My Weblog

day from h-e-double-hockey-sticks!

It has NOT been one of my better days!  I came home from work yesterday to find the computer all messed up.  Joe swore he hadn't done anything lethal to it.  I've no doubt that's the truth.  After much investigation, I figured out that the external hard drive on which I keep most of my scrapping stuff had crashed.  It still shows up as attached to the computer, but attempts to access it are met with an error message that instructs me to format it first!  No, I don't think so.  I had done a back up early in the month.  I never actually finished it because, after all, it's April and April has a day when all tax returns are due.  And the days before that day are exhausting and the days after that day call for a mental vegetative state. 

To make matters worse, I was supposed to upload my contribution to Natural Designs in ScrapBooking's May Customer Appreciation Kit.  Basically, Mom, we do a huge kit each month with contributions from each of the designers.  (I addressed that to "Mom" cause my scrappin' buddies will be able to figure it out on their own.)  Then, if the customer buys a certain amount of product from the store, a small amount in the $8 to $10 range, they receive that huge kit free.  Well, with the computer all screwed up, and then with the discovery that the EHD had crashed, it was apparent I wasn't going to be participating in THAT this month.  I'd backed up to my other external hard drive BEFORE I created my contribution....... 

I stayed up very late last night, backtracking as best I could through all my fave sites and re-downloading everything that I could.  Some sites I had to send e-mails to to ask that download links be reset.  I was up again very early this morning, continuing with the same tasks......... 

My purchases lately have been few and far between so that hasn't been too bad.  And, before you cry for me about my losses, let me tell you they are really very minimal.  If you scrap and have digiscrapping supplies or digital photos, an off-site backup service is just about mandatory.  Backup redundancy is the name of the game.  Many are the tears of those who don't have an off site service.  I use Mosy.  It runs in the background, automatically backing up whatever is new and different in the parts of the computer I've selected.  And, it's unlimited storage.  I priced other services, but for the amount of storage I needed, I couldn't afford them!

So, I searched through my Mosy files, only to discover my May collab contribution was there!  Hallelujah!  Except, Mosy has a mind of its own sometimes.  I had started it restoring something else and now it won't let me change what I want restored.....  So, sometime over the weekend, I'll probably have a copy of my May collaborative contribution restored to my computer.  Unfortunately, that's a little late--like 4 or 5 days.  So, I'll either be adding to what I've already done to create a full kit with the same color scheme or selling it as a mini-kit later on.

In the meantime, I've recovered, I think, just about all of what was lost.  Or, taking Mosy into consideration, I will have recovered just about all of what was lost by sometime next week.  But, it is a slow and laborious task.  I do have some digi stuff stored on my internal hard drive.  Some of the files I'm recovering had already been moved over there.  So, the effort of recovering the stuff is wasted. 

Anyway, it's a big hairy mess right now!  And, I'm tired and cranky and a bit frustrated with the whole thing though incredibly thankful I lost almost nothing.

Tomorrow, bright and early, we will climb into the van and head for Mexico.  We aren't particularly worried about the swine flu thing.  The outbreak is primarily centered in Mexico City, not the little town we are headed for which is hours and hours away from Mexico City.  And, I doubt we'll actually spend two hours on the Mexican side of the border.  Add to that the fact that we will pray for the Lord's protection before we cross the border and we have nothing to fear.  I just do not look forward to the trip.  Usually, I am the little princess who naps or reads a book on the way.  This time, since Joe is working tonight, I will have to do almost all of the driving.  It's a long and incredibly boring drive, just one tumbleweed after another.  The route we take is mostly 2 lane so not an easy drive if you get stuck behind a slow moving truck.  Also, very few towns.......  It's a shame there won't be anyone awake to pinch me and keep me alert as Joe will be asleep in the back seat.  I don't really expect any problem, I'm just "kvetching".  We'll be back Friday, probably around noon.  Joe wants to be home in time to take a nap because he has to go to work Friday night.  And since I missed work today due to my computer chaos, I'll have to go in and work a few hours after we return to the city.

Well, that's my news for the day.  Hope your day has gone better'n mine!

Family news

If you're looking for the blog freebie or the blog train mini kit, scroll down. 

There is no earth-shaking news to report on this end.  I did babysit with the boys three days last week, including yesterday.  Thursday, Atticus popped a fever and had to be picked up from school.  So, I had him for the afternoon.  Friday, both boys were sick.  Saturday I was sick.  Yesterday, Jen was sick and I had the boys again.  The boys had strep, but a visit to the doctor and some antibiotics fixed them up and, though they're still taking medicine, they seem to be fine today.  Yes, I have them again.  Monday is the day William doesn't have school.  Because he has to stay SOMEWHERE, his mom takes him to the daycare.  Sometimes there are some older kids for him to play with.  But, when he's the only "older" kid, he's awfully bored.  So, generally, he begs to come to Grandma's house.  And, of course, I love to have him, so I went over after work and picked him up.  And, if you're picking up one boy, you may as well pick up two, right?

