My Weblog

on the subject of health

Well, I guess the next update will be with regard to health. 

First, we'll talk about diet.  I've basically done my best to swear off carbs.  Most days, I'm pretty successful.  I'm finding it requires pre-planning, however.  For example, I am usually up somewhere around 6:30AM.  But, I don't get hungry til around 10:30.  And by then, we're pretty close to lunch, so I don't want to eat anything big and then try to figure out what to eat for lunch.  I've finally hit on the plan of having a little cottage cheese about 10:30 and that seems to be enough to tide me over. 

I have been doing better with the cooking.  We are having some carbs in our meals, but they are complex carbs, not refined stuff, so way better for us.  I'm using LeAnne's lo carb and crockpot menu mailers and we've pretty much really enjoyed everything I've made.  The only exception might be the crockpot mushroom soup I made.  Didn't love that..........  I've got a flank steak marinating in a combination of orange juice, low sodium soy sauce and garlic right now which I'll throw onto the Foreman Grill in a few minutes.  We're having Spinach fried in a little olive oil with some garlic and some steamed cauliflower.  We'll have plenty to eat and very low refined carb consumption.

We re-thought the whole "freeze 22 meals ahead" thing.  Neither of us could talk ourselves into buying/cooking all that.  I'm going to try doing a lot of crockpot stuff.  If that fails, LeAnne's Saving Dinner website now has groups of 5 meals made with the same meat.  Five chicken recipes, five beef recipes, and so forth.  I may do some of those and put them in the freezer for the hardest days.  And, I still reserve the right to cook 3 days in a row and then have a dinner out.  So, hopefully with these plans, we'll limp through. 

Joe has been pretty darned faithful about climbing on the treadmill at least 5 days a week.  Unfortunately, the treadmill is now malfunctioning.  We don't know what is wrong with the darn thing.  Somedays, it'll go for 22 minutes and then just STOP!  Other days, it'll only go 14 minutes and then it STOPS!  Joe keeps promising to call Sears about getting it serviced (it's a Pro-Form, a brand sold by Sears), but he hasn't.........Gee, it's only been doing this for about two and a half weeks now.....wouldn't want to rush into anything. 

I have been doing less well with the treadmill.  It all starts with my last visit with my doctor.  For reasons never explained, he cut my BP meds in half.  I honestly don't know whether it was an error on his part or whether he had some demented idea I didn't need that much.  But, ever since, I've been seeing soaring BP readings everytime I take my BP.  So, I started taking an extra pill everytime I took my BP and got one of those scary readings.  It hasn't been quite up to the dose I was taking before he cut it, but higher than the current prescription.  I am well aware that being on the treadmill will ultimately result in helping my blood pressure, but when it is soaring, I just don't want to get on there and raise it further.  I had scheduled an appointment to see the Doc Monday, but he called in sick.  So, I spoke to his nurse and she wrote me a new script at the old, higher dose.  So, as far as the blood pressure goes, I think I can climb back on the treadmill with gay abandon.

But............today we have a new problem.  I'm pretty sure it's temporary, but it is painful!  My right leg is really hurting right now.  It's not too bad when I sit down, but walking is pretty painful.  For the first few steps, I'm not sure I'm even going to stay upright.  I honestly think it's a result of the chair I sit in.  It is too low and that makes it uncomfortable for me to sit other than with my legs folded back under the chair.  And, I sit in this chair for hours upon hours every day.  I'm paying particular attention to how I sit and hope this thing will be better in a few days.  I notice that just sitting a little cockeyed with my leg outstretched makes those first few steps a little easier, so I think I'm on the right track here.

