My Weblog

Gift from God

So, yesterday, I raved on God's precious gift to us, the gift of a vacation in a beautiful place.  Today, in great gratitude, it seems we've received another of His precious gifts.  Last night at dinner, we were discussing that we'd both forgotten to water a specific row of shrubs.  We have an automatic sprinkler system, but the row of shrubs along the side wall of the garage for some reason has no sprinkler heads.  Lord knows what the previous owners of this house had in mind when they did that.  Anyway, we'd reminded ourselves that that row of shrubs was in need of water but had forgotten to follow through and actually water it.  So, at 5:30 this morning, just as it was becoming light, Joe went out to water the shrubs.  And, he was shortly joined by a visitor.  They had a little conversation of sorts and the visitor had nerve enough to push the front door open and go exploring in our house.  He's a very handsome visitor and we have welcomed him to our home.  He looks like this:

 

He appears to be a full-blooded black Labrador.  He also appears to be young and full of p&v.  He's quite active and is having fun with the other dogs (hence the somewhat blurry photo--just TRY to get him to sit still for a photo when there's so much else going on).  He seems quite bright which surely does differentiate him from Toby who was incredibly loving and not very smart.   Sorry about the wild pet eyes in this photo--I was so excited to post this, I didn't take time to fix that.  In some light, the outer part of his eye really does look green, but the center of his eyes is brown/black not teal!

He reminds me of Toby, of course, though Toby was older and a yellow Lab.  And he reminds me of that commercial, you know the one--with the very handsome man who is baking a cake and then ties a red bow around a lab puppy's neck and says "Happy Birthday, Mrs. Parker" in a very sexy voice.  I've driven Joe a little batty about wanting a "Mrs. Parker Dog", knowing full well we could not afford such a purchase.  So, the new addition's name is "Parker".  He joins Max and Punkin and we are once again a 3 dog family.  

Joe put a leash on him and walked him up and down the street, looking for his owners, talking to neighbors.  So far, no one has come by to claim him.  Of course, if we find his owner, we have to return him--he's obviously someone's well-loved pet.  But, I kind of hope we don't find an owner.  Joe is worshipped by Max and I think Punky even prefers Joe.  But, at least for now, Parker's laying next to MY chair! 

So, we have Max trying to mount Parker to prove he's the alpha dog.  And everyone (except for Joe and I, of course) is sniffing everyone else's butt.  And Parker has learned to come in through the pet door though we're not too sure he knows about going out through it.  And Parker has urinated outside and been praised for having the smarts to do that.  And walking across a room is once more a supreme challenge.  And, we feel blessed and very well loved by Dad!!!!

Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."  Luke 6:38

It is a sign that I am becoming a tad bored with being "home alone" when I begin to read the archives of my blog.  But that is what happened recently.  And, in doing so, I ran across some posts for which I had photos, but those photos were lodged in the camera and were not yet available for showing at the time of posting.  I kind of thought that was a waste, so every now and then, I think I will briefly retell the story and post some photos here.

It was November, 2008.  A friend/client of mine had a week in a JW Marriott resort time share in Palm Desert and she had decided she just couldn't use it.  So, she gave the week to Joe and I.  No one has ever given me a gift like that in my life!  I felt positively spoiled and spent significant time thanking Dad for inspiring her to do it and working out a way to thank her.  We were short on money and stressed out and yet, in the six years of our marriage had never had a vacation longer than a long weekend.  This was a very significant blessing in our lives.  And when God goes out of his way to give you a vacation, it's pretty good evidence He is conscious of your needs.  THAT realization boosted our faith.  We have been faithful givers for years, and in most years have pressed hard on giving 20% of our income to the Lord's work.  Based on that scripture above, I see this vacation as evidence of that scripture above. 

This happened in November.  At that time, energy had been a big topic of discussion.  Specifically, "alternative energy" or "renewable energy".  Should we drill or should we hug trees......  The drive from home to Palm Desert isn't particularly pretty.  One tumbleweed after another......  And then, we happened on THIS area.