Yesterday, Atticus had some real two-year-old moments.  It was a beautiful day.  I've been cooped up in the house a lot the last two weeks because of a project I was working on for my job, so I decided to take the boys to the park.  When we got there, Atticus decided he wasn't going to get out of the house--he wanted to go to Wawa's house.  We finally got him out of the car and he sat down in the little bit of space between the car and the curb and wasn't going to move.  I sent William on ahead and once he was out of sight, Atticus decided he wanted to go find "Buzzie".  Once he found the slides and the swings, he was more than happy to play, LOL.  Then, we drove through Burger King to get lunch for the boys and to grab some food for Grandpa who, on 3 hours sleep, was out speaking at a church on behalf of the Gideons.  (We haven't done anything resembling a real grocery shopping trip for weeks and weeks so Grandma's pantry is pretty bare.)  I got Atticus some Macaroni and Cheese.  He sat down and ate like a trooper which is not unusual for him, eating all but a bite or two.  Then it was nap time.  He protested, but fell asleep almost immediately.  When he woke up, he began asking for something that sounded like "monkeycheese".  It took me a while to figure out that he wanted more macaroni and cheese.  Unfortunately, there was so little left in his little bowl, that I had thrown it out.  Nothing else would do.  We had REAL tears, and big ones, over that!  However, when I took him home, he wanted to go back with Wawa, so I guess I was forgiven.

One of the ladies who works in Atty's day care room is named Margaret.  When Grandma can't babysit, Margaret is the next person called.  A few months back, he was at her house.  She had gotten her hair cut.  Her six year old came home, took one look at her and called her "Hawt Mama".  Atticus picked that up and Margaret has been "Hawt Mama" ever since.  I've about got him convinced that he should be calling me "Hawt Wawa".  It's pretty funny, LOL.

I did manage to get one photo scrapped from the wedding.  It's actually scrapped very simply, but here it is:

 

And here's one I scrapped a while back but never got posted here:

 

Amanda Rockwell, for whom I CT, has just come out with a 12 pack of papers.  They're called simply "Pretty Papers".  Amanda sells exclusively at ScrapArtist.  She's got 12 paper packs on sale right now for $25.  That's about $2 a pack from a major scrap designer--not a bad deal.  Here's a preview of 6 of the paper packs.  I am not going to show the rest as I'd have to post 6 individual paper packs and that's going to involve more time than I can spare, but lookee here:

LaWanna Desjardin just put out the cutest springy kit called Rebirth.  I think the colors in it are just perfect for Mothers Day.  Isn't this gorgeous?  Lately she's been doing some kits in a softer color Pallette and I've loved them all.  You should check them out at Scrapbook-bytes!

 

So, as you can see, I NEED to get some scrapping done!  I did a page for A Cherry on Top over the weekend and the darn computer locked up over some malfunction in AOL and I lost it!  Drat!  Guess I'll have to recreate it!  Thank goodness tax season is over so there's more available time.

Well, when I left work Friday afternoon, there was enough money in the bank to cash my paycheck from 4/3.  Yes, I've had to hold it that long.........  So, Joe agreed to take it to the bank and deposit it for me today.  Can you guess what happened next?  Well, when I get to work, the first thing I do daily is go over the banking report and, as of today, there was no longer enough money in the company account to cash my paycheck.......  Nor have I been paid for the paydays of 4/10, 4/17, and 4/24.  It stinks, I tell you.

Then, I go into the office last Friday, lugging with me all the stuff I put together for the court case.  There was not one positive word, not one "thank you, I know you worked your butt off on this".  No, I should have made more copies and I used the wrong type of tabs.  Of course, I used my printer paper, my ink, my scotch tape, and the only kind of tabs I had, but it wasn't good enough for Mr. Matt, who, if we remember, started this project and couldn't finish it, leaving it for me. 

Today is payday for Joe.  I called to try to find out how much the check was, but he had someone in the cab and couldn't talk.  I'm not sure why I bother.  I seem to be able to find out, sooner or later, what his paychecks are, but finding out how much he's making in tips is pretty difficult.  We have documentation, pay check stubs, etc., for the pay checks, but he puts those on a spreadsheet.  We have no documentation for the tips, so those he doesn't put on a spreadsheet.  That all makes NO sense to me.  It seems to me one would keep a spreadsheet of the undocumented amounts and let the paycheck stubs stand on their own.  I'll NEVER understand how this man's mind functions!

I seem to have managed to get him to help out a bit around the house.  I don't expect much because he is working such long hours.  But, hanging up his clean slacks when the dryer stops in the morning, instead of letting them lay in the dryer all day waiting for me to get to them when I get home from work is not too much to ask, I think.  Our furniture is all askew because of the uncompleted painting project in the living room.  So, one of the doors to the outside has been blockaded shut with furniture.  It happens to be the door that is actually convenient to the flower garden.  I've had Irises that need attention and roses that needed to be deadheaded and now I have easy access to them because he moved the "blockade" today.  I haven't checked yet, but I did ask him to do one more task today--take down the curtains in the bedroom.  I noticed the other day that they were badly in need of a washing, but wasn't much in the mood for dragging a chair from the other end of the house to climb on so I could reach the curtain rod.  I haven't been in there yet to see if that happened.....  If not, I can content myself with washing the duvet which is once again covered in dog hair.......