I'm trying to figure out what else I should tell you.  Well, let's see.  We're going out of town this weekend.  I'm really not sure I understand what this is all about, but Joe wants to go to Yuma and across the border to Mexico.  It was originally our intention to go the first part of this month but we were under way too much pressure to finish up some work.  But, it seems pointless to go now, at least to my way of thinking.  Yes, we save money on the prescription drugs.  But, I have at least a month's worth left.  That takes us to the first of March.  It's just 6 weeks then til April 15, when I will be on my knees, begging to get out of here.  If we go now, we end up paying for gasoline, motels, food on the road, boarding Punkin.  All that will certainly override any savings we will make on the prescription drugs.  So, why are we going now?  I have NO IDEA!  I've walked through all this with Joe, but he's still set on going.  I finally agreed on the condition that THIS time, if I want to stop and take pictures, Joe will actually stop! I might as well get some fun photos if we have to do this!

Oh, one other update.  We got a call from Matt, Joe's son, today.  He announced that he and Rochelle are getting a divorce.  We have no idea why..........  They were married on May 5, 2005.  That sure went downhill fast. 

Okay.....let's post some pages so I can go finish up dinner.

I really like this photo of DGS. Loved how he assumed the "head tilt" without ever being told about it. I won't get any more photos like this one--he's lost a tooth now. I did this with a mini kit by Bella Gypsy Designs called Cheerful. It's available at Elemental Scrap. The doodle is by Anna Aspnes (recolored) and the frame (recolored) is by Christine Borgfeld.

























This layout is from our tour of the Reagan Library. To get to the Reagan Library, one drives up this long and winding road. Attached to every lamp post is a photo of a US President along some details about his term as President. It makes the ride much more interesting and adds to the drama of the approach. Papers are from Sandra Boddington's Persimmons in Summer kit. Flower and binder clip by Gina Miller. Flourish is by Michelle Pearson. TFL, Marci

























When we were touring the Reagan Library, this was one of the things in the "gifts" area that tweaked me. This is a fully functional secretary style desk where the parts of the white house are the drawers. Amazing! I used a template by K Fredricks and the Mustard Mahem kit by Eve Recinella. The Leaf brush is by Laura Alpuche and the ric rak is from Acot's Sunkissed (recolored). The kraft paper is my new favorite--from Theresa Hernandez's Rhapsody in Rachel. Fonts are Book Antigua and Arial.

























Sometimes I am such a perverse person.....Lynn Grieveson created this gorgeous elegant kit called Silk Road. I got the idea I wanted to do a layout that would be really different with it and out popped Country Store, a tribute to all the fun stuff at the Cracker Barrel. All papers from Silk Road at Designer Digitals. The yellow felt flower and the seed packs are from various of the ACOT collaborative kits. Burlap flowers by Ali Folendore. The Red felt flower is recolored but designed by Robin Knight. Cardboard from Michelle Underwood.

























An ode to the developer of one of America's favorite desserts--the Toll House (chocolate chip) cookie. I pulled out an old recipe book and found this story as part of the introduction to the book. Everything here except the ribbon is by Katie the Scrapbook Lady and available at ACOT, her Everyday Cookies Papers and Everyday Cookies Digital Photo Stickers. The ribbon is by Saskia Bokkers.

























As you enter the grounds at the historic Yuma Territorial Prison, one of the first things you pass is the Reservoir/Guardhouse, a unique approach to saving water for prison use from the heat of the desert. The black paper is by Bad Candy. Striped and dotted papers by ACOT in their Relax and Rejuvenate kit. The flowers are from Ange Barton's Fifteen.

























This photo was taken during our tour of the Reagan Library. I intentionally used two photos overlaid to emphasize my journaling which talks about the amazing size of this plane. Flourish is by Mary Ann Wise. I've used the same turquoise paper twice, just lightened once--from Laura Alpuche's Easter Parade. The bow and alpha are from ACOT's Adventurous Spirit collab kit.

