My Weblog

Scrubbed, shaved, shampooed, clean smelling and blessed!

Well, I have to start this with something that happened a couple of days ago.  I'm not telling this to toot my own horn.  In reality I screwed up.  I am telling it to illustrate the hand of a generous and faithful God in our lives.

A lady came onto one of the websites I frequent and announced that her husband had lost his job.  Of course, we all can identify with the emotions that go with that experience.  It's an awful thing.  I felt bad for her.  I noticed that she did not have a membership to that community and wondered if I shouldn't just gift that to her anonymously as an RAK.  But, I thought instead about our own tight budget and didn't do it.  But, the thought that I should stayed with me.  (Dummy me, that's usually a sure sign it's a God-thing and not a me thing.)  A few hours later someone else did what I did not do, they gave her a membership as an RAK.  I felt so guilty and immediately ended up asking God to forgive me for failing to recognize His voice.......   Later, I discovered that she'd downloaded a trial version of some software, put in a lot of time learning to use it but didn't have the resources to finalize the purchase.  I contacted her and worked through the supplier and got her the software.  It cost me about $40.  Then, yesterday morning, we woke up to the broken water heater.  Geez........  We called a local plumbing company and they came out and gave us an estimate of $1200 to replace the water heater.  OUCH!  Joe went to the local hardware store and was checking out the hot water heaters there.  He noticed another guy doing the same thing and asked the guy if he was a plumber.  No, this man responded.  He was not a plumber.  But, he knew a guy who was willing to replace his broken water heater for $100 if he bought the water heater himself.  Joe got the guy's phone number and called him.  Today, we have a new water heater, with a warranty for as long a period as the one the plumbing company was offering, and it cost us just over $400.  The "coincidence" that Joe was there at the hardware store at just the right time......well, we don't believe in coincidences!  We believe our little blessing to someone who was hurting was returned to us 20 times over.  I told her I expected God would bless me for doing what I was doing and that I was NOT doing it so that she would say thanks over and over; THIS, what has happened the next day, is what I meant.  Oh, and the guy who did the work for us hasn't filed his tax returns for two years and asked for my card so I may have gotten a new client out of it as well!

So, I have had a good long soaky bath.  My back pain is lessened and I smell like Bath and Body Shoppe's Juniper stuff instead of BO.  My hair is clean and my legs are silky smooth and I feel like a whole new woman.  What a difference a bath makes when you can't have one when you want it!

Joe has three loan signings today.  He'll make $150 or so from those and I'll get several hours all to myself.  What a great day this is going to be!  He has gotten a number of loan applications in from a company in CA the last few days.  Many times, the loan aps he gets are for teeny tiny loans for people with bad credit.  BUT, these applications are from a different company--much larger loans and people with good credit!  Woohoo!  Paycheck's a'comin!  I followed up with my "favorite" client yesterday about the $4500 he owes me........still says he doesn't have the money but he's expecting it any day and will pay me immediately when it comes in.......  I have LOTS of additional work to do for him, but I am not going to start on it until he pays for what's been done.  I have other work that I expect to be able to collect on immediately and that is where I will spend my time.......

Well, that's it for today.  I'm going to post some pages and then get on with my day.  There's laundry to be done and water to wash it with!  Praise be!

We caught the last of the good light on Mt. Charleston the other day. I loved the naked aspens and the beautiful foliage against the background of the mountain. All of the papers here are from Vickie Stegall's Midsummernight's Dream. I progressively recolored the two lighter ones to emphasize the yellow. The cinnamon colored flower is by Lawanna Desjardin. The newsprint flowers are from Elemental Scraps new mega kit. The rusted brads are by Dani Brath. The orange ribbon is from Terracotta by Paula Duncan. The gold twill is from Kim Christensen. The doodles are a freebie from Andrea Victoria. The word art is by Michelle Underwood. Font is Amaze.

Except for the bright red paper, this page was done with the Cherry Festival kit by Lynn Grieveson, available at Designer Digitals. The Fleur-de-lys is from Lynn's Montpelier kit. I used a template by Nina, from set 10 of her Ready to Scrap Templates, available at NDISB. I must admit I tweaked the template substantially. The large, daylight photo is mine; the smaller photo is by Brian Dwyer.

