I love that German Shepherd.  I just wish he'd keep more of his hair to himself!

Gotta go.  I hear little one talking about "nackie".  That's "snack" in Atty-speak so I'd better go look through the cupboards and see what I can find........

2 in one day?? And a freebie!

I promised there was a new kit coming and it's in the store now.  I went to a wedding Saturday night, the wedding of my stepson Matt and his beautiful Latina bride, Patty.  We celebrated with good Mexican food, good music, dancing, margaritas, and so on, and I found my creative muse for the first time since I got sick over two months ago.  So here is my Cinco de Mayo kit and a little freebie for you which goes with the kit.  As I was researching Cinco de Mayo, I found one little factoid I thought was interesting that I will pass on here:  Did you know that Cinco de Mayo is more widely celebrated NORTH of the Border these days than it is south of the border?  That really surprised me!  First, some previews.  I don't know why, but I could only get one preview to show up in the store so let me give you a closer look at the whole kit.

 

 

 

 

The kit contains:  7 Solid Papers, 8 Print Papers, 3 Frames, 1 sticker border, 3 stickers, 4 flowers, 3 buckles’n’bows, 6 ric rak page wraps (not all shown), 1 package scattered seed beads, 3 tissue paper flowers, 6 satin bows (not all shown), 1 clothespin, 6 glitter flourishes (not shown).  You can use it to scrap YOUR Mexican Fiesta or to show off your favorite recipe for Enchiladas. 

And here's the freebie.  The preview doesn't look all that great.  Sorry about that, but I babysat for 8 hours today with two sick little boys and it's almost midnight now.  I think my creative muse is getting some much needed sleep.  Anyway, everything here will compliment the kit or you can use it in some other way if you so choose.  The paper has a corner decoration of a man/woman/boy/girl.  But, after I made it, I realized that maybe YOUR family has just a man and a woman.  OR, maybe you have two girls or two boys.  So, I created stickers you can put together to be representative of YOUR family.  Hope you like it.

It's not jam packed with goodies, but I hope you can use it and enjoy it.  You can download it here:

http://www.4shared.com/account/file/101421759/3de09390/MPARM_CdM_FreebieAddOn.html

Excuse my rant

Well, it's been an eventful week.  First, I've learned I'm a domestic terrorist.  Yup, I was in favor of the tea parties that took place on April 15.  As a tax accountant, April 15 was too busy for me to participate, but as an accountant, I am well aware that we cannot spend and spend without having the funds with which to pay for it.  People that do this, with their credit cards, go bankrupt.  Companies that do this with commercial lines of credit, go bankrupt.  Why would our country be different?  There is no question that at some point soon, taxes will have to be raised if only to service the debt we are incurring.  You can't lard on 1 trillion in government spending and expect that cutting 100 million from the federal budget will do any good.  It's a drop in the bucket.  How foolish are those people that applaud this "cost cutting" measure?  I also think that no one had sufficient time to consider the economic stimulus legislation to ensure that our money went in the best places.  Had it gone to construction of wind turbine systems and solar energy systems, I would have felt these to be good places to put our money.  At least, as with the WPA and CCC under Roosevelt, when the "stimulus" was over, we'd have been left with assets.  In the area where I live, we owe Roosevelt's WPA and CCC for such things as the Hoover Dam and the road cut through the mountains of Zion Park so that folks can drive through there and enjoy the beauty of nature.  In many cities, buildings built for the federal government by the WPA and CCC are still in use, 70 years later.  But, for all I can see, much of the money was spent to repay a certain someone's campaign debts--dollars for votes.  My example there would be ACORN which was accused over and over again of voter registration fraud and voter intimidation in the recent campaign.  In fact, they somehow managed to register the whole of the Dallas Cowboy's football team as voters right here in my home state and I sure don't live in Texas.  Never before have I seen the teacher's union come out SO strongly for a candidate as they did for Obama.  But, then, never before have I seen them receive so much funding after the election, either.  I could go on and on.  However, you get the picture.  As a person who does not like the way our country's money (borrowed, for the most part) is being spent, I am a domestic terrorist. 

