creative block or spurts...

think I used a night setting to get this effect, doesn't she look like a ghost kitty?

From Shimelle: What do you do when
don’t feel very creative or feel like you’ve hit a
creative block? Share a few tips that help you get
back to yourself.

When blocked, I back off. It's okay to take a break. But during this period, I will read my magazines and lurk the galleries, till something inspires me. And I will lift, lift, lift.

On 2 peas: List 10 unfinished projects hanging over your head:

1) My Journal your Christmas by Shimelle, I did not have a printer for a while, and there is a lot of journalling, so I put it aside. (I have a printer now)

2) want to redo some of the old, yellowing magnetic albums

3) albums about my son (I can be so blocked with boy layouts)

4) My wedding album for dd's wedding(did dd's album, but not the one for me)

5) a Family heritage album (have the dreaded, unmarked shoe box of pics)

6) dd's Europe trip album (the one I keep)

7) the cooresponding travel journal for above trip (this one she gets)

8) start a travel journal for my trip in Oct

9) Son's police academy graduation ( a continuation of #3)

10) start a gift album for mil (her grandkids have had a very busy 2008)

Wow, I did think of 10...

Did you enjoy Project Runway? I love the shows where they are inspired by a picture. (what Shimelle has been asking of us) Of course, as it has been so far this season, I think they had the wrong top 3 dresses and the absolutely wrong winner. That purple poofy thing was hideous. and I did not care for the other print...well, maybe without the pants. The 2 piece skirt set was cool.

Don't you find it funny how Nina said "Short, tight and shiny is a shortcut to trashy", well, something like that, and in the commercials what is Heidi wearing?

uh huh.

my teen years...

From Shimelle: Who was your personal
favourite teeny-bopper pin-up? Share a story
about that dreamboat or another happy teenage
memory with your readers.

Oh, ain't that embarrassing. My first, fave teeny bopper pin up was David Cassidy, now don't you laugh, he is still a hottie!!

A story, do you remember an episode where he did not back down to a bully, and the bully went to hit him but backed off. Doesn't happen in real life...I did that at the public swimming pool and the bully did hit me.

Teenage memories...don't know if there are any 'happy'ones. I'm just glad I survived. Boy, I was an emotional wreck. I guess my senior year of high school, hanging out with Michele, would be remembered as my happiest. I was sent to live with my dad in CA after some problems during my Jr. year in Texas. (lets just say I got to ride in the back of a black and white car with bars seperating the back from the front seats) My mom did not feel she could handle me. Luckily for me, I became friends with Michele, so I did not fall back into the lifestyle and friends that had gotten me in trouble, it was a fresh start. We had fun, waiting in gas lines with our frisbee, my car door was broken so we had to slide in and out thru the window, even our li'l car accident was fun. And who can forget singing songs fromt the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the top of our lungs. It was great to be practically adopted into her Portugese family.

So, I did not go to work this morning. Bad reason, my car broke down on the freeway. Transmission went out. So, I am without a car for a while. I did work a little on a couple of pages and took a nice long nap with my Percy (the cat in the header photo). I think I'm going to need a rental. Can't stand being at the mercy of dh...ya know.

a blog award

What a surprise! Sarah C awarded me the "Brillante Weblog" award on her blog, 2 Paws Design. Thanks, Sarah! :)


The rules for this award are:

The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
Link to the person you received your award from.
Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
Put links to those blogs on yours.
Leave a message on the blogs of the people you have nominated.
In no particular order, I nominate:

1. Jill

2. Miss M

3. Steph

4. Alli

5. Angela

6. Benita

7. The Creative Junkie

what I would read...

from Shimelle: What’s your favourite
reading material? Like the kind of favourite that
you would take it to read if you had to cut off the
rest of the world for years and years?

Whoa, choose only one type of book or magazines, to read if I had to cut off the rest of the world...wowza...
I might choose the 'classics', my Dad had a collection of the "Great Books" and I've always wanted to study them. So, I guess I would choose those.


This morning, we head for the airport. then its off for work. gotta download my pics and send them to my sisters. I won't post here, as my sis does not like pics of her daughters online. Lets see, I told ya'll a li'l about Pierce...hmmmm
I'd just say that they are very typical 11 and 15 year old girls. Sara (the 11 year old) does have a sweetness about her, but she is completely 'under the influence' of older sister Lexi. When we bought sweatshirts, she got the same shirt, just a different color. If Lexi did not want to do something, like go to the San Fran Zoo, even though Sara seemed interested, she did not do it. Sara was invited by a friends' daughter to spend Sat with her...but she declined...cuz Lexi wasn't interested. But i think this is all normal for a younger sister. I know my dd at this age was fascinated by the teen girls around her and wanted to emulate them.