Loose ends

Well, I had occasion to read back through a number of previous posts this morning, and I've just left a lot of loose ends hanging.  Maybe I can tie some of them up with this post.  First, not in order of importance, but because it comes to mind--finances.  I had mentioned that the primary contractor who refers folks to Joe for mortgages decided to use someone else, a "friend of the family".  And, I had even mentioned that they got such poor service that they finally changed their minds, deciding that they would send Joe one in every two applications.  But, we were standing in faith for God to restore the other half to us as well.  Well, that has finally happened.  Unfortunately, we've still got challenges.  Though they've sent over quite a few deals and Joe is bringing in SOME money, I am appalled at how many people have bad credit.  And, while a lot of the folks who have bad credit are living paycheck to paycheck, there are quite a few who make LOTS of money and STILL have bad credit.  And, one of the sad things is that the lenders rely so very heavily on the FICO score.  FICO scores determine whether or not they will lend in a given situation, and FICO scores determine the rate of interest on the loan.  So, though the referrals are coming in, there have been a lot of turndowns.   And, people watch these Ditechdotcom or eloan or greentree or whatever commercials and don't realize that mortgage rates change every day and that what one borrower can get in terms of interest rate has little to do with what a different borrower can get.  So, people get the crazy idea Joe ought to be able to get them a 3rd mortgage, in spite of the fact they have little or no equity in their house, can't prove their income and their FICO scores are in the dirt at the same rate these guys are advertising on TV.  Well, folks, that isn't going to happen and if anyone tells you it is, he's a liar.  IF he can get those folks a loan, the rate is murderous.  But he talks to them honestly and tells them the facts.  And, it seems that many people don't like honesty.  So, they call someone else who sells them a bill of goods, charges them scazillion dollars in fees and closing costs and STILL hits them with a high rate.  But because they didn't level with the borrower up front, they got the borrower sucked in and over a time barrel--the deal is set to close before the borrower figures out how badly he's getting hosed.  And, then, generally, it's too late to go somewhere else.  It is hard to watch Joe work so hard and have people walk away.  I know from experience they will NOT find anyone who will work as hard and as efficiently for them as Joe will.  I know from experience they will NOT find anyone who will return every phone call, literally within 5 minutes or less.  I know from experience they will not find anyone who can close the average loan in about 3 weeks.  But, unfortunately, I have no clue how to communicate that to people.  One lady, here in town, works for a swimming pool company for whom Joe has done a lot of financing work.  Even though she talks to Joe 3 or 4 times a week, when she called Joe about buying a home and had all sorts of problems in her credit report, she didn't like what he told her.  She ended up going with someone else.  Well, guess what?  The someone else has now been arrested for fraud!  And she is, literally, in debt more than $10,000 for closing costs......  Now, she wants Joe to refi the whole deal, but, the lender stuck her with a 3 year prepayment penalty clause (standard around here is 2 year) and the penalties make the whole idea of refinancing is economically untenable because the penalty is so high, no matter how much she hates the lender, the agent, etc.  And, of course, someone else would do the deal anyway, figuring borrower beware, but Joe won't.  So, dear reader, if you are looking for a second mortgage or a third mortgage or a re-fi and you live in California or Nevada, leave a comment here and I'll have an HONEST mortgage broker get in touch with you.  You may or may not like what you hear from him, but you won't have to bend over for it, if you KWIM....

In the meantime, though I feel bad that Joe works so hard and we do not see the financial return we should see if people only were more educated about the borrowing process, we continue to pay our bills.  Every one, on time.  When Joe's business is slow, my accounting/tax practice is overwhelming.  When he's doing well, my work slows down.  I can only conclude that a) God is faithful, and b) we are right where he wants us for now.  We've really been looking over our finances trying to figure out what we can do to trim fat from somewhere, enough fat that we can begin to do some saving.   One of the problems is eating out.  I have to say that at the end of the day, particularly days like I've been having lately, it is amazingly difficult to stir up any enthusiasm to go into the kitchen and cook a decent dinner.  Joe would live on hot dogs and hamburgers if he could, but that's not healthy and we just can't do that.  And with tax season coming on, we needed a plan.  We decided to order the Mega Menu Mailer that is available through flyladydotcom.  We are going to work together and get 30 meals entrees into the freezer.  That way, dinner, at the end of a busy day, before a busy night, will not be such a challenge.  So, when I finish here, I am going to go through 30 recipes and weed out anything that looks like something Joe won't like and put together a grocery list.  I pulled some excellent crockpot recipes off the internet and I'll fill the holes with those and a few other favorites and try to layout a plan for at least the next 45 days.  That should cut down a lot on our expense.  Wish me luck; the idea of trying to prepare 30 meals is a daunting one, for sure. 