Now there are several counts against me as a domestic terrorist.  I am also a gun owner.  All legally registered.  Quite a few years ago, I operated a business on the edge of town.  Many many nights I left my offices at 2AM or 3AM.  Because I was on the edge of town, with no street lights, it was pitch black when I got ready to go home.  I would literally have to prop the doors to the office wide open, go to my car and turn the head lights on, then come back to the office to lock up.  You see, I couldn't see my brown van in the pitch dark parking lot if I didn't turn the lights on first.  All that was scary enough; but when the bar/restaurant next door to my office was robbed and it took the police 45 minutes to show up for an armed robbery, that raised the ante.  So, I got a gun.  For a while I carried the gun with me wherever I went.  Never once did I, a God-fearing woman, feel tempted to use it in a drive by shooting, or a robbery, or to knock off my next door neighbor, no matter how much he pissed me off.  But I own it and I even own ammunition for it and I know how to use it (taught by an ex-cop).  So, certainly that qualifies me as a domestic terrorist.

Perhaps most telling of all is that fact that I love babies.  I would have been personally responsible for a measurable population increase in  my town had circumstances permitted it.  They are so sweet.  They are so defenseless.  They are the hope of tomorrow.  Nothing touches my heart like one tiny tear from those big eyes, or a smile........  Yesterday, for the first time, my two year old grandson voluntarily gave me a kiss, in fact, a bunch of kisses and I was in 7th heaven.  No one will ever convince me that moving a baby into the birth canal, opening its skull and sucking out its brain or stirring its brain around with an instrument that resembles an ice pick is appropriate behavior.  Do you want me to take it home and raise it and love it--hand it to me.  But, for heaven's sake, don't kill it.  I don't have a lot of money and I'm no spring chicken any more, but I will find a way to deliver that baby to adulthood with its brain intact.  And, don't use my tax dollars to make me a participant in abortions worldwide; help those countries to raise their children well by providing wells for clean drinking water and teaching them how to raise their own food crops, provide seeds and farming implements and, if necessary, teach them about birth control.  And, though Asian babies are just as cute and loveable, how terrible that adoptive parents must go to another country to adopt because unwanted babies in this country have been killed.  I certainly agree that some people who participate in conception are not ready to be parents; but there are so many childless couples who pine daily for the feeling of a warm, sweet smelling, innocent baby in their arms......including grandmas like me!

Another count against me is my position against illegal immigration.  Until a law comes between me and my God or between me and my Constitution (as the framers intended it to be interpreted), I believe it should be obeyed.  It may need to be changed, but not disregarded.  Currently, the unemployment rate in my home town is over 9%.  It is difficult to read the news and not find an announcement daily of another layoff somewhere in the country--3600 from this company, 10000 from another company.  Are you aware that during the Great Depression, Hoover and Roosevelt spent 10million dollars (a lot of money in the 1930's and 40's) deporting illegals so that citizens could work and support their families?  Later, during a deep recession, Eisenhower followed suit.  Yet, while citizens are crying over lost jobs and desperate about how to pay their bills, we, as a country, seem to have chosen to welcome illegals with open arms.  If we believe it is a good time to welcome immigrants from other countries to this country, why not make some changes to the laws that limit immigration from those other countries?  I was working in a "fund-raising" position for the federal government during the time that Castro opened the doors of the mental institutions and jails in Cuba and packed those people off to the US.  In many many cases those people have subsequently become good citizens of this country; in many many cases, they have continued their criminal behavior.  It was demoralizing to try to collect money for the government while those illegal immigrants did their best to burn down US military bases where they were being housed.  So, you can see I come by my opinion honestly........

So, Department of Homeland Security, you can see that I am a serious threat to this great country.  I am a Christian conservative, a tax protestor, a person who owns a gun and knows how to use it, a person who believes in legal immigration rather than illegal immigration, a person who is against the destruction of human life.  Thank you, country that I love, for labeling me a domestic terrorist.  Now, what about the people who want to blow the country up?  Think you can do something about THEM?  I am told there are some 35 terrorist training camps operating here in the US (foreign terrorists, also under your jurisdiction, I believe).  Perhaps they could "benefit" from your attention?

Oh, and somewhat off subject, while I am thinking about it, why should Miss whatever be chosen or not chosen based on her opinions on same sex marriage.  I don't plan to participate in any beauty contests any time soon, but if I get it into my head to do so, I will remember Miss California and I will be prepared to answer that sort of question should it be asked.  Or, they could simply come read this blog!  So, darn it all, there it is--I'll never be a beauty queen.  I am SO sad about that, just another part of my week.

Okay, rant over.  I had to get that out before it sucked up my whole day, my whole week, whatever.  Thanks for putting up with me.

Finished a new kit

Well, over the weekend, my creative muse hit.  I think she was inspired by all the "south of the border" type music at the wedding.  Anyway, I put together a Cinco de Mayo kit.  It was done, all but three flowers I was waiting for, on Sunday.  Yesterday, I got the file with the 3 flowers and permission to use them.  Now all I have to do is bundle it all up and upload it.  It's cute and will go well with anything from recipes for Mexican food to party pictures from Cinco de Mayo Fiestas.  I have some raw previews ready, but I think I'll wait til tomorrow when they're all wrapped up in the NDISB wrapper and ready to go into the store.  Right now, I'm wondering about that--I tried to go to the forums at the store to see what was happening only to receive an error message that the store's bandwidth had been exceeded.  I don't suppose "we" thought about that when the decision was made to run all the blog train purchases through the store.......  Well, I can at least get the new kit on the server tonight and see what happens on the bandwidth question from there.

