Happy Heart Day!

Paula shame on you for playing hookie! Or did you. I did 45 of the fork bows in Florida for my mom. It works really well and makes pretty little bows.

Nancy I hadn't thought of Craigs list for getting rid of unwanted craft supplies. What a great idea! No pasta for me. Jim still has a bad cough and scratchy throat a week after the cold. Yuck I loaded up on Vitamin C, and echinacea tea.

Well I cooked a really good dinner tonight. Jim loved it. We had mushroom stuffed beef tenderloin with merlot sauce, almond green beans, and a side salad. Next up are dark chocolate covered strawberries with white chocolate swirls. And I am finishing off the bottle of Merlot I opened for the sauce or rather Jim finished it. I only have one glass.

Hope everyone had a very sweet day!

good morning all. I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day. We had a big salad and baked salmon with a rosemary citrus seasoning. I spent the day working on the box of cfs to be shipped on Monday. I have cards coming today that will need to be added.
I have also been working on my research. Discovered another tidbit for Harold and I am trying to figure out how to follow up on it. He is like a jigsaw puzzle and I keep finding pieces that have fallen on the floor.
Lizzy, I hope everything goes well in Houston and Sarah finds the perfect dress. Have a safe flight and enjoy this special time with her.
Paula, I had seen those "fork" bows on pinterest and tried a few. I found they were too bulky using grosgrain and the thicker satin ribbons, to use on cards. It was fun to try them though.
Carrie, sorry about the MB problems the other day. Seems like every time they do maintenance, it takes a day for everything to kick in. Very frustrating. Anyway, I hope you can get back to the Rome pages.
Nancy, Sorry the cold is hanging in there. I didn't do the headstones yesterday. We had gotten a heavy dusting of snow and while it melted off quickly, I didn't want to tromp through the wet ground. We have more chances of snow/rain this afternoon, tonight and tomorrow, so it might be Sunday. We wont get much accumulation, if any. I think I heard less than inch.
Laurie, how goes the purging and painting?
Rhonda, hope all is going well for you.

Just to let you all know, I will be awol for the next few days. They took me back to surgery this morning. It's not good! Darn radiation: the gift that keeps on giving!

Carrie, you're in my thoughts and prayers. Please keep us posted when you can. (((HUGS)))

Good morning all...

Carrie, sending {{{HUGS}}} your way and hoping for a speedy recovery.

Nancy, hope you have kicked your cold and on to better things. How are you doing on your tax detail input? It is so nice when that task is done for another year. Also nice to have the licensing process completed as well.

Pat, glad you continue to find tidbits about Harold. Hope the birth certificate yields more information for you.

Laurie, I can understand D's hesitation about such a big move. But at least now you have a plan - just have to see how it plays out. At any rate you are making great progress on the house. If you end up moving - the house will be ready to sell. If you end up staying - what nice changes that you can enjoy!

Lizzy, sounds like you had a great Valentine Day with the students. Hope you are enjoying the weekend with DD and can make some great progress on the wedding plans. I envy you only having 60 days of work time!

Paula, I have not seen Downton Abby but I am thinking I need to look into it. I had not heard of it until recently - didn't even know it had been on so long. Do you have the disc set or are you watching it on something like Netflix? I need to find something like that as it seems Network TV really doesn't have much to offer now.

I have been working on tax work etc. But I think today I may take some time to do some crafting. I took Amber out for dinner last night. We had a really good chat. She is really maturing now - I see so many changes each time I see her. She is so excited that she has a part in the school play next month, so I made sure she put the date on my calendar so I don't miss her performance! Looks to be cold and windy today so will spend the day inside. Hopefully I can find some crafting mojo!

Will check in later!

Good afternoon everyone!

Rhonda your words about my world are perfect. It puts everything into perspective for me. Thank you. Between what you said and Lizzy's wisdom, I'm ready to just fix up the house and see what happens. Wanting to leave IN in 4 or 5 weeks was just my frustration talking. So we will just wait and see. How nice that you got to spend time with Amber. I hope you found your mojo!

Paula, I'm glad Deb made it out of surgery ok. So sweet of you to cook for others while cooking for your family. We keep getting spits of snow today. That's it.

