boys really enjoyed themselves. they were free to do whatever they wanted, went on lots of slides, played and ate junk all day. dh and i just spent the day talking and laughing and enjoying each other. it was a good day! ds brought his girl along and they were very cute together.

my job is still very stressful, but i am hanging in there. every now and then there is a very slow day and it helps. but mostly i am overworked and underpaid. i should ask for a raise, but it is hard for me to do that. since i do not have my rn, i feel uncomfortable asking for more money, but really, i do deserve it. i do more work than the rns do! and i work more hours! but that is the consequence of not completing my education. someday............

2007-07-22T12:39:00.001-07:00

lots of gardening today. it is slightly overcast, which relieves the intense heat but creates mugginess. not sure which is worse! some of my flowers died last week. but we can easily replace them. i try to buy heat resistant plants, but this area is a desert and well, too much heat kills anything! we are thinking about taking a little beach trip. so of course that means i need to buy a new swimsuit. yuck. it has been years since i bought one and when i used it last summer it fell apart. it is difficult to buy a suit when you are a little overweight. nothing fits good enough to make you look skinny! lol!! i picked one and ordered it and hope it comes soon enough for our trip. i bought a cover up too. it should help when i am fried red. of course the guys all tan. i just burn. but i am an original beach girl and love to go. i have to clean house today, so that will take a couple hours then off to see my dad for a couple hours then time to scrap a little. i miss my scrap time so much, but other things have to take priority right now.

my friend's dad died this week. it was so sad. i felt so bad for her. she was devastated. she loved her dad very much and they were very close. the funeral was yesterday and it was very hard to see the family this sad. it really brought home to me how lucky we are that my dad did not die. he is disabled, he is sometimes not very nice, but gosh, he is here, i can hug him and he listens very well now. (since he can not talk back!) of course he has plenty to say, just in his own way.

summer school finished this week and rj did very well. he was ready for a break. so i will give him a week of laying around and then we will find some things to do.

that's it for now. thanks for reading.

end of june...blue

2007-06-30T15:33:00.000-07:00

it's the last day of june and i am blue. my sis moved to minnesota, thousands of miles away. because i do not like planes, i may not see her again. it is hard to think of this, because we used to be so close. things and people change. i do not like to think of living my life losing people each year to death, moving, and all around indifference. it is harder and harder to make good new friends now and so i envision my life circle getting smaller and smaller. i have made some new friends since going back to work, but they are so much younger, and well, just not seasoned. i don't want to be a mentor, i want an equal. my dh is so kind to me and keeps saying we are best friends, but i really need some girly time occasionally. he is trying to spend more time with me, but really, he needs his boy time too!

enough self-pity stuff. putting on a smile and changing my mood to happy now. july is here and we have a couple of great parties to attend. we will be cooking up a storm, i will get some great pics, we will get to see lots of friends we do not often see, and maybe i can work on one of these friendships to move it along to be a little closer!

ds19 is now living with his girl. she is very sweet. i wish they had considered marriage and staying with their parents until this move, but i can not stop love. it is funny that they are not very much alike, but they get along and she is very sweet to my ds19 who can be a bear and not much fun sometimes. i love them both.

ds13 is going to summer school. consequences of a bad math grade. he says that he feels it is too easy. of course, he is grouped with all of the kids who got bad grades, including those who still can not read. i told him to talk to his teachers about perhaps a harder assignment on the side to actually TEACH him something rather than all these baby steps that he really does not need to repeat. he just did not do his work and turn it in. he can do the work. he is making new friends and is opening up in his teen years. it is good to see him develop some social skills, he used to be so shy and unwilling to talk to anyone!

here is a recent lo i completed. my scrapping has been very limited since my dad's stroke, but i am trying to get back to it. it is my fun time, my release and i enjoy it so much. for awhile, i just did not feel like being creative as i was scared and wanting to be with my dad as much as possible. now he is stabilizing and it is allowing me to calm down a little.

hey, thanks all you who read for listening!