Now, Lexi, I would simply describe as a '15 year old, and very good at it". She is a very pretty girl, (the kind that turns heads) and you know how the very pretty girls tend to be...hopefully, she will see that this might put you at the 'top' at highschool but in the after highschool world she will need more going for her. And I hope she will make good choices. But in my experience, the very pretty are pursued by older boys and tend to be partiers and sexually active at a very young age. I was very glad to hear that the 'boy' in her life is her age. But we will see.

When we were travelling about, I did note that she is not fully comfortable with the attention her looks get. You know, not at the 'stuck up' part, yet. We laughed about the Chinese tourists at Monterey Bay, who were smiling and nodding their heads at her. (maybe they thought she was Hannah Montana, some people say she looks a bit like her) She said an adamant "No" to the young man who asked her phone number in Santa Cruz..but enjoyed the extra cotton candy given to her by the young man at the stand. (Paid for a small, got a large).

I love my neices and nephew and see potential in all of them. They all have strengths and weaknesses. But it was great getting to know them better. Since they all live in Texas, this is the first time we had an extended visit.

August is going to be a busy month, I think we've got something every weekend. Including the Scrapbook Expo !! now that's a whoo hoo!!

Well, after 4 days off I've got to face my desk this afternoon.
now, that's a poo-ey.

My dsil had good news yesterday, one of their stocks did well...like, he made a $2000 in one day. Did I mention that he is my favorite Okie?

a creative influence

from Shimelle: Tell your blog readers
about someone who has been a creative influence
in your life -- a crafty mum, aunt or grandparent,
an influential school teacher or a friend who
brought out your creative side, perhaps.

For me, it would have to be my friend Terry. Many, many years ago, she got into stamping (she is a long time stampin up demonstrator) I'll never forget, we were in Santa Cruz for a women's chuch weekend, and she wanted to hit a stamp store in Santa Cruz...I told her 'I'm not getting into this!!". famous last words.

Anyways, before her I thought 'art' was drawing and painting. Which I cannot do.
she 'opened' me up to other ways of expressing art.

from 2 peas:
Have you created a layout to show one of your greatest joys in your childhood? If so would you share with us

I haven't done any childhood layouts...but this is a good idea.
so thinking about it, I think a childhood joy is the computer paper my dad used to bring home. (he was an IBM programmer)...you know the big paper with grean/white stripes and the pinholes on the side?. Anyways, we had a lot of fun with those papers, we'd make paperdolls, menus for our garage 'restarant', anything for our imaginative play growing up.

Today is the last day of the visit. Last night, ds and ddil came by for dinner. Got into a 'serious' talk with the girls, about peer pressure, drinkin', drugs, the whole bit. Hopefully the girls will be strong and make good choices. (ds is a cop)


He just had his first 3 nights on the street. Sounds like he has a good FTO who is transitioning him into the job. all I can say is Oh My Goodness, I am a nervous wreck. From Thurs thru Sat, from 2:30 pm and 2:30 am...I am sending out 'arrow' prayers. I think I'm going to start aging quickly now.

off to start my day, ya'll have a good one!

burnt out and a sunburn, too

Aaaaahhhh, 2 days traveling with the kids!
AS my sis would say, "I need medication"

We went to Monterey Aquarium and Cannery Row on Thurs.
then Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk on Friday. The horrible part, was coming home on hwy 152 yesterday, aye yi yi.

Mom was losing patience with Pierce. Now, he is 12 years old and being the perfect 'annoying' boy cousin to the girls. Mom does not know much about 'boys', having raised girls and having been around the girl cousins the most...so she did not know what to think of a loud, rough housing boy.
(He did talk A LOT)(and at a high volume, at times)...


All I can say, is DH took Pierce to the airport today...I just could not face another 4 hours (2 hours each way) in the car.

My back...my feet...my arms and nose (sunburnt) from yesterday. And I'm tired and sore and feel every one of my 47 years.

but of course, I woke up and went into the scrap room. I've been working on Pierce's DC album. On Thurs, we did scrapbook, I think he got 5 pages done. Sara worked on my pages for ds and ddil's trip to Okinawa, and Lexi (the 15 year old) consulted. She did not actually scrap, but she has a good eye for matching paper and pics and stuff.