I have spent days tied to this computer of mine.  As I've mentioned before, the place I work was embezzled before I was hired.  In fact, that is the reason I was hired, I think.  I guess they figured I woudn't embezzle from my stepson, and they're partially right--I wouldn't embezzle from anyone because I like sleeping at night and not looking over my shoulder in the daytime.  Besides, I take my born-again-Christian walk seriously.  Anyway, the company has taken the case to the DA and they've agreed to prosecute.  It fell to me to put the documentation together for the case.  This is not something that's new to me as I've done it many many times in the past.  It is, however, a painstakingly detailed, challenging yet boring, job.  I have documented theft of about $30,000.  That does not include the fact that he took a paycheck for doing the accounting work and never did it.  When I took over, bank accounts were not reconciled for a year and checks had not been recorded for more than 6 months, with the exception of paychecks which were automatically recorded when payroll was processed.  Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable were both also thousands of dollars out.  I've sat, for hours, pawing through the disorganized files he left behind, tracking down the receipts that had been submitted for reimbursement and sorting them by date, trying to match them up to reimbursement payments.  Everything is a total mess!  Or, at least, it WAS a total mess.  Now it's in much better shape.  At least, by date, we now know what should have been reimbursed on any given week.  I still have a few hours of work on this mess, but I'm largely done and so glad to be able to say that.  But, I think we have corraled the documents into a logical presentation that the DA can now at least follow.  I will be grateful for the boost the extra hours I've worked will make to my paycheck, but I just hope I can cash the paycheck, LOL.  We've really struggled to stay afloat, given the economy and the setback this created for the company. 

Sitting at this computer for days on end has not done a lot of good for my feet and legs, but they seem to be holding their own.  Still swelling and turning red throughout the day, but not swelling more than usual in spite of me being at the desk for hours on end. 

We're hoping to go to Mexico on Thursday.  But, right now, that all hangs on my getting a response to my e-mail to my Mexican doctor.  On our last trip, I was informed that the Mexican pharmaceutical company would no longer be manufacturing the generic Blood Pressure medication I was taking.  I got what I think were the last 4 bottles in town and came home.  The question now becomes what we will substitute for what I've been taking.  I've been getting 100 pills for anywhere between $17 and $22.  If the doc doesn't come up with something else, I'll be forced to buy 15 pills for $17 which is a good deal compared to US prices, but way more expensive than I can handle.  But, the doc is pretty good about responding to my infrequent e-mails--he knows I can't just drop everything and drive 600 miles round trip to ask him a question.  So we'll see what he comes up with........

Around here, I am slowly catching up.  I am down to one load of laundry pending and that is about where I always am.  Actually, it's probably two loads of laundry as I noticed yesterday that there is a horrific accumulation of dust on our bedroom curtains.  So, I'll take those down and launder them either today or when we return from Mexico.  No further progress has been made on the painting of the living room.  We're still stuck at 2 coats of primer on the walls and a ceiling that needs more scraping before it can be primed.  I don't blame Joe, other than he's never learned to use the "little minutes".  He works from 4PM til 4AM.  Add to that leaving the house at 3PM to make sure he's there in time and his commute home in the morning and he's tied up around 13.5 hours a day.  Then, he has to sleep at least 7 hours a day.  He also is President of his Gideon group which takes some time each day.  His days "off" are still tied up with sleeping and by the time he gets up and gets enough coffee to be sensible, it's 2 or 2:30 PM.  And, there are still all the little jobs to be done, like we lost power the other night so the sprinkler clock needs to be reset.  It's small stuff, but it needs to be done....  And until I get caught up in the house, I sure can't think about painting!

I was sitting here working away Thursday night when, due to high winds and rain, I guess, the power went out.  It was only out for a moment, but that was time enough for me to lose anything that was unsaved on my computer.  Then, Sunday, the keyboard stopped working.  Worked one minute, didn't work the next.  Joe even tried plugging a spare keyboard into the computer but that didn't work either.  I had to save scazillion things before I could shut down and re-boot.  And, with Vista on this machine, rebooting takes SO LONG........  Finally, once it was rebooted, the keyboard worked again.  It's just weird working with Vista, I tell you. 