life goes on

2007-06-14T20:56:00.000-07:00

February 2007 changed our lives. My dad had a stroke and it was bad. He is debilitated to the point that we must do almost everything for him. Our family got together and decided that the best thing right now is for him to live in his own home and our youngest sibling will care for him. i go over twice a day when ever i can to check on him, visit, talk about old times and sometimes just to watch him sleep. Everyone is subject to this at some point in their life when an adult you look to for direction is not able to help you anymore and then you become the care giver. i just did not know it would happen so soon. it has been a very hard, emotional 4 months. Today my dad turned 78. i cried because i was so happy he has made it 4 more months, but on the other hand, i am so sad that he is in the condition he is in. he sometimes just is not all there. it is a life changing event and our family has adjusted as well as possible. i have the most wonderful husband in the world. he has stepped up and now cooks most of our meals, has been the mom and dad at the house, since i am often gone, and he still loves me unconditionally.

As many obstacles as life sends my way, I continue to pray and live my life day to day.

Blessed be.

OMG it has been a looooong time!

2007-01-14T21:34:00.000-08:00

well, halloween, thanksgiving, christmas, new years and a couple birthdays have passed since i last blogged. how terrible! so we had a great holiday season, lots of family and friends and love. i had my last birthday of the 40s and well, i still feel like i am 35! hmmmm.

here is a lo of my boy. he is so funny! my ds18 son has fully moved out; he visits 2-3 times a week and eats here whenever he can. he has borrowed money a couple times, but so far is doing well on his own. he tends to go without rather than ask for help. kinda good, kinda bad! he has signed up for the next semester at college and that was a big relief because we were worried he would quit. ds12 is doing well in school, had a concert, was in the big christmas parade, his voice is cracking and he has made a bunch of new friends. he is really coming into his own now and it makes us very happy.

i have been to a few crops since october and scrapped a ton. it is such a wonderful hobby, as this one is staying in my home! no giving it away! i plan to have a crop at my house soon. it will be fun! my dh got me a cricut so now i have the cricut and wishblade. toss up which is my fav! i have to come downstairs to the computer to use the wishblade, but i come down for the computer anyways!

fire

2006-10-26T18:39:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-21T21:35:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-12T21:48:00.000-07:00

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?

2006-10-05T21:50:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-09-14T23:23:00.000-07:00

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

2006-09-08T21:40:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-16T20:30:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-09T19:13:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-08-04T22:51:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-07-16T21:37:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-07-15T21:35:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-07-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

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

2006-07-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

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

2006-07-02T21:01:00.000-07:00

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

2006-07-01T16:28:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-06-30T19:06:00.000-07:00

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

2006-06-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

lets try again

Thankful Thursday

2006-06-29T20:48:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-06-26T23:25:00.000-07:00

NEW AVATAR, HEY IT HAS BEEN OVER A YEAR!

where have I been?

2006-06-26T23:02:00.000-07:00

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?!

2006-02-28T11:50:00.000-08:00

Fall is here

2005-09-22T14:57:00.000-07:00

according to the calendar that is! But it was 97 yesterday and 92 today. I want to wear sweaters, in fact I have a long sleeve t-shirt on now! I wish it was cooler here, but when(if) we ever move, we will have too much cold for me, including snow. I have never lived in snow. should be a lesson in humility! ask for it and you shall receive it, you darn well better want it!

so I am trying out for a dt, 3 week now. awaiting the results. nail biter. want to be on the team, but not necessary for me. I love Scribbles. It is such a great place to play and just love all the scrappers there! will find out tomorrow!

finished knitting a scarf for my neice and now I have a new patter for the cutest scarf and I want to try that. Gotta get some new yarn, it is a different scarf and will require quite a bit more. I will try to post a pic when I finish!

toodeloo for now!

August is almost gone!

2005-08-30T12:56:00.000-07:00

And then comes the fall. My favorite season, my favorite holidays, my favorite weather. I love the smell of fall, the moisture in the air, the colors, the whirlwind of getting ready for Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas. I love it all. I am making lists of things to do, asked dh to get the halloween box down. I love it all.

Santa!

Gosh, this is a once a month blog!