So this morning, I've been doing some fairly simple pages of his pics.


I'm so behind on my Shimelle pages...2 weeks...so I need to get busy.

Today, ddil has offered to take the girls to the movies...sounds good to me!!!

artistic technique...

From Shimelle: What artistic technique do
you love but not use often? What artistic
technique intimidates you? Maybe you’ll find an
expert in that technique reads your blog and can
comment with tips for you.


hmmmmm...I do enjoy my alcoholic inks, but don't pull it out very often.
a technique that intimidates me...the one where the picture is black and white, except a couple of elements. But then I'm so un-computer saavy, anything beyond point and click is beyond me.

looks like I'm able to upload pics today,
this is my dream day layout inspired by the Shimelle class.
The pics are from the Victoria British Columbia website...but the prompts from the class, helped remind me of a brochure I once found in my Dad's stuff...and how I thought that I'd like to go there some day.

We are off for a couple of days, Sara is better, so we are going to do some 'Nor Cal' touristy stuff. Hope my feet hold out.

pass it on...

from Shimelle: If there was just one thing
from your youth that you could pass on to today’s
younger generation what would it be? Something
as simple as the original Sesame Street theme song
or something more complex, like growing up more
slowly?

well, yesterday's post about entitlement would be one, but for something a little lighter....how about 'The Dick Van Dyke Show"

you know, tv shows that were goofy and funny. That, if they had a 'message' it was about getting along with people. Sometimes I think the offerings today are way too 'sexual' (2 1/2 Men) and p.c.

I took the day off from work, thinking I'd take the kids to do something touristy, but one of them, Sara, is not feeling 100%. Guess I'll scrap instead!!
(actually, Pierce brought pics from a recent trip, so I'll set up the table to scrap...maybe the other 2 will join us and it will be a mini-crop) If Sara feels better tomorrow, we'll try a trip.

I tried to post a picture, but blogger 'rejected' it twice, due to some internal error. So, is it my computer or theirs...hmmmmmm

Ya'll have a good 'hump' day, as I scrap, I'll try to feel a little guilty...NOT!!

I have a superhero name!

Your Superhero Name Generator is


The Irresistible Chameleon



Get your Superhero Name Generator at Quizopolis.com

From Shimelle:

Today’s blog prompt: Write about your first job
and ask your blog readers to share their first job

My very first job was a hostess/waitress at a Bonanza Steak House when I was 16 years old. But to me, more important than that first job, was my mom telling me, "Now that you are old enough to work, if want the 'extras', you have to get a job" I think that was the best gift.

My parents divorced when I was 9 years old, so my mom was a single mom, working as a cashier in a drug store. Now, my dad was a conscientious ex-spouse, he was good at the child support payments. When he got a raise, he would increase his payments, when I became 18, he continued to send my 'third' till my sisters became 18. And my mom is a good money manager, she can make a little stretch, so we were not 'hurting' when I turned 16... but she was teaching me a work ethic, that I think is extremely important. And I hope I was able to do the same for my kids.

Entitlement, that sure is an epidemic amongst our young. One of my co-workers is raising a 10 year old, and I asked if it was harder. I did not have, X-box, Ipods, cell phones, that are considered necessities to kids these days. I was lucky in that when these things came out, my kids were older and I could tell them "save for it if you want it" We did give them cell phones, after dd got dropped off for a cheer practice that was cancelled and she had no way to reach me. Anyways, my coworker said, "No, because No still means No". (now I do think myspace and youtube makes things harder, but that is another post)

Now, with my kids, we did say 'no' to a tv in their bedrooms, their own computers...these were things in public rooms. I just saw that it would be too easy for them to 'cave in their rooms' and we would never see them.

When my dd wanted a pair of '7' jeans, she had to work during her summer vacation and pay for them. Which she did, and she still wears those jeans.
My son bought his own X-box and games...though we did give him an old tv, with a predominately green screen to play it on. But they were old enough.

I have friends, whose daughter, years ago, came right out and told them something like, "I did not ask to be born, you gave birth to me, so you owe me what I want"
I'm proud to report that she is now a fine young lady (it took a serious car accident to make her re evaluate, but the path she was on, was scary)

okay, another tangent, guess with my neices and nephew visiting, its making me really notice things like this.

games, shoes and photo storage

From Shimelle: Tell your blog readers about your favorite game.

