simply smashin'

what can I say, havin' fun with my Smash Book...

since I'm at the start of my 6 weeks recovery period, I've decided to Smash that.

so page 1,2 are my hospital bracelet and some notes, including a pic of Hubert, my pillow pet frog.



next are lists of meals brought to me and the books I am reading (my goal is 20) including my personal star rating...for the books not the meals. Speaking of which, I don't see how we have ANY thin people in our church...the meals have been YUMMY!!!




last pic is another page set aside for book list and a poem my dd wrote out for me many years ago for my birthday..its a poem about books by David McCord. I'm not esp fond of the domino pages, so covering them up was a good option.

I also have a list of the ATC swaps I signed up for and of scrapbook pages I'm doing...

so far, so fun...the little bits I've been keeping on my desk are finally finding a home. I have a metal candle holder/dish from the dollar store that I keep next to my tool bag on my desk...bits and pieces go in there as I work...and now, I am finally using them.

can you say...packages!

DH came home from work on Thurs with 3 packages! I'm in heaven. 2 were books and the 3rd was from 2 Peas...scrappin goodies. Of course, I waited till he left for work on Friday to open it...trust me, its better that way.


Inside was my Pink Smash book and Smash accessories. Since I'm in the midst of this recovery, guess that is what my Smash book is going to be about. The inside pages are so very pretty...think I'm just going have to get them in every color.



and since 2 Peas free shipping does not start till $50, had to fill my cart! more goodies, including some Webster pages papers and journaling cards I simply cannot get myself to actually use...

I know, use them in my Smash book!



I LOVE getting packages. I just bought a slice hands free kit from the FSOT on 2 Peas...can't wait to get that and 'play'.

And on friday, my Scrapbook Nook kit arrived. Lots of Lillybee papers...already used one during todays progressive challenge on Scrapbook.com...(its the red bg pp)
don't ask about the nail file...we have to use something nonscrapbook on the page..



I'll be using its other side on the companion page.

so, having some scrappin fun when awake! ha!! I'm down to one nap a day...staying up for longer periods...and today, no pain pills.

I did read a book, Confessions of a Prairie B*tch by Alison Arngrim. The gal who played Nellie on Little House. VERY GOOD read. So, one down for my goal of reading 20 books while on my 'vacation'.

back from the 'castle'

I'll try to get this down, while I can remember.

hmmmm, Monday morning, was asked to not pee, as they wanted to do a preggo test. My surgery was scheduled for 11am, so I did not need to be there till 9am. Needless to say, in my rather uncomfortable state, arrived closer to 8:30. BUT the volunteers did not get to me, so at 8:45 I went to them. (they are little old ladies, so I wasn't too mad, just uncomfortable). Once I explained my situation, they got me thru the admissions process(I had my fastpass from Thursday) and took me to the O.R. Where they did the pre-surgery prep. The worst part was the insertion of the iv...as I'm not a fan of needles and they put it on the back of my right hand. And we waited a couple of hours. The gal next to me, I don't know what she was in for, her surgery was almost a couple hours late...so, Michael and I settled in figuring that all the surgeries were running late. Not so, they wheeled us in right on time. I just remember that staging area as being real COLD and the lights being real BRIGHT!

My dr came in and explained the surgery and then the anesthesiologist came in and explained her procedure. The dr also told me the first thing they'd do is give me a 'stress cocktail' to ease any stress I'm feeling. I remember them wheeling me into the OR, I remember it being bright..and filled with stuff, all kinds of machines...and being put onto the table...and nothing else. So, whatever is in that 'cocktail', I like. As, my biggest fear was the thought of being put under. I thought I would 'feel' it, like fading to 'black'...but I don't recall a thing.

The next thing I remember is a young man asking if I'm in pain. Think I said yes, but don't remember anything else till I was being wheeled into my room. The dr says my surgery was 'textbook' and my tumor was huge and my uterus was misshapen and huge, that it was like giving birth.