Today is more purging. I wish I could take the emotions out of it. I keep so much because I'm "scared" to let go of the memory. Like yesterday, D cleaned under the sink in the bathroom. I had some tealights under there and for years (ever since we moved into the house)along with a frame. The frame is like a film stip and holds 4 pics. The end of it goes into a Fugi film canister. I've kept it all these years because my Dad owned a 1 hr Fuji photo place. He didnt' give me the frame so I don't know what the attachment was. D threw it in the garbage and I saw it. At first I got kind of upset but then I thought...I don't need that. I'm so glad he threw it away cause I don't think I ever would. I asked him about it today and he said he didn't realize it was a frame and apologized for throwing it away. But I thanked him. He's confused now LOL Maybe I should just sent him into my craft room and let him have at it...NOT! I just need to learn to let go of stuff I don't need. I'm heading in there now We'll see what happens. I have 1/2 of a large garbage bag filled from yesterday. Hope I can fill it to the rim today!

Have a great Saturday everyone!

Later!

Good morning...

Laurie, you are making steady progress. Letting go of things can be difficult but can also be so very beneficial. Hope you continue to make good progress in your craft area. Congrats on more sales! How are you selling them? Hope you were able to get all the items at Lowes.

Paula, did you get your cookies made?

I did spend some time crafting yesterday. I used the free cuts in CCR to make an exploding photo box. I cut it in various shades of pink and will then use add photos and embellishments when the new granddaughter makes her arrival! Not sure if I will keep it or give it to Cody and Drew. Made a few other cuts as well to have ready to make quick cards. So I think I accomplished something.

Today I am going to Kansas City with a friend. Going to see her sister first, them maybe do a bit of shopping. Don't need anything but nice to get away and spend the day with a friend!

Hope everyone has a great day!

Hello

Getting ready to hit the road.

Yes we did make cookies, a ton of them. I doubled the recipe not realizing how many it would make. These are cookies my MIL made and I have never made them.
I also made a bunch of meals.

CARRIE!! I finished season 3 of Downton Abbey last night. UGH!! Now I find out there is no season 4 yet??? Double UGH!!

Gotta run! Be back tomorrow night. :)

Hello all....

Had a fun time in Kansas City. Stopped at Archiver's and picked up some little pink embellishments for the exploding box. Can't wait until I have pics so I can finish the box.

Pat, the Mini boxes is another of the freebies this week with the card one. The exploding box is in that one. I too have walked a cemetery twice and not find a stone that was supposed to be there. Sometimes I just couldn't read it - other times I never could find it. Hope you have more success.

Carrie, glad to see you still have your spunk! Not going to let a little infection get you down! You Go Girl! I know you will still enjoy Cancun.

I know you have already left, but safe travels Paula.

I think I will relax and finish watching Amazing Race. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

good morning and Happy Birthday to all the presidents. I typed a post last night, was already to post it and lost my connection to the board and the post.
So here I am again.
Carrie, I can imagine your frustration at this point. At least you do recognize the positive side. I agree with Rhonda, that you will still have a good time soaking up the sun in Cancun.
The free cuts I did on CCR were from Creative Cards (I think it is called). I did the window box. I might try to do a few more if I have the time.
Rhonda, I looked at the Mini books cart, but didn't realize it had an exploding box. What size did you cut it at? I have seen instructions for making them on the MB, but never tried one.
Glad you had fun with your friend and shopping at Archiver's. I do wish the one in NC was more convenient for when we are down there. Once winter weather breaks here, maybe we will get to Cleveland for a visit. There is at lest one there, maybe two.
Laurie, sounds like you have a good start on the bathrooms, and making decisions is always hard. I would like to replace the cabinets and flooring in 2 of ours.

I finished all the things on my list yesterday, plus a couple that popped up. Today I need to get the CFS box ready to ship tomorrow. Just need to seal it up. I also want to get more pictures printed for page kits. Picked a few out yesterday for society album pages, so maybe I can get the papers today and titles cut.

Going to get busy now. Have a great day everyone.

Edited by user Monday, February 18, 2013 7:56:58 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Hi friends...and happy President's Day!

Carrie.....I am so very sorry to hear about this latest set-back with your surgery. What a pain...both real and psychological! You have suffered enough for this last surgery and now having to undergo this is enough! I'm really sorry. Cancer, boo! I'm thankful you have your life and have beaten cancer, but it doesn't make the pain and agony of all you have had to undergo any less painful and unrelenting.