 

These photos were taken very late in the day and the light was not good, but my objective was not necessarily to produce amazing photographs but rather to produce photographs that would remind us of this particular memory.  Windmills, thousands of them, in every direction. 

These areas are called windfarms.  Some people object to seeing them.  Some people object to disturbing the natural habitat of this spotted owl or that snake.  But, a windfarm this size can power a city of 100,000 people or more.  And, unlike solar energy, windmills generate power even at night.  My research says that more and more people are building their own windmills to generate their own power.  They can actually operate with power at no cost or can even sell off power to the local power companies and receive money FROM the power company instead of giving money TO the power company. 

I have no aesthetic objection to this sight.  In fact, I find it majestic.  And, oh so practical.  I wish my photos were better able to document this sight.

This is the second windfarm we've happened upon in California.  The other was not of this size, but is on the east to west route between Yuma and San Diego.  It's a god-forsaken area, desert, largely abandoned as far as population goes, yet it serves a purpose.

We arrived at the TimeShare area just before sunset.  This next photo shows the porte cochere under which one can park while registering. 

 

That area in the background is just beautiful up close.

 

By the time we got settled in our apartment, the sun was setting.  I ducked out onto one of our two patios and caught this shot of the sunset and palm trees reflected in a pond just behind our building.

 

I loved our patio and it was amazingly comfortable out there.  Though there was a busy street out there by those palm trees, the wall around the property was a very effective sound block and it was so peaceful.  The next morning, I caught these exterior shots which will give an idea of the beauty of the area......

 

That shot features a camera flare and I think it makes the photo look a bit "magical".

 

That's a shot of the building next door to us, a duplicate of the building in which we were staying.  On the top level, you can see the layout of the balconies that were such an attraction to me.  I spent most of my time on the balcony that faced to the rear.  There was access to that balcony from both the living room and the bedroom.  Loved it out there. 

This is the final shot for today.  Just a photo of one of the pools on property.  We didn't actually go to the pool and I'm not sure why.  Perhaps it was simply because we were comfortable in our little apartment. 

 

We actually did a little sightseeing and I'll show you some of those photos soon, but we didn't explore the grounds of the resort until we were getting ready to leave.  Had we actually looked at this pool sooner, I'm betting we'd have spent more time there.

One of the fun things about these resorts is that the decor is professionally designed.  The next time I post, I'll try to show you some photos of the interior of the apartment and you'll understand how we could be so comfortable there.

Joe worked last night.  It was not particularly lucrative, but we're grateful for the 6th shift.  It makes quite a difference in Joe's paycheck.  The paycheck is still not enough, but it's a darn sight better WITH Saturday night than without it.  There was a call for cabs at the Thomas & Mack center, a big arena here in town.  Joe showed up to find there's a Raul Reese crusade being held there.  Joe picked up a couple from there who knew all the areas that were Joe's old "stomping ground" in Southern California before he moved here.  So, he had the opportunity for some Christian fellowship and a walk down memory lane at the same time.

I've been working on a new kit.  In spite of computer problems, it's coming along pretty well.  The computer problems are just giving me the opportunity to design things twice, Grrrrrr.  I have tentatively diagnosed it as a need for fresh batteries in my wireless mouse.  It's amazing how much trouble such a small thing can cause.  Anyway, it's turning out a bit more "adult" than I'd pictured it; it was intended to be a kit for scrapping our sons and grandsons........  We'll see what I can do about that.  Anyway, I've got papers upon papers again, so I guess we will do another add-on that will be free to my newsletter subscribers.  I'd do a sneak peek, but I've not settled it in my mind that this will be the next kit in the store.  As soon as I get that worked out, I'll try to do a Sneak Peek here.

Okay, I really don't have anything more right now so I'm going back to work.....  Designing, laundry, etc.  Have a blessed Sunday.