Several years ago, we took DGS to the mountains to play in the snow. He didn't have the right clothes, so, despite Grandma's steamy hot chocolate, he was really cold til we got to the Ski Lodge and got him warmed up by the roaring fire and into dry clothes. I used the NDISB November customer loyalty kit, Apres Ski, (coming soon) for this page. I also used Template #1 from set #10, by Nina, her Ready to Scrap templates, available at NDISB.

























This page features DH and one of his best friends. Joe got to see Dick when we went to CA in September. Black paper is by Vickie Stegall. Brown and blue papers are by Dani Brath. Overall strap is by Taran Conyers. Tag is by Sandra Boddington. Buttons by Kim Christensen, Bette Duganitz, Deb Fisher, Royanna Fritschman, Rose Farver, Ange Barton, Andrea Burns, Victoria Feemster, Michelle Underwood, Kristin CB, Jeanine Baechtold, Laura Deacitis, Lawanna Desjardin, Shawna Clingerman, and who knows who else! I got the idea for all the button embellishments from Katie the Scrapbook Lady's Amazing Month of Memories available at ACOT. (November 16 is Button Day!)

























This page features DH and one of his best friends. Joe got to see Dick when we went to CA in September. Black paper is by Vickie Stegall. Brown and blue papers are by Dani Brath. Overall strap is by Taran Conyers. Tag is by Sandra Boddington. Buttons by Kim Christensen, Bette Duganitz, Deb Fisher, Royanna Fritschman, Rose Farver, Ange Barton, Andrea Burns, Victoria Feemster, Michelle Underwood, Kristin CB, Jeanine Baechtold, Laura Deacitis, Lawanna Desjardin, Shawna Clingerman, and who knows who else! I got the idea for all the button embellishments from Katie the Scrapbook Lady's Amazing Month of Memories available at ACOT. (November 16 is Button Day!)

























Another photo from DD's baby shower. I thought this was the cutest idea--a beautiful basket with the elephant's head and paws permanently attached. I used Deb Fisher's Classic Baby Boy kit for this page. You can find this kit at Pickleberry Pop. The butterfly is from a joint kit called Bright Sunshiny Day, done by Amber Clegg and Kathy Moore. This was done for a scraplift challenge at Digiscrapdivas.

























About the time everyone else starts scrappin' pages of fall color, I go into withdrawal. Then I have to pull out these photos from a couple of years ago in Southern Utah and rescrap them. Once that's done, I feel better. I used a template by Anna Aspnes. Black paper from Shawna Clingerman, orange paper from Roberta D'Achille, gold paper by Eva Kipler. Flower by Traci Sims, doodle used as a clipping mask for Roberta's papers by Victoria Feemster.

That's all for today folks.  Have a blessed day! 

Dirty, Stinky, Smelly and Disheveled

Well, I'm having a good morning--NOT.  Joe took his shower and just about the time I was ready to step into the bath, he announced the garage was flooded and he was turning off the water.  There has been a puddle (small) out there for days, but he didn't bother to do anything about it.  So, now, there's a huge puddle and the only water I can draw, even with the handle turned all the way to HOT is stone cold.  And, of course, since the water is turned off at the curb, there's not even much of that to be had--just whatever is in the pipes.  So, I need a bath, I need to wash my face, I need to brush my teeth, I need to wash my hair, and, here I sit, unable to do any of these things.  Now he's apologizing for not taking care of things a week ago when we first discovered the small puddle in the garage.  I want to strangle him, but I'm keeping my mouth shut.  I can hardly wait to see what all is ruined in the garage........  And, I'm really excited to meet my clients for the day looking (and smelling) like I do.  We do have bottled water, so I'll probably heat some on the stove and do the best I can to clean up with that.  Let's just all pray that THIS plumbing bill isn't as much as the last one ($3600) and that none of my clients need to use my unflushable toilet!