Well, that's it for today.  I'll do some more catch up tomorrow with more of those loose ends.  Now some pages and then off to my 30 recipes.....

Just a funny story about one of our less enjoyable experiences at The Paris. I used NDISB's free-with-small-purchase collaborative kit, Un Jour 'a Paris for this. This is a huge kit with 32 papers and more elements than I could count. I also used an old freebie by Holly McCaig for the "bling" centers of the flowers. TFL.

























I took this photo of Jen at her baby shower on October 7. Right on the edge, starting her 8th month pregnant. I liked the light on her hair. I used Kristin Cronin-Barrow's Radiance kit.

























I tried to impart to DH that part of a vacation was just sitting down and enjoying the sights. On the way back from the mission in Santa Barbara, he pulled off the road onto a little back road and we sat on a small hill, overlooking the beach just watching what was happening there. I couldn't get him out of the car, but it was better than cruising by at 80 mph...... We watched this little dog and giggled at his persistence for quite a while. I did the page with Sandra Boddington's Coastline Paper pack. The doodle is by Bad Candy, the stitching and shell are from ACOT's Relax and Rejuvenate kit. I used a template by Laura Burger.

























I took a number of pictures of windows and doors while touring the old missions and the Olivas Adobe. Why? Because they were set so deep, showing off the thickness of the walls. We speculated on the reasons for that, but it was not til I read a book about the missions that we found out the real reason. I used Misty Cato's Old Copper Penny for this page.

























During our trip to CA, we wandered around the downtown area of Ventura. Because of the demographics, we expected to see Spanish architecture and Mexican restaurants, and we did. We also expected to see buildings that had been around for a long time, since this area was first settled in the 1760's, and we did. We did not expect to see this beautiful Chinese style gate. I used Lynn Grieveson's Silk Road, which is new to the store at Designer Digitals today, for this layout. The embellishments next to the photo were made by me, extracted from the photo. I also slightly recolored the green in the kit to harmonize better with the colors in the photo.

























I SO much enjoyed the flowers that we saw everywhere in California. Here's another flower picture..... I did this on the day of Jen Wilson's last sale. After looking around a while in her store, I remembered just how much of her stuff I own which I've never used. So, here is a layout using Jen Wilson's Extraordinary Everyday from her Stories collection. The sketch is by FaerOak.

Note:  I was honored with a poem by Thena on this layout.  I've copied it below for you.

I had two pennies
That came from who knows whence
To buy a loaf of bread with them
Would seem to make most sense.

A lady was walking toward me
With a bouquet in her hands
Singing softly to herself
Making no demands.

But then I saw the lily
Whose lovely fragrance my spirit filled
A flower shared with me
From a field I had not tilled.

I offered my two pennies
As  payment, as I breathed a prayer
And was handed back the lily
And some bread she wanted to share.






























From our tour of the Reagan Library. DH and I are dog lovers so we got a kick out of this. It is a replica of the dog house the Reagans had for their dog while they were in the White House. Of course, President Reagan was known for his frequent overseas travel and Mrs. Reagan accompanied him. Inside the dog house is a dog-sized table complete with a table cloth and photos of the Reagans, to remind their faithful dog he was loved, even while they were gone. I used ACOT's Summer Blues for the page. The doodle is from Laura Alpuche's Signature Collection, recolored.