Laurie, backing off from moving right away may not be the worst thing ever. If you end of staying in Indiana for another year or so, you will have a fixed-up home you will enjoy more than ever. You can continue to work on your purging efforts and enjoy the feel of a scaled-down home. I know you wanted to escape the area for many reasons, but for whatever reason, it didn't feel "right" for Dion to go right now. And, it has to feel right for both of you since you are in this together.

Pat, as always you are a busy lady. Keep on your path...don't stray too far.

Rhonda, it's great you got to spend some time with Amber and get your upcoming play on your agenda. I, too, would like to know what they are performing! I'm also glad you had a nice trip to KC.

Nancy, glad to know you are moving along with your taxes. I've not touched mine as yet.

Paula, I'm glad you went up to see your dad. I like your thinking about the monster house, too. Your cooking for others is always so nice. Once I retire, I may have to look into Downton Abbey. Is the British difficult to understand?

The weekend in Houston was quite productive. It was also the All-Star NBA Basketball weekend, so the city was very crowded with visitors for that major event. We went to the super-huge mall on Friday night to get a few items from Nordstrom and it was absolutely mobbed. Fortunately, Nordstrom was not mobbed, though. We readily got what we wanted. On Saturday, we went to David's Bridal and Sarah tried on about ten dresses...however, it was the 2nd dress that brought tears to my eyes and was the one she ended up getting. It looks fabulous on her and looks both sophisticated and fun. If you want to see it, send me an email and we'll talk about it privately!
From there, we moved into buying shoes, and dealt with alterations. Unfortunately, all of that process brought up lots of emotions with Sarah, mainly related to her motorcycle accident and some of the left-over feelings she has about how she looks.

(Recently, she went to see the doctor about a cold she had that didn't go away after several weeks. The doctor assumed she had had a cleft lip repair and made a referece to "her cleft lip repair..." which is actually the repair of her lip/nose from the motorcycle accident. My own opinion was the doctor just had terrible interviewing techniques/bedside manners, but Sarah felt like her scarring must be horribly obvious.)

Anyway, after we got through all that emotion, we proceeded with the purchase of the dress and headed out.

On Sunday, we returned to change out the shoes to a shorter heel, picked the color of her bridesmaid's dresses, and did a few more things. At home, we chose an invitation, and did a bunch more stuff.

I sent an email asking to proceed with a confirmation of the venue for the reception...so we are making progress. I am eager to get the reception plans finalized completely and move on. I want to get my dress selected and then move on to some of the more fun things. We decided to make gift bags to go to the guests when they arrive in Vegas to help make their stay a bit more pleasant...bottles of water, snacks for the room, chips for the casino, etc. I'll put those together in April when I'm off from work. Terry said he would help me purchase stuff and load up the bags. We can drive them to Vegas in our car. I think it was a great idea Sarah came up with.

OK...I've got to go and write sub plans for tomorrow. I'll be at work, but will be in a day-long meeting....so I"ve got to get this all done so I can breeze in there early and pop it into my classroom! Everyone take care.

Hugs....

good evening everyone!

Paula, glad you didn't have any weather problems on your drive home. Glad you had a good visit.

Lizzy, that doctor sucked. I'm sorry that Sarah had to go through that. Would love to hear more on the dress. the first one I tried on is the one that brought tears to my friend, her daughter and my eyes so I bought it. i wasn't even there to buy one. I was having mine made and only went to see what kind of style I wanted LOL The gift bag idea is a great idea!

Pat...a completed list! Awesome! What is the CCR you guys are talking about?

Carrie, spunk or tude...good to have!

Nancy and Rhonda, hope you had a great Monday.

My floor is in. tomorrow will be the new toilet and my cool vanity. All we have left in the little bathroom is the mirror which is just a black framed mirror and the lighting. In that bath it will be brushed nickel. I don't know if we will change the fixtures in the tub. I'm on the fence with that.

That's all folks!

Later!

Good morning... this morning I have hairapy, so I am going to try to get the house tidied up before I leave and then run a couple errands. App't is at 11.

Lizzy, you made great wedding progress with Sarah. I am sorry about the Dr and her feelings though. I have heard of people doing hotel bags for guests, but never knew anyone who did it. I think it is a great idea. And yea for Terry offering to help you with getting them ready.