Oh, interesting story.  As a wedding gift, Matt and Patti received the offer of a very large size print of a wedding photo.  They wanted their picture taken in front of the "welcome to Vegas" sign that most folks are familiar with.  First, Matt was concerned that my camera didn't have enough megapixels to accomodate the degree of enlargement they contemplated.  So, I borrowed Jason's camera.  He has about 50% more MP than I do.  I cleaned the lens and made sure the camera was in ship shape for good photos.  Then, after the wedding, Joe and I and Matt and Patti trooped out there to do the actual photo.  It's a popular site for tourists who are celebrating their first trip to Vegas, so there was actually a "line" of sorts, waiting to do photos.  So, there we stood, Patti in her wedding gown and Matt in his tuxedo, waiting our turn.  It was amazing how many cars went by and tooted their horns at us!  I really needed my tripod for the vertical shots, but ended up using Joe's shoulder to steady the camera.  That worked pretty well.  So, we took 7 shots (Jason's camera gives a gorgeous clear shot and it was a gorgeous day for it) and were then approached by a man in a clerical collar.  He looked at Matt and Patti and asked "Are you the bride and groom?"  Well, they were the only ones there in a wedding gown/tuxedo.........  So they responded that they had just been married at a wedding chapel in town.  Seems this minister was there to perform a wedding ceremony under the sign and was looking for the wedding party!  Can you imagine?  I had no idea people actually used that site to get married!  I guess it would be cheaper than using a chapel, and you wouldn't have to bother trying to reserve a chapel, so why not?  Then we looked around to see two guys unloading a LOT of fancy schmancy camera equipment.  Turns out they were doing some shots for a show that was to air on TV yesterday.  I'm anxious to find out if Matt and Patti were on TV and whether they got the chance to record the show. 

Well, in theory, I'm going into the office today.  I need to get a bath and get ready.  Just packing up all the bits and pieces of this court case will take a few minutes so I can't fool around here, talking to you and longer, LOL.  Have a great day.........

They changed all the rules!

Well, the wedding is over.......  Joe and I drove down to scope out the wedding chapel and grounds last week, only to find a posted sign "No Cameras Allowed on Property"!  That kind of took care of me being the official photographer!  Of course, the chapel has a photographer on hand and they get a cut of what he makes so, for them, it's all good.  If you want photos of your wedding, you have to pay the piper.  It was probably just as well because, though we charged every battery we own, it seems they all went dead about 8PM.  The other problem I experienced was that there were so many people at the party with cameras, I couldn't get near the action to get a decent camera angle.  In some cases, I couldn't even get a shot!  I gave up, eventually.  Not like I had a choice with all the batteries going dead on me one after another.  And to think I had chargers plugged in all over the house.  I think I have to buy some new batteries and throw all the old ones out.  Maybe they're just worn out.  Here are a few photos though:  Forget that, Typepad is not cooperating at the moment......

It was a beautiful ceremony and Patti looked lovely.  Someone gifted her with a cascading bouquet of red roses--beautiful.  Her mother is a beautician in Mexico, so she did Patti's hair and makeup.  It was fun watching the professional photographer work with his fancy rig, external flash and all.  He got a number of classic photos so if they can afford his photos, they'll be good ones.  Jennifer and Jason came to the wedding, but Jennifer was just exhausted and Atticus wasn't being as angelic as usual either.  Seems Jennifer had gone grocery shopping and left Jason with instructions to put Atticus down for a nap.  Jason, however, elected not to have Atticus nap.  So, by 4:30 in the afternoon, he was a bit cranky and difficult to manage.  Jennifer said he lasted only about 3 minutes into the ceremony and then she had to take him out.  The chapel was filled to capacity.  In fact, I had William on my lap throughout. 

There is a lady here in town that Matt and Patti know who goes to parties and cooks Mexican food for the guests.  So, we feasted on Carne Asada Tacos at the party.  Patti also has a number of Cuban friends and they cooked Cuban food and brought it to the party.  We were well fed!  The tables looked lovely.  Patti and some of her friends made all the table decorations and did a beautiful job of it.  Parents of friends of theirs offered their backyard for the party.  It was pretty crowded, mostly because of the pool!  There were tables and people everywhere and Joe and I ended up sitting on the edge of the pool.  Since Joe loves to swim, it was no problem for him, but I was scared most of the evening.  NOT going into that pool was my goal! 

I am not sure about my recovery.  For the last week or so, there hasn't been much change.  My legs and feet are still swelling daily.  Of course, we have made enough progress so that first thing in the morning, when I crawl out of bed, I at least recognize my feet and legs.  But they still swell and are red.....We bought some over the counter diuretics but they don't seem to be up to the job.  I thought I had a line on some prescription strength diuretics, but the person refused to share under the misconception that I was asking him/her to do something illegal.  Of course, that would only be illegal if it were a controlled substance (not diuretics), and if they were being sold.  But, I was too sick to argue and, frankly, dumbfounded.  This particular person is someone who is closely related to me and I was shocked that he/she would think I would ask him/her to commit a criminal act.  So, we are going to have to make a Mexico run soon and I will buy some there. 

With Joe having split days off, this whole Mexico thing is quite a challenge.  He wants to leave very early in the morning and if we do that, I will have to do all the driving.  Since he works nights, I am not about to let him drive until he's had adequate sleep.  His idea was that we would get down there before noon, go across the border and buy what we needed, climb into the car, drive back, all in one day.  No, I refuse to do that.  I have a hard enough time getting him to sleep enough hours as it is.  We'll drive down, and go across the border and buy what we need, but we'll spend the night.  He needs to go to work the next day and I won't have him out driving with little or no sleep. 