I do like to play Mexican Train or Shanghai (a card game) with the family. Monopoly is still a fave. My daughter showed us someother card games she learned while in Europe, (a lot of down time amongst the kids, esp, when the money ran out in Greece)
though I don't remember the names they are a lot of fun.


Busy weekend, I wasn't home...a lot of shopping, the Great Mall on Sat, Pleasanton Mall on Sunday... I used to be such a shopaholic, but I'm getting old, I guess.
BUT the shopping weekend has me thinking about shoes. Boy, my feet and back were hurting. So, I'd better get some REALLY good shoes for the cruise and all the excursions we are going on. I really don't want 'athletic' type shoes, my neice recommend Topsider Sperry's..which she was wearing both days, and did not show any signs of slowing. I looked...but still nothing 'thrilled' me.

So, no opportunity to scrap this weekend, but I did print some pics.

from 2 peas: How do you store photos that you do not use in scrapbooking?

Still have some old 'magnetic' albums, do keep 'excess' in themed new pocket photo albums and a big photo organizer bin, that has them 'somewhat' organized by theme.

and the digitals are in the computer/ with CD backup. But I'm thinking a photobucket would be a good idea, cuz when dd's harddrive crashed her sophomore year, all she had were the photobucket pics.

so, I guess the answer is 'all' the above, right?
geeeeee this question is making me think, I need a better system.

Off to read some blogs, eat a li'l something, then Kristen will be here for my 'strength training', then work...too much fun for one Monday morning!!!

p.s. I did take ONE bathroom pic yesterday, I couldn't resist, Nordstrom's has a little toddler seat in the first stall. I mean how cool, you can strap in your kid while you tinkle!! where were they 20 years ago...

a couple of pics...

let's see,
the top pic is me July Swap from KarenSay...Love Elsie' Claire papers and yankee candles...part of Shimelle's prompts last week was to imagine or 'dream day' so I think these papers would be great for those layouts.

the middle is my RAK from Bad Girls, dork that I am, I even saved the packaging from Norway...love all the flowers, the lace and pattern paper!! hmmmm...

the bottom pic is my layout for travel from the Shimelle class. the pics are my new habit of taking pics of bathrooms...now, I don't do all bathrooms, but those with interesting design features..I think it started when we built the house and I was designing ours.

I don't work today, so we are going to do something with my neices. My nephew is spending the weekend with my son and ddil..yesterday they went to the San Jose Tech Museum and today they are going to the San Fran zoo..something the girls were not interested in. Soooooo, we live in the central valley of CA...within driving distance (in different directions) is San Francisco, Monterey Bay, Carmel, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Napa wine country and Jamestown/Sonora gold country....what do the girls want to do?
Shopping.

Sooo, I am taking them to the Great Mall near San Jose. We are also hoping to also see Momma Mia... okay, what can I say.. they are 15 and 12 year old girls.

They have decided that small town life (the boondocks) is not for them. But that is what I expect from young people, as for us 'old foggies', we love the peace, the quiet, the solitude.

(wish I could stay home and scrap)
ya'll have a great weekend!!

inspiration and exasperation...

from Shimelle:
The things that inspire us are often linked to what we label as quirks in our personalities, thing we like that others seem to dismiss. What quirk could you share with your blog readers to see if they really dismiss this or if its something you have in common?

This is going to take some thought, I've never thought about my own quirks.
The first day, when we were asked to take pictures of things around the house that 'inspired' us, I took pictures of the different colors on my walls, and the play of light...I know I like how colors 'play'..that the view of one different colored room opening to another is something I really like. I know I like the look of light, esp as it shines thru colored glass. (that's why I collect glass)

sooooo, what does that say about a quirk? Why would I say those things 'inspire' me?
all I know is that these elements fill me with 'peace'...that I feel comforted by these sights. hmmmmmmmm

Then 2 peas:
what is something about people (in general) that really irritates you?

I dislike dishonesty. I don't know how being dishonest has become so accepted. It is considered 'normal' or 'average' to cheat on tests, on your spouse, your employer, the government. It's so everyday, no one sees it as wrong anymore.
I look at the recent headlines about Madonna and A-Rod, how can we as a society put these people on a pedastal. Speaking of which, as a society, we have the WRONG people on those pedastals. Think about it, really?, entertainers and athletes. Are they really the ones who matter in the big picture? And look at what we teach our children about what is important?