Jennifer and Jason finally got around to their Valentine's date on Monday night.  Jason was out of town on the 14th and because of other things, dinner kept getting pushed back, a day at a time, after he came back.  Jennifer looked gorgeous and so, by the way, did Jason.  They had a good dinner and a good talk.  Meanwhile, Grandma and Grandpa did what grandparents do--we babysat.  Will is no trouble.  These days he handles bath, etc., all by himself with little supervision.  All we needed to do was make sure his dirty clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, and asthma meds made it back into his backpack.  But, AJ was another story.  He was not a happy little camper.  We ended up holding him or walking around with for about 2.5 hours.  We got him to sleep several times but each time he woke up and was not happy.  He seemed to be happiest with Grandpa who did an amazing job of singing to him and keeping him happy.  I did get him to take some milk from a bottle Mom had fixed for him.  You know you are getting older when your back hurts from holding a 13 pound baby.  And both of us had aching backs yesterday.   I ended up using some of my stashed muscle relaxers and crashing in the bed in the late afternoon.  No muscle spasms but a definite "toothache" feeling in my back.  It's feeling better today, though. 

Joe has been courting a local pool contractor for about a year and a half.  He even sold some pools for them last year, two of which sales we've never been paid for.  It's been a father-son operation.  The father is sneaky and underhanded and not a man of his word.  The son is the opposite and a good man with whom to work.  The plan has always been that the father was going to retire and the son would take over the business.  As of Monday morning, the son called the office secretary from an attorney's office, advising her to go find another job before Dad has a chance to run the business into the ground.  He has thrown up his hands in total disgust and walked away.  This is bad news to us.  Joe and the son worked well together.  Dad, however, has an eye for the ladies, and some female (undoubtedly in a short skirt, knowing Dad) has been stealing Joe's business.  It's really sad because Joe has gone and stood on his feet for three days at a time, numerous times, to help them work trade shows, etc., and got no payment--just the promise of referrals.  Now, we have no idea whether he'll get any more of those or not.

Well, it's a sunshiny day in Vegas, even if I can't think of a lot of good news to share as far as our personal lives go.  I'm going to post some pages and then go boil some bottled water so I can wash the most needy parts of me and get on with my day.

My tribute to Linda, a lady who has been invaluable to DD over the past few months. I snapped this photo at DD's baby shower. I used Amanda Rockwell's gorgeous new kit, Lilac Morning, available at Sweet Shoppe Designs. I also used a template by Kimberly Geswein. Font is Amaze.

Olivia, DGS's friend, and her mommy went with us to the Pumpkin Patch. She dressed herself--in striped tights and a tutu, and claimed she was a Princess. Kraft paper is my favorite--from Theresa Hernandez's Rhapsody in Rachel kit (available at NDISB). The crown, recolored is from Francine Haman. Everything else is from Happily Ever After from Christine Smith. Font is Scriptina.

A friend of the family sent me these cute pictures of a little frog he encountered on a hike. I used Bella Gypsy Designs Zen Calm kit, available at Elemental Scraps. This kit is on sale right now for half price! The Frog doodle is by Lisa Dozier and the dragonfly doodle is from DDE.

Introducing Frannie, my son-in-law's boss. She's a great lady and has been wonderful since Jason's injury. On a Sunday evening, she got in her car and met us at the hospital and then went out and searched a dangerous neighborhood to help us recover Jason's truck. I took 11 shots and every one of them was blurry, which, I decided, was just right since she is very animated. I think if she's awake, she's in motion. I added lots of paper strips in the background going in every direction to represent her personality. I used sketch template one from Volume 3 by Victoria Feemster. The papers and flower are from a kit called Summer Sensations by Digiscrapz collaborative team.

























I've wanted to do a page using these lyrics for a long time--I had actually thought of this song in relation to God long before Sister Act. We went exploring on Mt Charleston for just an hour or so the other day. I've never been there at this time of year. I was amazed by this sight and was reminded of God's love. This was done with papers, flowers and brushes from the Designer Digitals "Flowers for Sarah" kit. The alpha is by Doris Castle, the wave template by Dani Brath, the burlap heart is by Lawanna Desjardin. The idea to go exploring up there came from Katie the Scrapbook Lady's Amazing Month of Memories (available at ACOT) series....national parks....this area is part of a National Forest.

























Mt Charleston has become a popular place for the rich and famous to have a "cabin". But, long before it became a place for the rich and famous, "jest regular folks" had little cabins up there. I ran across this place the other day and had to photograph it. I used Bella Gypsy Designs Traditional Warmth kit for this page which is available at Elemental Scraps. (It's on sale for 50% off.) Telegram is from Kathryn Balint. Metal ring and photo corners are from Dani Brath. Key is from Jacqueline Carney. Burlap heart is by Lawanna Desjardin (burn added). Template is by Dawn Wilson.

