2005-08-11T13:43:00.000-07:00

Okay I am bad. I blog too much somewhere else, and I have my favorite site: Scribbles where I spend most of my time. So this poor lonely blog gets a visit once a month! lol I need to visit more often. So an update on my life: the house is finished being painted. The painters did not ever come back and finish the doors, but we did it. We took a trip to San Diego and spent 3 days at the Zoo, Sea World and the Wild animal park. I think we probably walked about 20 miles total in 3 days. Does not seem like a lot but it was in the 100 degrees and crowded and there was no rest! I was a severe task master and made dh and ds move on and on and on. We saw it all! Got lots of great pics to scrap! Forgot my knitting, but in the end I was so tired when we went back to the hotel I immediately went to sleep each night. Too funny! I did not even read!

So now we are going to get estimates in flooring for down stairs. We are thinking about tile everywhere. I have noticed how easy it is too clean the bath floors now and it really is the way to go in this heat. It will be cold in the winter, but the heat lasts longer so tile it will probably be. In the long run, the cost is about the same.

Then painting the interior. Oh well. that will be my job. Always is, always has been. Just like the commercial, my dh is not a painter.

TaTa!

Okay, it has been too long.

2005-07-19T20:05:00.000-07:00

So much going on here. We got new bathroom flooring, porcelain tiles, and now we are getting our house painted. What a mess! Tomorrow they are taking off our door and painting that, so we will have to have the air off. This will be a hardship. It is 105 degrees during the day! Hopefully it won't take forever. It has taken 5 days for the house to be painted. It took 3 days for the bathroom floors. Ack, I am out of my safe box and routine.

So in 3 days, I am leaving for the scrapbook expo. I am beyond excited. I get to go with my sister. no kids, no husband or so, lots of food, fun, shopping, laughing, and we are staying in a hotel so no cleaning! I plan to spend money, take classes, do make and takes and just all around enjoy myself. I need these breaks from my family every so often. When you work at home, you never get a break. I love my family, but I am swallowed whole by them! They always do fine when I am gone, but getting out of here is always an adventure.

I have been tired lately. My age is catching up to me and I am tired. I even took a nap today. It was weird. 3 phone calls, 2 interruptions by kids and slight snoozing. Must be how cats sleep and that is why they sleep alllllll daaaaay.

I am finishing up my nieces scarf. It is bright orangey red and she loves it. I knit it from eyelash yarn, simple knit/purl about 4.5 inches wide. She loves it. It will look very cute on her! I put a slash in one end so she can feed the other end through and not knot it. She was very happy about that! She called it a stole. teehee, such a throw back to the 40s she is!

Toodaloo!!

Shake Rattle and Roll

2005-06-23T13:38:00.000-07:00

A blogger friend asked how we are doing out here with the earthquakes. Well, we roll with them! LOL yeah, dumb joke. To tell you the truth, I am not too affected by them. I have lived in So Calif for about 40 years and I have learned not to be too afraid. We are prepared, have earthquake stores and water and we will be ready when the big one hits. The funny thing is that the first in this last set of quakes hit when I was at Home Depot and I never felt a thing. my son called me and told about the things that had fallen and we did have some broken stuff. Nothing too big. The last big one was close about 40 miles away and it was hard! I did have a moment of worry wondering how I would get the cats, the dogs, the bird, and the lizard out of the house since I was alone, but then it settled down. Anyway, earthquakes happen and we deal with them. I am more afraid of floods and tornadoes since I have not really experienced them.

So we have been spending a lot of time on getting our house fixed up. New bathroom floors, new kitchen sink, new shower glass doors. Next will be tile downstairs everywhere to help with the heat here. I have picked a pretty dark brown tile and it will keep things very cool! It is going to cost the same as carpet so I think it is the better idea. It will be interesting to see how the dogs like it. they will not walk in the bathrooms right now since the new tile in there. Funny!