20 minutes out of the pressure cooker

Well, I THINK, that we are out of the pressure cooker for a few days.  We delivered everything we needed to deliver to the client who has been making our lives a living hell for months.  So, I am going to take a couple of days and do mundane things like laundry and finally taking down the Christmas tree.  Yes, I admit it.  It's the 24th of January and our Christmas tree is still up--I just couldn't take the time away from work to deal with it. 

It's not that we don't have other work, and it's not that the other work isn't important, but the relief comes from not having this man contact me EVERY day to find out if we are done with a project that has been about as close to impossible as anything I've ever tried to do.  And, we'll have to go back and re-work a lot of what we did, tie up loose ends, etc.  But, I have really wanted him off my back, and thank God, now he is.

I have very little news to report.  I've been buried in work for far too long to have any news.  So, I'm going to post some layouts and move on.  Maybe after a day or two of real life again I can actually figure out what is happening in my world. 

This is Jennifer's friend, Kerry-Frances, also known as KF. She has been a good friend to Jennifer, loaning her maternity clothes, and just this past Saturday hosting a Baby Shower for her. She did a beautiful job with the party and I'm nominating her for hostess of the year. I used Amanda Rockwell's "Soft" kit from "A Mother's Love Collection" at SBB. The lace doily is by Ronna Penner, and the mega swirls, used as a clipping mask for papers from the kit, are by Tracy Ann Robinson.
























Since May 17, DH and I both work from home. Yesterday he was cranky and I was sick and it wasn't a very good day. I thought of our recent trip to CA and that led to this photo. I think I just wanted to "sail away, far away" from here and since I couldn't, I scrapped it. I did this with Gina Cabrera's Beach Blues kit. Eyelets from Katie Pertiet's Magnolia Kit. It's simple, but I NEEDED simple yesterday. TFL, Marci

























These photos were taken in the Oxnard/Ventura area, of a house that is built of adobe which is more than 150 years old. It is now a city park, which saddens me. I'm sure the grounds looked very different before the transition..... I did this with Mirranda Reinhardt's La Hacienda kit. The postcard is from a freebie given away by Lawanna Desjardin yesterday.

























Had this photo of DGS with this funny look on his face and decided to scrap it. It's SO Will. The page is loosely based on a Shelle Pukas Template but I kept picking stuff off and putting different stuff on, so if you hate it, don't blame Shelle..... I used Lynn Grieveson's new kit Percentage Wise which is available at Designer Digitals today.

























One of the rooms at the Reagan Library is filled with gifts the Reagans received during their travels. What struck me most about this gorgeous thing was that someone just had too darned much time on their hands. There are 3000 pieces of folded paper in this thing! I used a freebie template by Shir Benovich and the kit is Harvest Hues by Bella Gypsy Designs, available at Elemental Scraps.

























This isn't a real lighthouse. It's part of a seaside village area near where we stayed in California. How 'bout that sky? I used Amanda Rockwell's "Unconditional" kit from her A Mother's Love Collection. You can find it at Sweet Shoppe Designs. The template is a freebie from Traci Sims.

























In the last few weeks DGS has had his 7th birthday, lost his first tooth, and started first grade. Usually when I see him he's running around in a tee shirt and torn jeans. He seemed so "old" in this button down shirt. I didn't know whether to smile with approval of the big boy I see coming, or cry for the little one who is growing up before my eyes. This page was done with Amanda Rockwell's "Strong" kit, also available as part of her A Mother's Love Collection, at Sweet Shoppe Designs. I spent about an hour last night, opening up folder after folder of templates, trying to figure out who did this one and I'm just stumped. Maybe I changed it so much I couldn't recognize it? Anyway, if it's yours, or you know whose it is, please post here.

