My Weblog

Saving Private Ryan

Well, here we sit, watching Saving Private Ryan for what must be at least the 25th time.  I love this movie and so does Joe.  But, since I have seen this so often, it's not exactly a cliff hanger for me, so I can tear myself away to update the blog.

Last night was kinda fun.  There is a young man, Chad, who became a friend of DD's while she was in high school.  He even lived with us for quite a while and I've teased him ever since about being his "other mother".  He is a computer whiz, a born-again Christian, and an all around great guy.  He's not perfect, but he is a young man to admire.  I think, perhaps, I might have had a bit to do with that born-again Christian thing, and I take great joy in that thought.  He is the proud papa of three cute kids, Michaela age 6, CJ age 4, and Lexi, age 2.  They've had quite a financial struggle in spite of the fact that he is one of the best guys with a computer I've ever seen.  Well, he's being courted by one of the biggest employers in town, an employer with a reputation as being THE place to work in terms of pay scale, environment, benefits, etc.  He and his wife were to go out to dinner last night with his prospective boss.  They came up short a babysitter at the last minute.  They called everyone they knew but couldn't find anyone who could watch the kids.  SO, Joe and I took them.  They are really cute kids and extremely well behaved.  Our biggest problem in the 14 hours we had them was that Michaela is scared of dogs.  I got some cute pictures of "Grandpa Joe" dishing out ice cream with the three little ones gathered around him.  I'll certainly have to scrap them soon.

I am intentionally not including information about Jason, my son-in-law here.  But, we had Will, our DGS, Thursday night for his last Bubba ball game.  The kids are so cute and we just sit there and cheer for the little guys and giggle.  It's a real break from the stress we've had lately.  After the game, the coach had lanyards with medals on them engraved for each player and it was all so cute and touching.  Those little kids were SO excited to receive them.  Tuesday night is the team party and I have a hunch we'll be on for that too.

Well, it's late and I need to get to bed.  I'm going to post some layouts and then toddle off to bed.

This page was done for a photo swap between members of the Creative Team for Christy Sturm at Butternug Squash Designs.  I used her Pool Water Kit.  I selfishly wanted to scrap my own pictures, not someone else's, but after I got into it, I had fun.  The baloons are from a kit called Celebrate by Terry Maruca.

This page was my Mother's Mothers Day "card".  I just inserted the words "Happy Mother's Day" under the two pictures.  This page was done with a kit called Secret Garden--Mother May I by Deb Pearson.  Mom likes purple and flowers, so it seemed perfect.

This is done with a kit by Bella Gypsy Designs called Mom's Rock.  The doodle is by Taran Conyers.  Journaling says:  Throughout most of Jennifer's childhood, it seemed that we were way too often short of funds.  I suppose that is the universal story of the single mom who doesn't receive child support.  But we were unusually blessed by a woman we called "Aunt JoAnne".  Aunt JoAnne, my good friend, made a practice of sending Jennifer dresses that were so beautiful we called them Princess Dresses.  Everytime she wore one of these dresses she looked like a little princess.

This page was done for Lynn Grieveson's Creative Team with her "Backyard Explorer" kit.  I love this kit and will probably use it a zillion times more.  Journaling says:  When Jennifer and Jason got engaged.  Will was convinced that "we" were going to get married.  And, of course, "we" included him.  So, when Grandma, Jennifer and Jason went to take engagement photos, he was certain he should be in the pictures, even if he had to sneak in.  Love you, Will!

This was done for Lynn Grieveson's Creative Team with her kit called Spring Party.  The little girl is a sweetie named Olivia.  She is a friend of DGS and is incredibly pretty and photogenic.  I took this photo at the petting zoo at the Children's Discovery Museum when we were there for Will's birthday.  The journaling says:  Olivia is such a girly-girl.  She was none too sure she wanted to touch the smelly animals at the petting zoo. 

This also is for Lynn Grieveson's Creative Team.  I did it with her Spring Picnic kit.  The photo was deteriorated, but I used Virtual Photographer filters on it and made it presentable.  It was taken at one of the worst times in my life.....a time when that little girl in my arms was about all I had to hang onto.  She was a real blessing, and I believe her to have been sent From God's Arms to Mine. 