I am going to have a scrapaliscious weekend with my sis. dh is out of town and her dso is out of town so we are going to my house one day and her house the next day and scrapping to our hearts content! Then in the evening I am going to start on some....(Dudley!) hats for the kids for winter. Last year everyone wanted one and it would take me a day to make a scarf and hat for each one, so I want to start early this year! I am thinking bright orange for my niece! Yeah! shopping for yarn! (this was on my DO NOT DO list for the last year since I had a stockpile that filled a room.)

Happy trails to all of you! TFV

Gardening and scrapping

2005-06-05T23:39:00.000-07:00

All weekend! Yesterday I gardened for about 3 hours. We have a very large back yard and it is all planted, very little cement. So it takes a lot of upkeep during the spring and summer. Then I took ds and his gf to the mall 30 miles away so he could buy...a shirt. One shirt. Oh, well, they got to be together and I got to get some much needed glue dots for scrapping. Then we came home and I started putting together a 6x6 album for my dh called 10 Reasons Why I Love You.

Sunday again I gardened, but this time dh helped. We gardened for about 3 hours again and the yard looks wonderful. All weeded and trimmed and the soil turned and new plants put in. So next weekend, we will continue putting in the brick pathway around the yard and hopefully start on the last lap. I know it has taken me a long time, but I did most of it myself here and there, and this is the first year my dh has helped me. It is in a pattern and it is around the perimeter of 1.4 acre, so it is a loooong pathway! Then when the pathway is done, I hope to have a slab poured along the side of the house and put in a green house. Hope. I would love to have a greenhouse, since I love my plants.

Then, after gardening I came in the house to a big mess. That is what happens when you leave 2 kids 11 and 12 alone in the house for 2 days. So I straightened up a little and then I finished my dh album. It turned out great. And I think he liked it! He said I should sell my scrapping stuff for money, not just make it for us. I am not too sure about that. I put a lot of personal stuff in ours, do not think I could do that for others.

So now it is 11:55pm and I need to hit the hay. Work tomorrow and hopefully I can work on my afghan that I am knitting. It has been awhile and I really want to finish it for my dn. He needs another blanket and I want to be the one to give him a handmade one.

Happy Trails!

Well, no one reads my blog!

2005-05-27T19:48:00.000-07:00

It is too funny! Why do I look for confirmation from strangers? I am lol at my self, my need for acceptance! So this is really just for me and what I want to say. Today was fun! dh took the day off, I still had to work, but we got some time together in between reports. Then when ds was done with school, we went to the post office to mail off my monogram swap and cj. Then we went to Ts and got Darth side M&Ms! mmmmmm, so good. Then to Ms for a new scrap mag and then to DQ for a small sundae (gotta watch the calories). Then to El Pollo for dinner. It was fun! ds is a pip and he is my bud. He got the new Emerald game for GB and was so excited. He saved a long time for that game and what do you know! It was on sale today! Lucky boy! So now I am back to work and hoping to run out of work so I can go scrap. Thats my goal this weekend: scrap a little, garden a little, celebrate ds17 b-day, and have family time. Life goes on!

Do you ever wonder?

2005-05-17T13:18:00.000-07:00

I wonder if anyone reads my blogs. There are so many on here and how do you find people similar to you. I have gone through a few blogs, some are really different. I think of this as a journal. I don't think I would put really personal things in here, just day to day thoughts, dreams and experiences.

Today I love SheDaisy, Don't Worry 'bout A Thing
I love the color blue.
I am a scrapbooker, knitter, crocheter, sewer, and I like to cook DIFFERENT foods.
I used to love the beach, but the sun did not like me, I have red hair, red head skin, and I burn. So no more sunning!
I shop too much, and I admit it.
I love my boys, but sometimes I need a break!
I have been married 18 years. This time. It was just my anniversary for my first marriage, it would have been 29 years! How does that happen? It seems like just a few years ago I was in hs!
I have few friends because I am particular and enjoy my alone time too much!

Tell me about you, if you read this!

2005-05-13T22:39:00.000-07:00

ME!

Hello, thought I would get started.

2005-05-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

So here I am following the footsteps of those greater than myself! teehee! I decided to try both Blogger and Scrapblog. Hope to make lots of friends!