(kinda reminds you of a couple of Bible verses...when Samuel went to annoint David, and the Lord tells him, something like, "I don't measure a man the way the world does"...and how in the NT, the Lord says something about how he will "humble the powerful and lift up the humble")(I'd look them up but I'm a little pressed for time)

my shimelle Time layout

right now, time is my friend. I am living a rather nice pace, part time job, empty nest, time to pursue my hobbies...I know, don't get too used to it, cuz the next crazy thing is just around the corner...but for now...I can give a sigh.....

inspiration and winning!

Today’s blog prompt: Share a list of links with
your blog readers, leading them to the websites that
inspire you most.

a list of links...hmm, I've tried that but have had trouble doing that in the body of my blog. (though they show here on the edit screen, they don't show in my blog) So my links are over on the side.

I am inspired by the gals over on 2 peas, esp the bloggers on the daily thread.

I am certainly enjoying the blog links over on Shimelle and because I joined a circle journal am spending time on Scrapbooks.com.

I've also recently discovered Splitcoast Stampers.

and the video podcasts of Noell Hyman at Paperclipping

some of the blogs listed on my faves that I like to visit are:

Scrapjacked, I Inspire Me, , Scrap the Teenz, and Queen and Company.

from 2 peas:
hi bloggers, today's question is... what have you won???

I don't win very often...but once I won a 'how many buttons' contest on I am a Scrapaholic...and I've won a couple of RAK's, the most recent was one from Ania at Bad Girls.

oh, as I child I won a bowling trophy for 'highest average' (its actually still on my desk) The body of it is such a beautiful emerald green...

well, my computer time is up. See ya'll on your blogs!!

ruh, roh...a picture of myself!! yikes!!

From Shimelle: Share an old photo of
yourself and a current photo of yourself with your
blog readers. Tell them a little something that has
changed and a little that has stayed the same.

Took a while, but I found an old pic of me. This one is right after C was born, (can tell by the home its in) so @ 21 years ago. And the current is from last month with my co-worker (I'm the brunette)ha!!


A little something that has changed, well, I used to be thinner! (okay that was rather obvious) let's see, 23 years ago, I was a young mother with 2 babies, one 2 year old and one newborn. So, I was going crazy!! It was a crazy stage, and honestly I did not know if I could 1) do the job and 2) survive. You know, as a young mother, you sure do take everything about the job to darn seriously. You worry about whether or not you are doing EVERYthing right. In hindsight, it isn't about potty training techniques but about time spent enjoying the kids. So there are moments to treasure and moments that I'd rather forget.

So that is another change, my attitude about life in general. I don't have to try to make things 'perfect' in my world, try to control every little aspect.

Let go, Let God.

Also, in those days, we were starting out, that home was a rental and most of our furnishings were hand me downs. And it was okay... I cringe when kids today think they have to have their career, their home, their 'everything' lined up to start a family. I tell my kids, that building those things is what strengthens relationships, working together as a team. Yes, right now we own a home we built with new furnishings, but this is the result of our journey together. And the days when we had "change in a coffecan by the door so dh can get gas to get to work that day" ...are equally precious, if not more, cuz we were a team.

Okay, the same. I'm still a brunette!! I'm still a Christian, and I love my family.
I still drive older, used cars and wear clothes from Walmart and buy makeup from Avon. What can I say, even then, I wasn't interested in the 'status' of the world.

okay,
off to take pics of inspiration...much easier than one of me.

feeling a little bleh..

(photo by Tyler Coleman, Coleman Imagery) (ps, he is FANTASTIC if any of you So Cal-r's need professional photography)


yup, just a li'l bleh. Tummy acting up, but not quite sick. Ever have one of those days? Guess the cure...scrappin! Till I have to leave for the airport.

I've been messing with my picture files, deleting duplicates, creating folders, copying. We pulled the 'trigger' and dsil is going to build me a new computer.

Here's one of the pics from Tyler from the wedding...I love it!! It shows the kids' personalities. But then I prefer these type of pics to the line em up, say cheese and shoot. I was in the house, so I did not see the kids 'mug it up' while they were being announced by dsil's dad.

well, I'm off, a couple of errands in town, then get comfy and SCRAP!!

ya'll have a good weekend!!

a frustrating day..and a good one..

Well, its 5am Thurs morn, I simply could not sleep, so went ahead and stated some things.