We've been in the no paycheck mode at work for several weeks.  THAT is getting old.  However, according to what Matt tells Joe, we have some decent jobs coming up, so maybe I can get paid.  I really need to be paid before we go to Mexico so we can buy what we need there.  Maybe now that the wedding is over we can all settle down.  It doesn't hurt that tax season has ended either!  I thought I was going to go a bit crazy on Tuesday the 14th.  People suddenly "got religion", coming to the realization that they had done nothing about their taxes and SOMETHING was due to the IRS the next day.  Of course, we churned out a lot of extensions, some of them with enough information to make an accurate estimate of tax due, and some of them with numbers more or less plucked from the air.......  I used the best information I had available and we went from there.  But the phone and fax rang all day long and even my e-mail was attacked by those in a last minute panic! 

I haven't posted a new kit in the store in two months.  I have kept up with the monthly collaborative kits and, of course, participated in the store's blog train.  But nothing for MY store.  So I spent part of the weekend working on a kit for Cinco de Mayo.  I haven't seen any of those anywhere else yet, so maybe I can take the market by storm--yeah, right!  Well, I'll get it done and I'll advertise it, and we'll see what happens.  I'll probably pop in here and advertise it either tomorrow or Wednesday.  It's turning out really cute.

There was an interesting thread in one of the designer forums recently.  The big discussion centered on whether we, as designers, are putting ourselves out of business with the amount of free product that is available, offered as advertising or samples.  I don't know about free product, but I think $1 kits and sales every other day at deeply discounted prices are a bad idea.  I learned a long time ago, when I got my Masters in Business Administration, that if you get customers used to low low prices, it's extremely difficult to raise them.  I intend to ride out this economy, but there are designers who got into digital scrapbook designing, thinking it would be a way for them to make money for their families fast.  But, with tight economic times comes less disposable income, and, thus, less money to spend on scrapbook kits.  So, the big designers are making less than they are used to and the newbies are making next to nothing.  However, I have a secret "weapon", and my expectations are that my sales will grow and be blessed.  I just need to keep plugging away and turn out the best kits I can.

Well, that's all I have time for now.  Gotta get crackin' on a special project.  Have a blessed day!

Sale!!!!!!!!!

 

http://www.ndisb.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=95

A day to celebrate!

Hey, hey!  It's a day to celebrate!  It's April 15th and that means two things that are important to me.

1) Tax season ends today.  Oh, sure, there are a pile of extended returns to be done between now and October 15th, but the worst of the madness is over!

2)  We're doin' a Blog Train.  In the midst of the madness, I stopped for a few short hours and put together my contribution to the NDISB (Natural Designs in Scrapbooking) Blog Train.  I think it turned out pretty well.  Wanna see?  Well, I'm teasing you now because it's at the bottom of this post. 

Anyway, with a blog train on board, I'd normally show you all my latest creations.  Of course the idea would be that what you see would attract you to my store to look around, possibly to buy.  However, see #1 above.  My latest creations are tax returns and I'm going to bet if I had them for sale you wouldn't want any part of them, LOL.  What with a part-time job, tax season, and being sick for weeks on end, my designing has taken a back seat.  So, I'm not going to show you all my latest designs. 

Nope, not gonna do it.  But, I would love it if you would take a minute and click on that "Newsletter" button on the right there........  I will be sending out a freebie to anyone who registers.

Also, you may want to check back here in a day or two.  I'm planning one more way to celebrate today.  I'm planning to put my store on sale.  I'm thinking 40% off everything in honor of the "1040", the tax form most of us file this time of year.  I wanted to have that ready for you, but yesterday, the 14th was a totally impossible day with incoming faxes, and phone calls, and extensions to generate, and high winds, and power outages, and it just didn't get done.  Today doesn't look much better but it IS coming soon.

Okey, dokey.  I hope all that interests you.  I know what comes next will. 

 

That's what you've been looking for--the preview of my part of the NDISB Blog Train.  It's actually available for download in my store which you can find here:  http://www.ndisb.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=95&zenid=7d43573c594066a655622918ba44cbef

You'll notice that there's a price on the blog train item.  Never fear, here is a coupon code that will enable you to get it free.  NDISB-BT-HFD-o75hg.  Just put the freebie into your cart, go to checkout, and enter that code in the coupon section.  Free, absolutely free.  (Just so you understand, we have heard complaints about viruses from some of the usual download sites, so by doing things this way, even though it is "different", we know what you receive will not contain any nasty surprises.) 

As always, remember that our design/CT team is literally from all over the world and that real life happens to us all.  If anyone has not posted their contribution, check back later. 

And, most of all, our design/CT team has worked hard putting this together for you with our wish that you will LOVE scrapping with it!

The next stop on the blog train is here:  http://ndisb.blogspot.com/  Have fun!

Isn't it pretty?