Laurie, your bathroom is progressing right along. We ended up not going to Lowe's yesterday, which was jut as well. How is the scrap room purging going? CCR is the Cricut Craft Room.

Carrie, 4 pages for Rome is good. I printed all the photos yesterday for the society album. That will get that album caught up. I have the background papers picked, just need to pick solids for matting the pictures. I keep those pages simple, so they should go quick at the crop. I am also using papers from an old BG mat stack I have had forever. That is one way to purge stuff out.

Paula, glad you had a good time at your Dad's. What are you up to this week?

Rhonda, I hope your area gets a decent amount of snow, since you need it so badly. We have rain this afternoon, which is why I want to get the errands ran this morning.

Well, I need to get off here and see about vacuuming. I probably should have done more over the weekend, but too late now.

Good evening everyone!

You all must be busy today! LOL

The bathroom is done...well except for the mirror and lighting. I am also going to buy a new shower curtain to match better. I love my sink! This one is only 24 inches long. They have a 40 inch one to that will fit perfectly in my other bathroom. don't know if we'll get it because the other bath has a nice vanity but it's oak and I don't think it will match the new floor in there LOL We'll see. I really like the brushed nickel faucet. Can't wait for the mirror and light! Have both already picked out. I am planning on using my old sink and toilet outside. The toilet will have flowers in it and the pedestal sink will become a bird bath. In my backyard of course and if we are staying here for a while.

It's been cold here all day...after having 60+ yesterday. Just looked outside and it's spitting snow again. I just want winter to be over with! My skin is so dry right now that it's hard to sleep. I feel so itchy! I have actually been sleeping better, except for that.

Thursday I will be prepping the other bathroom for painting and finish that up over the weekend. I am supposed to go see Safe Haven this weekend with some friends from the casino and me and one of them may also go to a wine tasting trail. My friend Tess who lives in a huge log cabin on a hill with 45 acres wants to open a winery in her lower level. She has the perfect spot for it. So we would like to take the tours to "case" the other wineries

D spoke with his former supervisor tonight on FB. He has been off the last 3 days because of the flu. He went back today but never had the opportunity to check his email. He's waiting for the application from HR. I'm getting scared that HR is yanking his chain and actually doesn't want him coming back. I hope his former supervisor isn't yanking his chain because D considers him a friend. They go back to day 1 over 16 years ago. I don't know why they wouldn't want someone back who does his job, goes to work everyday and is very loyal. I know he quit but he did it properly. They are also in desperate need of dealers because they are losing so many to Horseshoe in Cinci which is opening in 2 weeks. Anyway, he told him to call tomorrow morning and he'll make sure he checks the email. Please say a little prayer for him. I would actually be ok with him not getting back because that means we will be in FL sooner but I want this for him. He is feeling so rejected right now and has come to the realization that all there is for him around here is the casino and he will feel even more rejected if they reject him. He's a good man and a hard worker...they would be crazy not to want him back.

I am enjoying a nice hot cup of decaf coffee and it is yummy. Wish I had a brownie to go with it LOL

Oh, Sadie is finally back in the tub. She didn't go in there till about 11:30 She's a silly dog

Later!

Good afternoon.

I got up early this morning. Misty wouldn't settle down so I got up a little after 5 with her. I then did 2 Rome pages and have finished the Vatican! Then i went to Reflexology, the bank and the grocery store to get snacks and prescriptions for the trip. Went to lunch with my good Italian friend. Now sometimes she is difficult to understand. Now my night tour of Rome photos are printing and I am resting. I have no trouble at all with the accents on DA. Maybe because I used to that accent and then have friends with Italian accents, various spanish accents and even some American accents. Jonathan used to talk in an English accent just for fun.

Laurie I haven't seen the sink. FB? You are really going to town on that house. What are you going to do with yourself when you are done if you don't go to Florida?

Paula have fun at Deb's and the fashion show. There really aren't that many good movies this year. I really don't know why. Maybe they're not out on DVD yet.

Lizzy I would love to see the dress. I bet she looks beautiful. You are really moving right along on this wedding.

Pat I have been using older papers on this album because the newer ones are just too bright and busy for European photos. Basic Grey usually has some muted papers that work well but I haven't found them anywhere.

Well I heading up to cut the photos and see what I have to enhance them.