Oooooooh, yesterday...
We went to the Sacramento Airport to pick up my nephew, no real problems, though I timed our arrival so we could be waiting for him as he strpped off the esculator.
you know, non passengers cannot go to the gates pass security. Now, I did spend some time on Continental's website looking up policies regarding non-accompanied minors, but did not see anything on my nephew's ticket indicating that my sister set him up as unaccompanied. So, mom and I head for the airport, on I5 North. When we were 10 min from the airport, my sister calls, I need to go to the ticket counter to get a pass...to pick up Pierce at the gate..ooooooookay!! Now that also means going thru security. Lets just say, I was running thru the terminal carrying my shoes, luckily, as a non-accompanied, he was one of the last to depart the plane.

When my neices arrive, my other sis, better let me know well in advance they are traveling non-accompanied, so I can time it better.

So, we head home. We stop for lunch, and head down I5 south. Now, there is construction on I5 south in downtown Sacramento. We were hoping to stop at a Japanese grocery store, but okay, that intersection is not in the construction zone, so I'll follow the detours, get back on I5 South and take the exit for the Japanese store..ummmm NO!!! The detour dumped me into the heart of downtown. Once I was on J street...no more detour signs. NOW wouldn't it make sense, to take traffic around the construction and get back on the interstate? Not all of us know Sacramento...anyways after, oh, the car dying (it was stop and go downtown traffic, 100 degrees and we had the a.c. on at first), we finally get on 99 south.

So, we went to Modesto, got shakes at In N Out, stopped at W...and went home, another 40 minutes west...I live off the 5 not the 99.
Now I picked up Pierce at 11 am..we did not walk into the house until after 5pm.

I was also supposed to go to Office Max, the reg grocery store...but we were too pooped to even think about it. But hey, I got this cool pic of this Pedros vehicle.
So all is not lost, right?

Then DH arrives with 2 packages...YAY!!

one is my RAK from Bad Girls, sent from Norway, super cool embellies.

and the other my pics from Tyler from the wedding...OMGoodness...they are gorgeous!!

BUT, my messed up computer WOULD NOT OPEN THE DISC!!! Now the disc opened on the laptop, my computer will open other CD-r's with pictures. So, I spent a good hour trying to see the CD on this computer, you know, the computer with the photo printers... Lets just say, by the time I left the room, my expletives would have made all the family Marines proud.

Don't worry, Pierce was 'hanging' with dh. In fact, dh taught Pierce cribbage and is impressed by how quickly Pierce picked it up.

I went to my room and opened a book. O MY GOODNESS, it is Randy Paush's The Last Lecture...it is soooooo goood!! I've read half of it already (its not very thick) plan to go back thru it with my highlighter and buy a dozen copies.

Soooo, a very frustrating day, but a good one!!

From 2 peas:
traits I admire about my dh...He is strong where I am weak. He is my perfect 'other half'...like yesterday, he stayed calm, calmed me down, and encouraged me to walk away. Plus, he is a fantastic cook, has a great sense of humor, and is my 'honey'.

my suitcase necessities.

from shimelle:
what would your suitcase contain..what are the necessities (seriously, I need to cut and paste the prompt instead of jotting) Anyways....

ummmm, clothing, at least one book to read, toiletries, room for scrapbook purchases,
a travel journal, mapquest maps of destinations I want to hit, packs of my fave hot chocolate (butternut). Guess, with my future cruise, I'd have to include the "Europe" accessories...plug converters, waist purse for passport/creditcards and stuff. My Rick Steves books. Work out clothes. I bought a purse on Etsy just for the trip. (thanks to the enabling thread on 2 peas)

In my purse is my camera, well, its in my purse all the time. teehee

Today, I am picking up my nephew from the airport. He is @12 years old. I haven't had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with this young man, as he lives in Texas...so, I am looking forward to it. He recently went on a trip to DC with his grandparents, so his mom told me he is bringing stuff from that, and may want to spend a little time scrappin'. whoohoo!!

So, today is airport, lunch, Japanese grocery store, Office depot (out of printer ink), the W and regular grocery store...gonna be busy today.

a couple of prompts...

from 2 peas:
what was the first job or profession you wanted to be when you grew up?

After seeing the movie, Gypsy with Natalie Wood, I wanted to be a stripper.
Now, I was a very skinny girl, and I remember my uncle telling me to stand to the side, stick out my tongue and I could be a zipper.

Now, I wanted to be a stripper like Gypsy, you know, complete with huge powder puff and silk gloves.


From Shimelle:
the topic is time, her blog prompt was about another time period you would like to live in...