Mostly just to post layouts

I have NOTHING of importance to say.  Hopefully that means this will be short and won't eat hours of my day just to type out.  Let's see..........  I saw Jennifer and the baby yesterday.  The pediatrician wanted to check out AJ's circumcision.  It's healing, but she was left with the unhappy task of soaking the gauze off and she was NOT amused at the thought.  The little turkey slept the entire time I was with her, through lunch and a trip to Bath and Body.  I couldn't believe it.  I even got him out of his carrier and walked him all around the restaurant and even that didn't wake him!  His birth weight 3 weeks ago was 7 pounds 13 ounces.  When he went to the doctor Tuesday, he weighed 9 pounds 2 ounces.  Yesterday, at 20 days, he weighed 9 pounds 11 ounces, just 2 ounces short of gaining 2 pounds in three weeks.  I think I'm going to nickname him "Pudge".  Surely if he keeps up gaining at this rate, the nickname will fit!

I spent hours last night backing up old layouts to CD.  My external hard drive is PACKED, so packed in fact, that I couldn't de-frag it any more.  Finally I ran out of CDs and gave it up for the night.  Hopefully I can persuade Joe to get me some more CDs today so I can keep up the effort.  In really looking at things, there's a lot I can move of the EHD and I NEED the space.  I'm getting a lot of great stuff  for free these days because of my creative teams and that's a wonderful thing, but it DOES eat up the storage space!

I'm still holding my breath about the new camera.  I'd hoped that telling Joe I was $70 short would motivate him to tell me to just go ahead and get the darn thing and charge the $70 to one of the credit cards, but no such luck.  So, holding my breath.

Well, MUCH to do today.  I've got to get with it.  I'm going to post some layouts and then get going on my to do list.  Later........

This is DGS's little friend, Olivia. She is such a feminine creature, even though she is only four. Though I'm told she has a less charming side, I've never seen it. The kit is Paper Lanterns by Theresa Hernandez, available at ACOT. This was done with a template by Keely Simpson, available at NDISB. The paper flowers are from Baja California, another Theresa Hernandez kit, at ACOT. Font is Angelica.

Another in the "tourist in our own home town" series. This time we visited the Paris. This is a sidewalk cafe that faces Las Vegas Boulevard. When I saw Ronna Penner's Laugh at Life, I knew the colors were perfect for this photo and had to have the kit. Everything is from that kit. Template by Shelle Pukas, font is Carolingia.

























I took this photo as we pulled off the freeway onto the shoulder along the Pacific Coast while we were in California. I used Lynn Grieveson's Island Winds, available today at Designer Digitals. The compass stamp, "postage stamp" and tile are from her Blue Water kit. The vellum flower is by Gina Miller.
























It occurred to me, when Jen Wilson had her recent sale, that I have piles and piles of her stuff I've never used. This photo is from our trip to the Reagan Presidential Library. A life-size statue of Reagan graces the front entrance. I used Jen's Early Autumn Bouquet Paper Pack and Elements and a templage by Dawn Wilson.

























When DH and I decided to play tourist in our home town, I wanted to play with my camera's night settings and get some shots of the exteriors. But, it's hard enough to get him to go down to The Strip in the afternoon; I have been totally unsuccessful with the evening idea. So, I grabbed this off the internet. Amanda Rockwell has a new collection due to hit the shelves at SBB today or tomorrow. Killer stuff in there, just wonderful. This is done with her new "Forever" kit which is part of her "A Mother's Love Collection".

























DGS has just started First Grade and is required to read aloud to Mom 20 minutes a day. His mom noticed he is bending way over to read (really close to the book) and then complaining that his neck hurts, so an Eye Exam was scheduled. I took this photo at the Optometrist's Friday. I used Ronna Penner's Laugh at Life for this. The paint stroke is by Michelle Coleman.

























Inside The Venetian, through the shopping wing and around the casino to the outside, runs the gondola ride. It costs a pretty penny, but if you're in a romantic mood, might be just the thing to do. With the yellow/golden lighting spilling from the shop windows, it's quite a sight. I used Amanda Rockwell's new kit "Fun" from her new collection "A Mother's Love" for this. You can find it at SBB. I love, love, love the colors in this one...... Fonts are Century Gothic and Scriptina.

