We had the chance to spend a few hours with DGS the other night. We were in a restaurant and doing our best to keep him amused so I took this photo. I used the "Tristan" kit by Bella Gypsy Designs for this (I recolored the black in the kit to dark brown to go better with my photos). This kit is on sale at Elemental Scraps for 50% off. Everything here is from the kit except the corner doodle which is by Bannerwoman. Fonts are Architext and Impact.

That's all for today, folks.  Have a great day! 

 

To Mexico and back

So, we went to Mexico.  The drive down was pretty boring, just lots of cactus and tumbleweeds.  We did see a gorgeous sunset and after much nagging Joe stopped and I got a gorgeous photo of a Saguaro cactus.  That was more difficult than you might think, but we succeeded.  There is barbed wire all along the highway.  So, if you can't find a Saguaro outside the wire (and they're really far and few between), you have to be satisfied with a distance shot.  But after much peering into the distance, we found one!

Our hotel was very nice.  I had been having a lot of problem with my knees before we left here, but I had no idea how bad they were.  I tried doing a little very easy yoga in the hotel room and caught sight of my right knee and it was scary.  Had a lump about the size of a golf ball on the outside.  But, after spending most of two days off my feet, riding in the car, with my legs stretched out as best I could, the swelling went down and they've been fine since.

We had dinner Friday night and breakfast Saturday morning at the Cracker Barrel.  I love that place, but I learned NOT to order the chicken and dumplings.  The dumplings are not seasoned all--they taste like flour.  Yuck!  I can do better than that with my hands tied behind my back.  Joe got me a "GRITS" sweatshirt (stands for Girls Raised In The South).  Love it!  It's been a long time, but I still remember......

So, after breakfast, we headed across the border.  We took care of getting my meds.  We were thrilled to find they had my blood pressure medication this time.  We had to hit 6 or 7 different pharmacias before we found one that had it in stock, but it was a big savings.  Joe had just picked up 60 pills here with insurance and it cost us $44.  100 pills there cost us $17.  We also got more thyroid meds, some mega-ibuprofen, a couple more z-packs, some salve that is penicillin based for owies, and found a little "accordion" for Will for $11.  He'd wanted one for Christmas, so finding one for that price in Mexico was a really fun thing.  We walked a bit around Los Algodones, beyond the usual tourist areas.  It's a cute little town.  We also stopped in at an Optometrist's office.  I haven't had an eye exam or new glasses in 4 years.  There, the exam, frames, lenses, even blended bifocals, cost $70-$80, and it's 2 hour service!  That's on our agenda for our next trip, probably in April.

Driving back, we found a fruit/veggie roadside stand.  Picked up some good tomatoes, strawberries, some jelly, etc.  Good stuff.  We came back through Lake Havasu but it was pretty late in the afternoon by the time we got there.  I did get some good pictures of some beautiful little coves along the Colorado River on the way back.  We had intended to spend the night in Laughlin, NV, but that didn't pan out.  Joe had made the reservations at the last minute.  He ended up with a reservation somewhere about 15 miles south of town.  So we drove NORTH on the Arizona side, hit Laughlin, tried to find the hotel and it was way out in the sticks.  Joe got disgusted and decided to go back to Laughlin so we could get some dinner.  We finally decided just to drive home and sleep in our own bed.  We were on a time schedule to pick up Punkin at the vet's office where we'd boarded her so it just made sense.  We'd have had to hustle out of town to make it back in time if we'd waited til morning.

I think that the next time we go out of town, we won't need to board Punkin.  She's calming down a lot.  She's not chewing furniture any more.  Occasionally, she gets a sprinkler, but hasn't even done that for a few weeks.  I was much happier about where we boarded her this time.  Last time, when we picked her up, she was a mess.  She should have been happy to see us, jumping around, etc.  Instead, all she did was stand back from us and shake and she shook all the way home in the car.  This time she was wagging her tail and happy so I feel much better about where we left her and just can't help but wonder what the other place (also a vet's office) did to her.....