They put me in the pediatric wing, guess the others were full. I had great nurses, the first nurse Deb, had to check my vitals every half hour...guess my blood pressure was low. then there was Manju, who was very attentive and terrific all thru the night. Then there was Mary who had a very perky personality, she told me she has the same ob/gyn and fibroids and needs the same surgery...I told her, she can see that Dr. Dekhordi does great work (all the nurses commented on how small and 'cute' my stitches are). And Marsha, who was late checking me out, and very apologetic, but I understood...the babies come first. And apparently, there was an emergency situation with one that afternoon.

I did throw up the first time I got up. Guess that was 'leftover' from the anesthesia, but once I got that out, was fine. Was unable to pee....in fact when we tried again at midnight, Mudja told me if I wasn't successful, they would probably have to insert a catheter...it took a while, it still does, but I was successful!

Yes, there is pain. Across my abs, my shoulder and my ribs when I try to breath deep. They gave me a plastic breathing machine, which I'm to breath into 10 times every hour...I brought it home. It is this pain that has me up at 1:30 in the morning. Plus, I prefer to sleep on my side, so sleeping on my back is kinda difficult.

I came home after 5pm. Got my meds, 2 different pain killers I'm supposed to take together? A li'l confused. I've been alternating them, in fact I think the one I took 30 minutes ago is about to kick in...better make my way back to bed.

Then we get a call from dd, there are tornadoes where she lives. she's in Tarrant County in Fort Worth. Sounds like they got thru the worst of it...last night. But if you got thru this, please pray for them.

see ya'll....

As they say on hystersisters, I'm off for the castle!!

Just doing some last minute packing, regular morning cleaning...
hardest thing, not pee-ing cuz they want to do a preggo test...ha!!
anyways, makes the morning a li'l uncomfortable. And of course, I can't eat or drink anything, so no morning tea..siiiiigh.

so, my prince (dh) will take care of me thru Weds. Then my son and dil will be available, if needed, after that. HOPEFULLY, I'll be mobile by then.

so, my 6 week vacation starts now! ha!!!

gotta admit, getting nervous...

Another rain system is coming in. And we can still see the river from our porch, there just isn't much room for more water and run off. I'm thinking, I may pack up my finished scrapbooks this week and store them at ds and ddil's house. Just for peace of mind.

As, I am scheduled for my surgery this Monday, and afterwards, if there is the potential for flooding, I won't be any help.

And yes, I am getting more and more nervous about the surgery. Spent quite a bit of time yesterday on the hystersisters board...reading the pre-op and post-op forums.

Gotta go to work, don't know what I'll find. Hopefully, all's been smooth and I'll be quite bored. Looking forward to seeing what packages have arrived...expecting my ugly paper challenge will be there.

Starting to make lists...guess that is actually the kind of thing I do when nervous. aye yi yi.

prepping and genesis of a rather difficult layout...

been shopping, got one of these for the upcoming surgery, abdominal binder, am thinking of getting a bed pillow...don't know what it is called, but the type that helps you sit up in bed...that has arms.

been thinking of getting a 'walker'...what do you think? I know you can rent crutches, wonder if you can rent one of those from a place like CVS.

While in Texas, I started 4 layouts from dd's bachelorette party, THIS one turned out to be quite difficult. To start with, the wall color behind her is sorta dark and the first few pp's I chose, just did not work. So, I got this American Crafts pp and decided to go with diff color matts, I do like how it brought that wall color down...


but...the layout just seems so unfinished. And no matter what I embellished with, it just did not work for me. Then I saw this lo in an old Making Memories magazine, hmmmm,
even though it features a single pic, could I use it as an inspiration??

So, found this old Love Elsie spreadsheet pp, got some of the colors in the American Craft and came up with this...



Normally, I'm a 'slap it down and go' type of scrapbooker, so for a lo to take at least 3 days...is a lot of time for me to put into a single lo. But, I like it.

So, this is the next one, pics from the limo...shall I use the crown dd saved me? and how?