Because I know NOTHING about HTML, I had Kathy Moore help me revamp this blog.  I'm so pleased with how it turned out.  It's fresh and clean and pretty and I love my pink and yellow color scheme.  I used elements from my Flowers in Her Hair digital scrap kit for the header.  If you like the blog header, you can see the kit in my store (link on the right).

Much to my boss's delight, I am back at work.  I'm trying to keep the hours down.  I spend a little time there, then run home and elevate my feet, but it's good to be catching up on a lot of things that have gone undone due to being sick.  Monday and Tuesday I worked on the Bank Reconciliation for March and started working on bringing the checkbook up to date.  Although I don't usually work on Wednesdays, I'm going in for a few hours today to see if I can finish updating the checkbook.  Then, we'll have a clean slate on which to build.  The boys landed a job which will pay us well, but it's all about timing, and this job is for a government installation.  That means we'll have to wait for our money, while the paperwork clears the government red tape--not a happy prospect.

Last week, I made it my mission in life to lie down with my feet up as many hours a day as I could manage.  That has helped a lot with the swelling, though my feet and legs are still swollen.  As a result, I got behind on everything.  I spent the weekend churning out tax returns.  I have one here on the desk and today's appointments and I'll be caught up on that.  I have so many last minute clients.  It really is a pain.  Even without being sick, I get more and more tired as the 75 days of tax season progress.  I have one of my hardest returns scheduled for April 13th!  I sure hope she gets all the documents here or she will be extending.  Also have another that's supposed to come in over the weekend.  That one is usually a bear and requires a mountain of e-mails back and forth between me and the client before I get everything I need, in some reasonably dependable form.  So, cross your fingers for me on that one.

Along with getting behind on tax returns, I am also in a mess here in the house.  Monday I took a look at the accumulated laundry and almost decided just to go back to bed.  But I exercised some self discipline and did several loads of laundry instead.  More laundry yesterday.  I think I'm down now to somewhere around 4-5 loads to go and the hamper will be empty.  Phew!  That's a lot of laundry for two people.

I met with Matt and Patti after work Monday.  Matt wanted to tell me that the photographs for the wedding would be "just casual".  Well, maybe, but I needed to hear from Patti on that.  I also needed to know what types of photos were important to her.  I've got a pretty good idea now, but have to make a detailed list, in order, so that when it comes time to shoot, I know what needs to be done where so that I cover all the bases in the shortest time period possible.  If you've read this blog, you know that paychecks can never be counted upon where I work and Matt works at the same place.  They have worked so hard to try to put together a wedding on limited funds.  Monday was the first time I'd seen Patti's engagement ring and it is pretty.  It's designed with inset stones flanking a rectangular diamond and she'll have inset stones on the wedding band as well.  I was happy to learn that Patti was able to get a wedding gown which she loves and get it on sale.  The wedding will all be white, black, and red--Red flowers, red flowers on the cake, etc.  Greg will be Matt's Best Man and Andrea, a friend of Patti's I've not yet met, will be the Maid of Honor.  I'm also making a list of the things I need to be sure go with me when we leave the house for the wedding--as many charged batteries as possible, memory cards for the camera, tripod (just in case I have to do some low light photos at the "party" afterward--don't want shaky camera blur because of shaky hands and the shutter being open longer), and so forth.  I am concerned about timing on photos at the chapel--they only have it for half an hour.  And I want to check out an area that's supposed to be pretty outside the chapel just in case we have to shoot the bride's and groom's families and maybe even the attendants there instead of inside the chapel.  I'm so looking forward to doing this.  I'm especially excited because I have a better camera and a lot more experience than I had at the last wedding I photographed.  You can check out the wedding chapel here:  http://www.bellezalasvegas.com

I have gotten some lovely new kits to scrap with from LaWanna and Amanda.  Gosh, my girls do good work.  Unfortunately, I have about 150% of my usual inventory of zipped files--yup, I'm behind on that too in spite of buying next to nothing.  I'll try to make those kits a priority in the unzipping process so that I can come back here and post those for you.

I've had Atty here a couple of times in the last week.  I think it's pretty funny that he knows exactly where the soda is kept at Grandma's house (we try to keep some root beer on hand for William as he really loves it).  It amazes me that everytime I spend time with Atticus, I, once again, begin to mourn for the lost opportunity to spend time with Will when he was this age.  I'm sure he was just as much of  a sweetheart, but with him in Reno and me here, I missed knowing him the way I know Atticus. 

Jennifer is at 11+ weeks on the "new" pregnancy.  I wonder if I'll be able to stand waiting another 9 weeks for the ultrasound that will tell us if we are getting a girl this time.  I would SO love that, though I'm certainly in love with little boys right about now.  She's going through the typical first trimester with tiredness and morning sickness.  While I'm anxious for time to pass for one reason, I'm sure she is really anxious to get beyond week 13 for another totally different reason!

Well, that's all I have time for this morning.  Have to get ready for work, go put in my time, and be home, ready to do a tax return by 2PM.  Have a blessed day!