For me, I'm good here in the 21st century, I like airconditioning, washing machines, computers, satellite tv's, malls, microwaves, and such too much to change to a different time period. I don't want to weave my own clothing, grow my own food, and bust butt from sun up to sun down just to survive. I don't want to live in a time period without indoor plumbing. You'd think its cool to live in a castle, but can you imagine using a 'garderobe'(I did look that up)...now the clothes look cool..but I'm into cleanliness. I don't even consider camping a vacation, no roughing it for this girl!!



Oh! also from Shimelle, we were to log our day, hour by hour.
I thought, how BORING, I'm going to work...but today we had a visit from a police officer. Apparently, before I arrived, there was an altercation in the parking lot, ending with threats made to a couple of our employees...so...the police were called.

And my son, in his training, for a different dept. was tazered today. My poor baby.
But my dd, started her new job at Nordstroms...today was orientation and she is impressed. AND she and her hubby are packing, they will be moving to their own apt on the 12th...boo hoo...another milestone...


back to organizing and copying my computer files, its so bad, I was even doing it in my dream last night... highlight file, move file, click, click...

worrisome prognosis and a new class

The worrisome prognosis:

Yesterday I was hoping to scrap, but was having trouble with my photo printer. So I asked my dsil (the computer nerd) (hey, he builds computers!!) (that's pretty much a computer nerd) to take a look before they left...

His prognosis, start making hard copies of anything I don't want to lose.

We've known that my computer is getting 'bogged' down, its an older model and I have tons of pictures, my PSE6, and other programs that store pics, including the one with the photo printer. So, my pics are stored in at least 3 diff places within the computer.

We've also been talking about him building me a new one, geared esp for graphics and photos. Luckily, I've been making cd copies for a while. (I can make a cd of the digi scrapping elements, right?)

and a new class:

I signed up for Shimelle's My Freedom Class.

Today's prompt for blogging , Time and Travel.

Time, I don't wear a watch, I tell time off my cell phone. I used to be very precise with time. If I was supposed to be someplace at 6pm, I'd be there at 5:55pm. But after 24 years with Dh...I've become more casual about it. (I have learned that if you HAVE to be there at 6:pm...tell dh its at 5:30...just so we will be there around 6)

hmmmmm...I've always been a bit of a home body, no real interest in travel. But now that the kids are grown and out of the nest, I'm ready. This Oct is my cruise.
I've also found that lately, I've picked up the odd habit of taking pics of interesting bathrooms...I think it started with building the house....getting ideas and all. Off the top of my head, I can think of a bathroom in Napa, in Arizona..

Oh, speaking of 24 years with dh...today is my baby boy's 24th birthday..
Only 24, and speaking of travel. That boy has been to Japan, Iraq, Florida, Mississippi, (thru the Corps) Mexico, Texas, Idaho, Oregon, Indiana (personal travel)

But because of her European Semester, dd has us all beat.
in the U.S., she has been to Texas, Idaho, Oregon, New York, Massachusetts, Arizona..and she has also done a missions trip to Mexico.

what I learned last night...

We have a houseful of guests. Every bed taken and even a couch.
So, mom ended up sleeping with me.

Okaaaaayyy...
what I've learned about my mom...

she is a light sleeper, any little noise will wake her up, and the later it gets... the worse her expletives. Yes, she would have made ANY of the marines and former marines visiting our home proud. (there are 6 right now)

When she finally muttered the 'f' word after midnight, I told her,
"now, THAT's enough"

We had a simple, relaxing 4th. Most of the kids went to a bbq, so 4 of us stayed here. Watched the Bucket List (which I recommend) and a late meal. Odd menu, curry and chicken and rice and hot dogs. but good!!

Today, we are going to a Thai restarant for lunch...can you say Chicken Pad Thai.

The house will start clearing out, and by the time dh comes home, it should be just us. Now, on Weds, my nephew is going to come out for a couple of weeks, then my neices will come out the following week. We'll have a house full again. but with 2 12 year olds and one 15 year old...I will definately be blogging about that!!

I didn't go to work yesterday...but not for a fun reason

When I came home from work on Weds night, it was to discover that my mother had taken a fall. She says it happened early in the morning, but it did not start hurting till the afternoon. By the time I got home around 5pm, she could not even stand on her right knee, she had also hurt her left wrist. Soooo, I looked up Sprains/Fractures in my handy-dandy Kaiser First Aid book (which I highly recommend) and we did the RICE they recommended. Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.