I really think this is a weed. This photo was taken in Central Oregon by a family friend (uncle of my son-in-law) but we have a "weed" similar to this here. This was done with Amanda Rockwell's "Gentle" kit from her new collection "A Mother's Love". You can find her new collection at SBB. I also used a "Launchpad" template by Bree Clarkson. Fonts are Century Gothic and Scriptina.

Happy New Year......

Well, at last the household is somewhat back to normal.  We've had Joe's daughter here with us from California for a week.  Joe took her to the airport today around 2.  She's a good kid and is no trouble, but the fewer people milling around, having conversations, trying to walk over the dogs, etc., the easier it is for me to concentrate and I've got a lot of work to do. 

Mostly, the problem that bothered me at Christmas is gone.  Not much pain and less belching than before.  But, I have this amazing feeling of fullness with just a small amount of food.  That's good.......maybe I'll eat less!  Yup, I've traded that pain in for another.  I've been dealing with a neck problem for two days now.  Seems like something is out of place and my neck is almost "stiff".  For sure, there are certain ways I don't want to turn my head right now.  This too shall pass. 

We didn't do anything for Christmas.  We sat around the house.  The only excitement occurred just about the time Joe went to bed.  Fireworks for New Years.  That sent Toby into a frenzy, shaking and crying.  It took him only a second to jump right into bed.  It sure is hard to get a decent night's sleep around here! 

We did go up to the mountains Saturday.  That was nowhere near as much fun for me as I'd hoped, though everyone else seemed to enjoy it.  This time of year, scrapbook designers Love to make kits featuring snowflakes, snowmen, etc.  Well, pretty much, to come up with a photo that will go with those kits, one has to have snow pictures.   So, we take the kids up there because they have a good time.  Grandpa hangs with them and he enjoys that too.  And, I get photos which I enjoy.   Well, first, Joe parked right next to a "cliff"--about a 30 ft drop off.  I have a fear of heights and I told him I couldn't get out of the car if he parked there; he parked there anyway and later claimed he didn't know I was serious.......yeah, right.  So, I was stuck in the car with Punkin, who absolutely refused to get out of the car.  Joe, Erica, Will, and Toby took off.  They had a good time.  Toby was just going from person to person getting petted.  Total strangers were calling him back when he tried to wander off.  One of the men up there had a plastic "sled" type thing, round and bright yellow.  He let Will ride it three times and he loved it.  I'd have loved to get a few photos of that!  I'm going to look into picking one up for the next time we go up there, just for him.  I may find out it costs a zillion bucks which will cancel that idea, but if it's reasonable, we'll have one for him next time.  And maybe next time I tell Joe I can't get out of the car, he'll listen.

A financial miracle.  In mid-October, Joe's business took a nosedive.  WCCR, the primary contractor for whom he does financing, decided to use someone else for their financing.  According to what we were told, Mr. "Someone Else" was a friend of the family of the new owners.    We've prayed and prayed about it.  November was rough--no lending business at all.  December he had a couple of deals, but largely, we've been working on accounting stuff.  Well, it seems the "someone else" to whom WCCR gave their business was your typical mortgage broker--didn't return phone calls, didn't report in on the status of the deals.  The guy has had all their business since mid-October and has yet to close a single deal.  Joe usually closes deals in 30 days or less, reports in daily on all open deals, even answers his cell phone in bed, nearly has a hemorrhoid if a call goes to voicemail.  They're spoiled!   Yesterday we were shocked when an application came in over the fax.  His first since  October 17.   It seems they're torqued enough to begin sending Joe at least one in two deals.   I look for that to change......I can't see that the Lord is going to let Satan steal half of Joe's business.  Additionally, we got  another lead.   Joe's been doing some financing work for Hawaiian Pools, a local pool contractor.  The receptionist there recently bought a house and became friends with the real estate agent who assisted her with that.  She just turned the agent on to Joe to do a financing deal on a home purchase.  We're only two days into it, but Joe's got the deal almost squared away.  We're hoping the real estate agent will be very happy with his service and make additional referrals to Joe.