Since we got back, it's been work, work, work.  Tax Season, you know.  Lots of accounting to be done before tax returns can be done.  Finally, in the last week or so, Joe has been able to do a few loans.  He went for weeks with deals coming in, but from people whose income didn't budget or whose FICO scores were in the toilet, etc.  We have only gotten one check this year so far, but that should pick up by the end of the week, we hope.  In the meantime, Joe has been doing a few loan signings and that helps keep body and soul together, very necessary since my "employer", my favorite (not) client hasn't paid us in more than a month.  I'm just sick of him.  I NEED to be paid; I particularly NEED to be paid because I've busted my butt to get done for him what needed to be done. 

Speaking of my butt, it's getting smaller.  I've been being very careful with what I cook and what I eat.  I've lost around 5.5 pounds.  That's nothing to write home about, but I'll take it.  I really haven't felt deprived, and that's good.  Of course, I want to lose a lot more, but 5 pounds is 5 pounds and I'm happy.  I kind of took a break from the diet last night and today, but it's back at it tomorrow.  I figure it's okay to "fall off the wagon" every now and then as long as you climb back on. 

Well, that's about it for news.  I'll just post some pages and I'm out of here.  Almost bedtime here anyway.

My poor little kid--she is so ready to give birth to this baby. She is tiny and the extra bulk is really getting her down and in her way! I took this photo Saturday at the Pumpkin Patch. For the page, I used an old kit of Amanda Rockwell's called Lucky; The bow is from ACOT's Celebrate Life collaborative kit; the template is by Nina--her Ready to Scrap Pack #9, available at NDISB.
























I tried to scrap this photo before and disliked the page so much I never posted it. So, I tried converting it to black and white and then monkeyed with it til I liked it. I've either created something good or something VERY bad. But, at least, I like it. The paper is by Denise Docherty; the stamp (reduced opacity) is by Paula Duncan; the photo mat is an oldie by Lianne Carper used as a clipping mask for papers from the kit. The beautiful "model" is my daughter, just starting her 7th month of pregnancy. TFL, Marci

























For several weeks in a row, I babysat DGS while his parents went to a childbirth class. I did something I haven't done in a long time--supervised homework. And, of course I had the camera handy. He did very well, but was SO happy when he'd finished--in first grade he has about an hour of homework each day! I used Lynn Grieveson's new Montpelier Page Kit at Designer Digitals, "w" alpha by Andrea Burns, Quote from the Education Quote Pack by Katie the Scrapbook Lady available at ACOT, Template #4 from Nina's Ready to Scrap pack #9 available at NDISB, ribbons from Cottage Arts (color altered).
























This beautiful young lady is a friend of DD's. She joined us for the baby shower. I used papers from the RAD collection by Kim Christensen, supplemented with my own solids. The jeweled tabs and the lace are by Taran Conyers. The words "smile", "laugh", and "play", are from Kim Christensen's Let Yourself kit. The doodled angel is by the DDE Creative Team. The soap label is from Marina Brendstrup's Vintage Treasures. The bow is by Michelle Bradley. The "a" alpha and the silver plaque are from ACOT collaborative kits--Circle of Friends and Creativity. The template, complete with stitching is by Nina, her Ready to Scrap Template set #9.















































Jennifer's friend, KF, hosted a lovely baby shower for her. She showed her talent for entertaining and her affection for Jennifer through all the special little touches she put together. I used an old kit by Lynn Grieveson called Candy Garden for this. This is template #3, from Nina's Ready to Scrap Template Pack #8, available at NDISB.

























We are so blessed in Las Vegas. I read one report that said we have more sunny days than anywhere in the US. And, just about 45 minutes away, in the winter, we can find snow. We went to Mt. Charleston in March and DH snapped this photo. I used Cindy Simon's new kit, Dream by the Fire for this layout. The template is #8 by Rachel Giallongo. The bow is by Kelly Shults. The lacing (recolored) is by Lawanna DesJardin.

That's all for today folks.  I'll be back when I can, between tax returns.......