By Thurs morn, her knee felt better, she was able to stand...but the wrist was worse. So, I made her an appt and took her to Turlock's Sutter Gould. Because she is visiting from Houston, the nurse made us go to urgent care instead of the regular clinic. I figured because she is 76 and has oesteoporosis, its better to get it checked out. The dr says nothing is broken, but she is going to swell up (her knee is almost twice the size of the other one) and turn into some yucky colors for a while.

Now, ya'll can probably relate, while we were in the waiting room...I tore the above page out of the magazine I was looking at. I'm going to be on Tru tv's 'caught on tape'. My mom just laughed at me and asked me, 'what is WRONG with you' and you know I took a couple of pics of her knee and wrist.

Now, it was a 2006 issue or I would have tried to find this online.

I don't know what it is I like, is it the colors, the black cat against the design?
not sure...but I'll have to lift it in some way.

We then went out to eat, a new sushi place in Turlock. As we were leaving, and mom was 'hobbling' out, I felt so bad, it must look like I beat her!

Then we went home, took a nap, went to grocery store, made dinner for the kids...
they arrived around 7pm...dd, dsil (dear son in law) and their friends Luis, Melissa and their baby, Cole. Its cool, dsil is from Oklahoma, Luis from Louisiana and Melissa is from Boston...so the accents at the dinner table was fun!!

Today, they are all heading for a day in San Francisco and then tonight is a bbq in Turlock.

Oh, by the way, if any of ya'll live near Turlock, Sutter Gould on Colorado and Main needs new magazines!

Have a great 4th!!

(I miss my dh, I sure don't sleep very well without him. I mean I LOVE having the bed to myself...but...oh well)

Yesterday was a good work day...not

So, I arrive at work yesterday morning, and my ddil approaches me, "So are you busy today?". "Well, a little". "How would you like to go with me to see Jason's
2nd 'pinning'" "When do we leave?"

So, after actually working for a little over an hour, we hop into their truck and make the drive to the city my ds will be an officer in and go to watch his official 'pinning' at the station. (He was 'pinned' at the academy graduation)

I am glad I went. The department is very warm and welcoming, there is a sense of community between the officers. When we first arrived, the families did not fill up the room (as there were only 3 new officers) but by the time it started there was standing room only, as the room filled with well-wishers.

Ds says that they all are interested in helping you succeed, and have been very friendly to the 'newbies'. It makes me feel better about the department he is working in, but I'm still not crazy about the city.
Sorry, I do wish he was in a city like Saratoga...where the crime rates are low...instead of this one, which is known to be a 'hotspot'.

We then went to lunch, he and his fellow 'newbies' had to change out of uniform for this as their next orientation was with the officer in charge of gangs, and wearing the uniform while going thru those neighborhoods is not the best of ideas.

It was 4pm before ddil and I got back to work, so I just finished up a few things and went home.

Since it was my mom's birthday, I stopped at the grocery store, with the list she gave me. And then went to McD's to get her her birthday fish sandwich. Which she thouroughly enjoyed. (guess when your 76, its the simple things) I also got her a cheesecake, because she likes her 'daily sweet'.

She got birthday calls from 4 out of 5 grandkids, (which she noted). Even though when they called, she pooh-poohed that is was a special day (as she would say, "when you're this age, what is a birthday?") She also did not call one of the kids back, and because ds called close to 7pm (which she understood because of his busy day), she only talked to him for just a minute cuz she was waiting for her baseball game to start. Yup, that's my mom!!!

Well, guess I better leave a little earlier today, since I did not get much done at work yesterday..well, I got 1 out of 6 bank statements reconciled!!

Only one more day of work...then the kids arrive for the weekend!!
YAY!! (happy dance)

mom is 76

Today is my mom's birthday, she is 76...wow, where do the years go? She likes cheesecake so I'm going to pick one up for her after work.

I spent a LOT of time trying to organize my pics in the computer. Even as I would move pics to a new folder and delete the old empty folder, it just seemed like i wasn't reducing my folders... and it was taking FOREVER!!

I'm thinking of doing a blurb book for family recipes. I had started a scrapbook, but the typing/printing/adhering of so many recipes started to overwhelm me. I'm thinking doing it 'once' on the computer, then printing a couple of copies would be better than at least 2 books.

Dh is out of town for a li'l while, last night he was giving me instructions on feeding the horse...lets see, a bunch of yellow hay in the morning, but watch out cuz there are mice...and small amount of green stuff in the evening. yeah, right.
she'll be eating a lot of green stuff this week.