Well I was feeling mighty bad

about not keeping this blog up to date until I started checking the last dates some of the bigtime designers post.  I found one who hasn't posted since 4/24.  Actually worse than me!  It's amazing how few of them post daily.  So, I will stop beating up on myself.

I DO have a valid excuse.  I've actually been working daily on another blog.  My Son-in-law was mugged on 5/7/06.  He ended up as a John Doe in the emergency room of one of our local hospitals.  Six minutes later, he was in surgery, having been diagnosed with a fractured skull and bleeding in the brain.  You can check that out at http://updateonJason.type.pad.com.  We've been posting daily updates.  It helps to cut down a bit on the phone calls. 

Around here, my worst nightmare has come true.  Joe has moved his office into the house.  He talks to himself, reads his e-mails aloud, slams things around, and just generally does everything in the world to make noise.  Gone are my peaceful days and I sorely miss them.  I feel like I get less than half done of what I used to accomplish.  I NEED to get some ear plugs; I really do.

Not much other news.  I'm going to post some layouts here.  After all, that's mostly what this blog is all about.

This page was done with Lynn Grieveson's Backyard Explorer kit.  It shows what WAS Punkin's favorite hide out when we brought her home.  With all the cords back there, we chased her out of there pronto!  I love this kit of Lynn's and have used it over and over as you'll see.  Journaling says:  When we first adopted Punkin, she insisted on crawling into a small space behind my computer desk.  You know--that space where there are about a thousand electrical cords.  We lost no time blockading her out of there.  Little did we know that three months later, she'd find another cord to chew on--the one connected to the cable modem.  Thanks to her, I was unable to print tax returns for 3 days during the height of tax season.  GRRR!  Why does this dog remind me of Hooch?

Journaling says, Colorado's red rock area is famous.  But, I'm not sure it can rival this simple scene.  This is known as "Heavenly Valley".  To me, this is the Western USA in a photo.  I love the cattle grazing amidst the volunteer winter wheat and the desert vegetation, juxtaposed against the gorgeous red rocks of Utah. This is one of my favorite photos EVER.  I took this on the way to Kolob Reservoir in Southern Utah.  I don't know why; it just tugs at me.  THIS is done with Lynn Grieveson's Backyard Explorer too.

This kit is called Crayons and it is by Bella Gypsy Designs.  I love the bright primary colors for kid pictures.  The photo itself was done by a professional but I thought the background worked well with the kit.  I think you can read the journaling.  Oh, BTW, the word art was a freebie from Designer Digitals.

Journaling says:  One thing about Jennifer--she's always looked amazingly young.  Here she is, a young mother, a busy college student, dealing with financial stresses, relationship stresses and more, and look at that baby face.  Recently she had her eyes checked.  Upon learning she was about to graduate from Law School, he asked if she was "having work done" to look older!  I should have such problems! This was done with a kit from Bella Gypsy Designs.  The spray of flowers is done by Mindy Terasawa, one of my favorite designers.  I thought Jen's conversation with the eye doctor was so funny, particularly because EVERYONE thinks she's a young teenager when they see her without make-up.  Just HAD to scrap it.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Jennifer and Will.  I just LOVE the way he is looking at her in this photo.  I've scrapped this before and I had to do it again when I ran across it on my hard drive.  The kit is Sherbetilicious by Jasbeanie and the doodles are by Taran Conyers.  I found this little poem and thought it was perfect to go with the page.  It says "Where there was dark, now there is light.  Where there was pain, now there is joy.  Where there was weakness, I've found my strength, all in the eyes of a boy."

This last is a two page spread.  I used Debbie Pearson's Tea Party kit for it.  The doodles are from Gina Cabrera's freebies.  I recolored the flower to match the layout.  I found that many of my old photos stored "safely" I thought, were deteriorating so I've made a real effort to scrap them as quickly as possible before they are even harder to restore.  So, you'll be seeing a lot of old photos of Jennifer featured in upcoming layouts.

Journaling says:  When my good friend Jill Page moved to San Francisco, it was a real loss. But, we really enjoyed it when she came home to Vegas for a visit.  In the summer of 1983, she appeared with a kite!  I'd never flown a kite and, so, of course, neither had Jen.  We had a great time in the athletic field at the local high school, flying it.  Jennifer kept shouting 'Up, Up, and E-ay' which was her way of saying "Up, Up, and Away!"