About Cook Pots

Okay, I'm not much of a shopper so I can't often recommend things people should buy.  BUT, today I actually have a shopping tip.  Several years ago, my mother gave me an electric cook pot from QVC.  I have to admit, I didn't get it.  I had pots and pans.  What did I need with an electric cook pot?  Well, one morning I was sitting with QVC on the TV, just for company.  And what were they demonstrating but my electric cook pot.  So, I decided to pay attention.  Well, I was shocked at what I had never figured out about this little treasure.  You see, you can turn it up high and brown things in it, and then you can turn it down low and slow cook in it.  I have now fallen in love with my electric pot.  Eventually, though I loved it, I loaned it to a friend who was living in an efficiency apartment with no way to cook but a microwave.  She has since moved and so, I guess, has my cook pot--I haven't heard from her in months.  So, I ordered another from QVC.  And it is getting a workout.  In fact, I plan on using it to death over the next two and 1/2 months of tax season.  Today, I'm making beef vegetable soup in it......yum.  So, where do you buy this wonder?  Well, here's the link....and, seriously, if you want to make your life just a bit easier, using only one pan for a crock pot meal instead of at least two, go buy this thing!  There is a smaller one, 6 qt I believe, but this one is an 8 qt stockpot, and it's actually cheaper because of an introductory price.  Go here:  http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/app.detail

Okay, that was my little shopping tip for the day and now I have an opportunity to post a few more pages!  Yeah, I'm headed into November pages now!

I was organizing photo files when I ran across this photo. It's old and a very small file, but VP helped with it. I remember this night well--Will decided the perfect place to go to sleep was on the Total Gym. We just let him go to sleep there and moved him later..... I used Template #1 from Nina's Ready to Scrap set #7 available at NDISB; papers from ACOT's Celebrate Life Page Kit; Font is Tahoma.

























It was the 4th of July weekend and we stopped in Laughlin, NV on the way to Mexico. We were seated next to the window in the restaurant. It was amazing to see ski-doos everywhere, thick as flies. If you count carefully, there are actually 6 in this one photo. It was the first time I'd ever seen anyone on a ski-doo! I used Amanda Rockwell's Strong kit available at Sweet Shoppe Designs; the "water" overlay is by Marge Wirth, and the sketch template is by Gina Miller.

























This photo was taken at Mission Santa Barbara. We found that most of the missions had an "arcade" like this. The purpose was to keep the rain off of the adobe bricks used to construct the building. (The columns are made of different materials.) With too much rain, the adobe just turned to mud. They also used whitewash wherever possible to help protect the adobe. This was done with the Breast Cancer kit from SBB. Template is by Lori Barnhurst. Fonts are Carolingia, Amaze, and Arial.

























This is DH, clowning for the camera, as usual, at the Pumpkin Patch last weekend. Nina, in case you don't recognize it, this is your template, but I changed it A LOT. Template is by Nina (Ready to Scrap at NDISB, Set 6, Template 1). BG paper is from Spiced Latte by Gina Miller & Holly McCaig. Orange and yellow paper, pumpkins, tag, and screws by Roberta D'Achille (her Autumn Splendor kit).

























In front of Mission Santa Barbara, is a beautiful old fountain that dates from the 1700's, part of the Mission's amazing water system. That by itself is amazing. But floating inside of it are gorgeous water lilies. I couldn't resist a photo. I used Ribbons by Saskia Bokkers(pink is color altered); Paper, Jen Wilson, Decor Series, Guest Garden; Font Amaze; water lily doodle by J Desai.

Okay, enough for one day already!!!!!!!!!  Have a blessed day. 

The Cure for skin cancer

This will be pretty short, but I have to share this with you.  When I first married Joe, a little over 4 years ago, he had a skin cancer on his nose.  He has that very fair, ruddy, freckled Irish skin.  And, as a kid and even as a young adult, he had a LOT of exposure to the sun.  He'd had one skin cancer removed from his nose (Photoshop does a great job of helping to hide the scar) and had another on the other side of the nose.  It looked kind of like the biggest whitehead you've ever seen, about 3/8 of an inch in diameter, just sitting there.  It was diagnosed by the doctor who said it wasn't urgent because it was a slow-growing variety of cancer, but it was worrisome nonetheless.  I hated that thing.  Of course, I didn't like the way it looked.  But, I'd had an acquaintance die of skin cancer years ago, and even though I knew this was a different type of cancer, it worried me.  I've offered many a prayer over these years about that skin cancer.  And, every time my attention was drawn to it, I figured it was the Lord showing it to me.  I'd reach over, lay a finger on that thing, and say "Skin cancer, I curse you in the name of Jesus".  Over the past couple of months, I've noticed that it had taken on the look of a badly enlarged pore with a badly oxidized blackhead in it.  And, I've been after Joe to see what would happen if he tried to "pop" it.  But, he never has.  Today, I happened into the bathroom just after he stepped out of the shower.  That thing was all nicely steamed and I asked him again to have a go at it.  He seemed to have no idea how to position his hands to do it, so he asked me to do it.  Yuck!  Okay, I guess that's part of being married.........  I got that sucker between my thumb nails and gunk came out.  I squeezed again and more gunk came out.  I squeezed one more time and got the final bit out.  And, ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you there is no more sign of that skin cancer.  It is GONE!  No, we haven't had it confirmed by a doctor; this just happened an hour ago.  But there are NO visible signs of it now, no swelling, no giant white lump under the skin!!!!!!  How about that for a faithful, miracle-working God?