Drive-by Blogging

Here's a "fun" story for ya:  I was working my little fingers to the bone last night on a new kit.  Had some pretty good looking stuff done and along about 10:30PM, the computer just totally locked down on me.  Ctrl-Alt-Delete brought up the Task Master and it just sat there and churned.  Now, I have gained enough sense not to go to bed without saving ever again, because at night someone updates some software somewhere on here and then reboots the computer and all my goodies are lost.  But, this time, I was still actively working and the computer just wouldn't do anything!  I sat here, waiting and mourning, til 1:30AM and it never got any better.  So, finally I headed for bed.  At first I couldn't sleep so I talked the situation over with God and asked him PLEASE to unlock this computer this morning so I could save what wasn't saved, versus losing it.  Sure enough, I toddled out here around 5:30AM, about the time Joe got home from work, saved everything, and, once everything was saved, it all locked up again.  I then had to re-boot.  But, I got it all saved and that saved me hours of work recreating what I'd done last night!!!!!!!!  God is concerned about the lilies of the field, the sparrows, and my scrapbook designs!

Child's Play

Well, I've had a full week of "child's play" so that gives me two good reasons for the title.  The other good reason is the introduction of my latest kit by the same name.  I got it into the store late last night after returning from Jennifer's and got my newsletter ready to go out to my subscribers as well.  It's only 7:30AM here, but I've already hit "send" on the newsletter and it's on its way.  This kit turned out to be HUGE, 9 solid papers and 15 print papers.  There is also an add-on with two more solids, several prints, and a few elements. 

I love when a kit just "comes together" and there's no struggle involved.  I started a new kit yesterday and just couldn't get in the groove so there's struggle.  But Child's Play, well, that one was such fun to make and the pieces just sort of fell into place.  I could have added to it and added to it, but I finally just had to call "TIME" on myself and stop!  It requires 4 download files as it is.  I can't imagine how many files would be required if I hadn't enforced some discipline on myself, LOL.  Here's what the kit looks like:

 

This kit has so many papers I actually had to leave one as a surprise--just couldn't fit it into the preview.  And, while there's a good sampling of the elements visible, they're certainly not all in the preview!

The add-on looks like this:

 

I love the play of the bright colors against the neutral black or white backgrounds.  Fun!  On June 1, the designers at NDISB sponsored a blog train.  This add-on was my contribution.  I'm making it available in the store for $2.00 to anyone who missed the blog train because it compliments the full kit so well.  Both the add-on and the kit are on sale for the first week (through September 4th) for 20% off, so that's a full kit WITH alpha for $4.00 and the add-on for $1.60.  You'd have to go a ways to beat that, particularly given the ginormous size of the kit.  You can find these items as well as all my other SCHTUFF at http://www.ndisb.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=95

I usually have a sample page to show off the kit, but I just haven't felt well enough to do that this week.  So, I've laid out a challenge to my newsletter subscribers.  Most of them have a coupon from me for $2.00 off on a purchase (depending when they joined).  If they use the coupon, they could get the kit plus the add-on for $2.00 because they're getting the add-on for free.  If they do a layout with the kit this week and post it in at least 2 galleries, crediting me as the designer, I'll replace their $2.00 coupon (which expires August 31 anyway) with a coupon good through October 15 which can be used on any of my products!  They'll send me links and I'll send them the coupon code by return mail.  If you want to get in on this deal, click the button on the right and sign up.  I'll get you download links for the add-on in your inbox within 48 hours of signup.  Then, you'd still have time to purchase the full kit, make a layout, post it and send me links and get a $2.00 coupon by return mail.

I mentioned in my last post that Atticus was not feeling well last night, but with a couple of chewable Ibuprofen he was doing much better.  The little turkey.  I was letting my fingers dash across the keyboard writing that little quickie update to my blog last night and watching the clock on the monitor because dinner was in the oven.  I was headed to the kitchen to check on dinner when I noticed he was not lying on the couch.  I checked all the usual places--Will's bedroom, Mom and Dad's bedroom, the two places where the bulk of his toys are stored, and he was nowhere to be found.  Now, there is a security gate outside the front door and the backyard is gated so I didn't panic, but I was mystified.  I mobilized my staff, big brother Will, and we started a search.  The little stinker had slipped out into the backyard and was hiding!  That was my first clue he was feeling better and it was a very effective clue!