I REALLY should try to work on some cards today, signed up for another Pick A Theme ATC swap on scrapbook.com...and these are going to take some thought...(I linked it, as we could use more swappers)

how many trips to Hobby Lobby?

its right around the corner...so, yes, I've made 2 trips. The first time was before NSD, so no sales, of course I "managed" to find a couple of things. Like a snoopy surf stamp and a stamp that says " One shoe can change your life - Cinderella"
Also picked up a pack of their black cardstock, by Paper Studio...can't say I'm impressed, they feel 'light' and more fibrous. But I figured it would be good for backgrounds.

Today, there were some sales. Picked up a paperpack that I think will be good for my Venice pics. Kinda the traditional/fancy patterns in shades of blue and brown, instead of just shades of black.

Also, one quick trip to Michaels, dd's paper trimmer needed a blade replacement...so, HAD to go and get one. Also picked up a pack of their Recollections cardstock in black, just in case the changed blade did not help with the Paper Studio pack (it did)...so, I'm leaving the Recollections with dd's collection.

Not that dd really scraps, she has 'dabbled'...but we maintain a corner of one of their guestrooms for me when I visit. She has a great collection..I left her some of my Bad Girl kits, and lots of sparkle!! Maybe when life slows down for her, she'll 'dabble' again. Right now, she works full time and is working on her Masters...so, she's a li'l busy.

We've been doing something fun on this trip. The morning we left, we stopped by the business, to drop of dh ...and my co-worker, Francine gave my dgd a stuffed duck that sings 'singing in the rain'. So, as we go places, we've been taking pics of dgd with the duck...so, I'm gonna make a couple of mini albums. One for Francine and one for dgd...a momento of the trip. Think I'll just do a couple of 'paper bag' albums.

having fun in the DFW!!

My son in law (sil) graduated last Thurs...so, I've been in Tejas since Weds...can i just say I LOVE it here. All of us, but dh, were able to make it. So, I've got all the kids, and I am one happy momma/grandma.

Let's see, the first night sil bbq'd ribs and fish and we had 'dirty rice'...after graduation we went to Posada's and had Mexican Food..Fri morning the 'boys' left for a camping trip and us girls kept it 'mellow', gave the 2 year old a day without travel. Though of course, while the girls went to Kroger, gma snuck over to the Hobby Lobby.

Sat we took dgd to the kids museum and planeterium, she had a great time.
I did get to do a couple of pages for NSD (National Scrapbook Day) (bet ya'll didn't know we had our own 'day', did ya?)

The first 3 days, I was in a hotel, as the kids had a houseful, with sil's family here from Oklahoma. OH! the last night in the hotel, the fire alarm went off! So, I got a li'l excitement waiting outside for the 'all clear'. I often wonder what I'd do in case of an emergency. I do tend to study those maps and make note of exits...after that fire years ago...in a club, where they say most of the people rushed the entrance and that not many used the side exits. So, wherever I go, I make note of those side exits. any ways, i did stay calm and exited the building. But thinking about it, I did forget to check the door for heat. Luckily, the room fire was in the other wing and nowhere near me. Of course, you know, I took pics of the emergency vehicles.

Last night was fun, the kids made me a chicken enchilada dinner - yummmy!!! Then dd and I 'worked it off' with Jillian Michaels. We set up in the computer room...with dgd and dd's 2 dogs. Talk about fun! Yeah, do not highly recommend working out in a small room with 2 dogs and a 2 year old. But lots of laughing! While dd was doing the 'plank' movements, her smaller dog got underneath her and was chewing on her hair! and doing the abs on the floor...lets just say dd and I were parallel to each other, dgd chose a perpendicular position with her feet landing in my face!! Oh well, laughing burns calories, too.

Today is a girl's day, mani's and pedi's and shopping with the guys in charge of dgd. Hey, they got their camping trip..teehee. The only thing, ds went on a ride-a-long with a friend who is an Arlington police officer, did not get home till after 7 this morn...but sil says he'll take baby duty, actually, sil is really good with kids...and dgd just loves her 'unca cwis' and her 'auntie c c'.

It's been a good visit, though I've indulged in a couple of my meals, the rest I am doing Jenny Craig, I haven't over indulged..though last night, I was tempted. You know, how your tummy can be full but your mouth wants 'just one more'...though with my kids here...they are keeping me 'in line'. darn. and yay!!