As to my knee, it is better today, though not completely.  I happened to be in the restroom in the middle of the night and noticed that it was swollen along the outside, swollen and puffy.  Well, I've had problems with my knees since college.  But, it's normally the left knee that causes problems.  Every now and then, I'll get "water on the knee".  I've never had to have it drained, it's always gone away with prayer.  And it's always been on the front of the knee, right by the kneecap.  But, this time it was on the side, right knee.  I recognized the puffiness right away.  Mumbled a sleepy little prayer and went back to bed.  I remember that on the way to bed last night, every stinking step from my desk to the bedroom was tenuous, shaky, and painful.  This morning, there is still some pain, for about the first 4 or 5 steps.  After that, it's pretty much back to normal.  So, temporary, and fading fast!  Yay!!!!!!!

Alrighty, since I am here, I'll post a few pages just to keep apace with my backlog!  I'm still posting pages from October, for heaven's sake! 

This one is outside my "box" but I love it.  This photo was taken by my son-in-law's uncle on a hike in Oregon. LOTS of photo manipulation going on here..... I used Denise Docherty's Au Natural kit (available at DD). Most of the elements are from an oldie but goodie by Kim Christensen called Let Yourself. The flourish is by Mary Anne Wise.

























I "think" this is the last of the Yuma Territorial Prison layouts. This doesn't look like much, but it was pretty scary. It is a simple metal grate in the floor of a "cave". The "hole" measures about 5 x 5 and prisoners who got out of line were placed in here, days at a time, sometimes more than 20 of them at a time. When the door to this area was closed, it was absolutely pitch black. And the door was kept closed except at mealtimes.... The black paper is from Kim Christensen's Spelling 101. The ribbon is from her Chic & Shabby kit.

























We were shocked to look out our hotel window and see these parked there. They were just as gorgeous inside. I'd have given $25 just to drive one around the parking lot for 5 minutes. I'd love to know how it felt to drive something with SO MUCH hood! The papers are from a freebie given out a long time ago by Nisha Morton. The ribbon is by Bad Candy. The flowers are by Kim Christensen and Saskia Bokkers.

























This is the view from the Mission Santa Barbara property....straight out to sea. Though the missions were eventually self-sufficient, in the early days, they looked forward to supplies being shipped from "New Spain"--Mexico. A view of the sea, whether one saw ships bearing supplies or pirates (as actually happened at some missions) was essential. I did this for a Template challenge at SBE, using a Quick Fix Template by Alma Townsend and her Elegant Beginnings kit.

























While we were in CA, we went to tour a historic home in Ventura County. We never got past the parking lot because it was obvious there was a wedding in progress. I had to giggle when I saw this car, and, of course, I had to get a photo! Everything on this page is from the Manhattan Loft kit by Cindy Simon, available at NDISB.

























One of the best photos of DGS at the Pumpkin Patch Saturday. I did this with Eva Kipler's Bella Sari kit (purple paper is color altered); Nina's Ready to Scrap Sketch Template #4 in pack 6; Pumpkins by Roberta D'Achille--her Autumn Splendor page kit; dotted frame around photo from Roberta D'Achille's Old School page kit; raffia tie by T Maruca in the BCA kit; fonts are Calvin and Hobbs and Arial

























One thing we don't see often here is beautiful sunsets. So, when we went to California, one thing I prayed for was sunsets. This is the sunset the night before we left. I really loved the photo so I kept it really simple. I used ACOT's Late Summer Days kit for everything.