Well, I've been up for about an hour and a half, but I went to bed very late and I am still tired.  But, I woke up with a headache.  Geez......you'd think I would have had enough headaches in the last couple of weeks to last a lifetime, but no, 'nother one early this morning.  I've now eaten a few bites and taken an Ibuprofen and I'm feeling much better.  I think I will go try to lie down and catch a few more minutes of sleep (if there's room in the bed for me, LOL).

BTW, Joe came up with a pretty good theory on the Mexico thing.  He thinks they held off shipping until my check cleared the bank, but they didn't want to tell me that.  We had checked our account several days ago and it's possible the check didn't clear until 8/24 (there are 3 dates on there--two on a weekend--and we couldn't tell which one to believe......).  If that were the case, then it might be understandable why they didn't ship the package until 8/25.  I'd much rather they'd told me that than lying to me though.  I'm sure if I were a merchant, I wouldn't want to ship across international borders until the payment cleared..........  Still, the lying........not good.

I'm outta here for now.  Have a fab day.

sing hallelujah.........

Today, around 2PM we found a box containing my meds in the mailbox!  I was certainly happy to see that!  I immediately took a pill and my blood pressure immediately began dropping.  It's not yet down where I'd like to see it, but it surely is improved.  The headache is just barely there and that is a true blessing.  We could not help but be angry, however, when we noticed that the box was postmarked 8/25, a full week after the folks in Mexico said the package was mailed.  I'm actually kind of glad they're a 5 hour drive away because I would undoubtedly say/do unkind things to them if I were close enough!  Let's see.  We placed the order on 8/11, on 8/18 we were told the package was on its way, on 8/27 the package arrived, postmarked 8/25.  This doesn't inspire me to try this e-mail maneuver again soon.  I wish I didn't have to say that, but........  So, I guess we will need to be doing this in person from now on.  Well, it was probably worth finding out.  Now we know.  And now we will warn the friends to whom we passed on the "good news" about this service.  If I ever try this again, I will immediately order replacements the moment I open the last bottle/package of anything.  That will allow a minimum of 25 days for receiving the package.  (Part of my thyroid meds come in a 50 pill package and I take 2 per day.) 

So, my partially recovered self is babysitting tonight.  I'm in better shape for it than I have been in a while, that's for sure.  I picked up the boys Tuesday evening from daycare and kept them until their Mom got home from teaching her class.  Last night, about 5:45, Jen called asking if I could keep the boys while she went to look at a car.  Much to her consternation, she came to the conclusion that with the new baby, buying a van would be unavoidable.  There was some discussion of whether to trade her car or Jason's truck.  Jason's truck is old, but it's paid for and still runs well.  Jennifer's car was much newer and had a fairly high payment on it.  So, I guess the decision was made to trade the car.  Because it was a hybrid, she got excellent gas mileage and she was sad to have to give that up.  While it was physically feasible to fit three car seats into the back of the car, putting the kids in such close proximity resulted in that litany of complaints with which all mothers are familiar:  "Mom, he kicked me."  "Mom, he touched me."  "He took my toy, boo hoo."  and so on.  Crazy-making stuff to be sure.  So, now there will be room to separate the kids somewhat and perhaps peace will be restored.  Anyway, I arrived at her house at 7 and at about 10:15PM she returned with a used gold Honda Odyssey.  I'm sure it will give her good service and will do as well in the gas usage department as any van/SUV type vehicle could be expected to do, barring acquiring a hybrid van.  She was looking, however, for a lower payment and that wasn't going to happen if she went looking for a hybrid van.  I don't know the details, but the van seems to be in good shape.  It has a lot of room for luggage and plenty of legroom.  Perhaps she will be happier with it once she takes her first trip in it.  For years, everywhere we went in our little compact cars, I returned home with my back totally out of whack.  What a joy it is now to be able to go on a trip and not return in pain.  We love our van and hope she will learn to love hers too as she's likely to be driving a van for a number of years to come.