Oh, forgot to mention that AJ was circumsized yesterday.  Jen cried.......and he cried.  She stopped by here about an hour after the procedure and the poor little guy was still whimpering in his sleep.

Just checked all my pockets looking for money for my camera.  With shipping, looks like I'm STILL short.  I can't believe it.  I still need about $70.  I'm pretty unhappy about that because my other camera is acting up.  We've had it in the repair shop twice for work.  The lens retracts into the camera when not in use and twice, it stopped functioning.   Now it seems to be eating batteries.  I'm wondering if the need for repairs has caused the camera to draw a lot of power to accomplish the lens movement.  It's either that or we've purchased several packs in a row of "bad" batteries.   So, I'm pretty interested in getting  that new camera sooner than later.   

Well, that's about it.  I've got to get busy and I'm out of news anyway.  Here are some scrapbook pages:

The view from our hotel room in California. I would have slept on the floor just to have this view. This is my first photo from the balcony of our room on arrival. I used a Silhouettes template from ScrapGirls and Tracy Ann Robinson's Blues and Greens from her Colorplay set. The "sun" is slightly recolored from Acot's Sunkissed kit.

























This was done with Gina's Garden, the charity kit available at SBB. Photo was taken on our recent trip to California. This started out as a template by Shelle Pukas, but I made some changes....TFL, Marci

























I grew up in Florida and, living in the desert for almost 30 years, still miss the gorgeous flowers that grow in moister climates. Just some pictures of flowers from our CA trip. This was done with ACOT's Adventurous Spirit kit, and a template but, I can't find my notes on whose template it was. Sorry, whoever you are--you made a great template, even though I altered it. ETA: I just went back through all my templates trying to give proper credit, but couldn't find it. Musta REALLY altered it!

























I grew up in Florida and, living in the desert for almost 30 years, still miss the gorgeous flowers that grow in moister climates. Just some pictures of flowers from our CA trip. This was done with a paper pack from Doris Castle called Golden. The template is by Angela Sharrow, the mega swirl used as a clipping mask for the papers from the kit is by Tracy Ann Robinson, and the eyelets are by Katie Pertiet.























I was tapped to make DD's wedding dress. It should have been simple, but we lost the instructions and I had to wing it. The pattern was reasonably simple, as wedding dresses go, but DD was busy and fittings were hard to schedule, and then there was the lace overlay..... What a bear that was--hand cutting out the scallops, inch by inch, figuring out how to attach it to the dress and have it be the right length--ya can't hem scallops on see thru lace, ya know? It turned out great, but it was definitely a labor of love. According to Katie the Scrapbook Lady, September is Sewing Month, so I did this page in honor of that. (See Amazing Month of Memories page ideas at ACOT.) Papers from Tracy Ann Robinson's Color Play, Stitching from ACOT's Sunkissed mega kit, daisies from Roberta D'Achille's Galoshes kit. Fonts are Century Gothic and Scriptina.























This is another in the "tourist in our own home town " series of pages I've been doing. This was the gorgeous floral arrangement at the front entrance to The Venetian hotel. I used Cindy Simon's Gently Falling Kit, available at NDISB, for the page. Don't you love those "wooden" elements? The heart doodle is by Ida at Catscraps.















































Another from our visit to the Reagan Presidential Library. This is a rare 2-pager from me. Page 1 features an actual 8 ft tall piece of the Berlin Wall and the plaque that accompanies it. Page 2 is actually a photo of a photo which was posted in the Museum. It shows President and Mrs. Reagan working together to remove a piece of the wall in 1990. The journaling is about how his famous "Tear down this wall" speech came to be and its effects. I used ACOT's Extra Credit collaborative kit for everything.