Tonight I am once again babysitting.  I'm not sure how late I'll be here.  It seems there is a forest fire near the cabin Jason has been staying in at Yosemite.  He, along with various and sundry neighbors, was evacuated last night.  He was dismayed to think he had to go to court two days in a row in the same suit.  I think the idea of wearing the same underwear would have bothered me more.  Jennifer suggested he wash those out in the sink which I think he did.  However, Yosemite isn't as dry as it is here in the desert and Joe and I wondered if they got dry by this morning.......  Anyway, he was being told it would be "days" until the fire was controlled and he could go back to the cabin.  So, the judge basically shut down the court and Jason is on his way home.  Of course, he had a flat tire along the way "somewhere in California" so I have no idea what time he might arrive.  I'm sure it's at least a 9 hour drive, if not more. 

So, that's three nights this week I've been here with the kids.  I love them and being with them is its own kind of fun.  It's also trying and any mother knows what I mean by that.  And, doing it with a truly remarkable blood pressure headache is just no fun.  And, the headache has been so bad, so persistent, that I have piles of laundry to catch up on (a very unusual circumstance in my house), and many other chores left undone.  With those crazy blood pressure headaches, anything one does, like walking around or bending down to pick up dirty laundry, or carrying a good sized pile of dirty laundry, etc., raises the blood pressure and makes the headache worse.  So, little or none of that stuff has been done in days and days. 

Atticus has an infection of some sort.  I got a call from the daycare yesterday afternoon saying they were looking for Jennifer and couldn't find her and he had awakened from his nap with a temperature of 102.6.  I contacted her (no problem, one phone call) and she went and got him and this morning she took him to the doctor.  He may have an ear infection and possibly a sore throat.  He does still have a fever........  After I arrived for my babysitting stint, I was dispatched to the closest pharmacy for some children's chewable Ibuprofen and that dropped the fever to 99.1, Praise Be!  So, he was just laying around with that glazed-eye effect that fevers generally produce in kids when I got here, but he's up and asking for food now.

I have a new kit to put in the store tomorrow.  Sadly, I don't have a layout to go with it--too much babysitting, no time for scrapping!!!!!  I think I might have a solution to that problem, though.  We'll see if my idea works out.  Anyway, if you check back here tomorrow, I'll have a preview of the kit up here.  It's huge and a great value so I don't think you'll be disappointed.  In the meantime, I have to feed this sick child who is now demanding food and hasn't eaten all day.  Have a good evening.

Everybody makes a mistake sometime

A while back I created a kit with some really cute graphics in it.  I had purchased the CU graphics a while back and was thrilled when I got to use them.  They couldn't have been any cuter.  But, they were the wrong colors!  I only recently became aware that not long ago, the artist amended her TOU to prohibit recoloring.  Please tell me how that makes sense?  She says she should have the right to have her graphics used in the colors she intended.  Perhaps that is so, but that ends up making them somewhat useless to me.  For example I had created a page usine a graphic of hers that was a popsicle.  I wanted a popsicle in each of the colors of the kit, lime green, red, blue, yellow, orange, etc.  Her popsicle was red.  That paper is now in the trash.  It was darn cute, with all those different colored popsicles, but I can't use it.  I don't want JUST red popsicles.  I had also done a page using a graphic of a train.  I no longer remember what colors the train was created in, but, it, too, looked darned cute in colors from the kit, popping off a yellow background.  That page is now also in the recycle bin.  While she may reserve the right to have her graphics used in the colors in which she created them, I reserve the right to have a kit with graphics that match MY color scheme.  That just ends up making them useless to me...........

So, yesterday I was getting the next kit ready for the store when I ran into this particular problem.  I checked her TOU, and sure enough, the kits I'd used have that nasty "recoloring" prohibition.  By the way, I will grant that in some cases this could make sense.  If I drew a strawberry, I would use red for the color, and, no doubt, I'd be somewhat amazed to find someone had decided purple strawberries were all the rage and recolored my red strawberry to purple.  But.........I am not about to design my kits allowing HER color scheme to dictate mine, KWIM?  So, I trashed the popsicle page (that broke my heart) and the train page, and designed a new page to replace the popsicle page.  I'm not going to replace the train page.  Honestly, I tried, and it seemed nothing worked.  Maybe I just wanted my darling little recolored train back.  I don't know, but the kit had PLENTY of papers without my train page and I just gave that one up.  Anyway, my stupid computer rebooted itself last night.  I'm half afraid to check and see what I've lost.  I distinctly remember saving the page with balloons I created to replace the popsicles.  I sure hope I saved my preview page........You know, those previews are layer upon layer upon layer of product and take a good long time to build.  To be truthful, I don't think that is saved, though I think I did save it once I got all the papers in place on it.  So, I will just have to add the elements to it again.........  Yuck!  I wanted that preview DONE, now I have to work on it some more.

I am still fighting the health battles.  I realized last night, again, just how frustrating this ear thing is.  I picked the boys up from day care and did manage to get William to talk a bit about his day.  Unfortunately, I couldn't hear what he was saying.  He doesn't speak in a loud voice anyway and talks fast and doesn't enunciate, and might just as well have been speaking Czechoslovakian.......  Then, we passed an accident along the way......some car took on a motorcycle and it looked pretty bad.  I could hear the sirens, but couldn't tell from what direction they were coming.  This is a pain in the butt!

The blood pressure is still on a rip.  Yes, we did get some blood pressure pills from someone which I had hoped would tide me over til mine get here.  Unfortunately, mine are still not here and these pills are just not doing the job.  When I left here yesterday to pick up the boys, the bp was 156 over 98!  Not dangerously high, but certainly a level one doesn't want to maintain!  And, with the higher blood pressure, the perpetual headache has returned.  Now, it's possible that as my body gets used to this stuff, the medication will become more effective.  But for now, it's not working and I have a miserable headache. 

We called again yesterday to check on the order.  We'd called the day before and the guy who handles this mail order program was on his way to check on the status of my order.  He was supposed to e-mail me back and didn't.  So, we called again.  He says he checked and the package is in Nevada.  However, we don't know whether to believe him or not.  He says the package was mailed through the post office and "has a number on it" and that's how he checked.  Of course, I know that Fedex and UPS have tracking numbers, but I've never heard of a Post Office program with tracking numbers.  The only thing I can think of is the bar code that sometimes shows up on first class mail.  I wonder if that is somehow trackable????  Anyway, according to "Agustin", my south of the border friend, they should be delivered today.  Oh, please, let that be true..........I would so much like to feel normal again and be rid of this monstrous headache.

I had the boys again last night.  I found out what Jennifer meant Saturday when she said William was wearing on her last nerve.  I love the boy to death, but I was ready to throttle him last night.  He sat at the dinner table with a book and fiddled with his food for the longest time.  I finally took the book away from him.  Later, when he was supposed to be getting ready for bed, I found him in the bathroom reading a book.  I hate having to tell him to do what he should have enough sense to know to do anyway and having to tell him over and over and over.  Yet, on the other hand, when I asked him for help, he was right there doing what I asked him to do.  

Atticus was very tired yesterday and that didn't make for a good evening.  They had "water play" at the day care center yesterday and according to his teacher, all he wanted to do was lie down.  And, he fell asleep in the van on the way home.  Of course when it was bedtime, he was a tiger.  NO WAY!  He didn't want to go to bed.  I could have coped better, I'm sure, if my blood pressure had been in a better place, but by the time Jennifer got home, around 10:15, I was exhausted, had a headache (of course), and was READY to come home.  I got the two boys in bed at the right time, but I couldn't get William to shut up.  Suddenly, he was bitten by the jabber bug.  I finally got disgusted and left the room!  I have no idea what Jennifer found when she opened the bedroom door to check on them.  They could have painted the room blue in my absence or could have been swinging from the ceiling fan, for all I know.  Hopefully tomorrow night will be better.   

Okay, I've taken a mega-Ibuprofen and my head is still throbbing, so I'm going back to bed.  Please pray for me and for those meds to get here or this mess to be healed. 

A true German Shepherd

I have had a number of dogs who were German Shepherd mixes.  And, now, we have Max who appears to be a full-blooded German Shepherd (though, since he's a pound puppy, we'll never know for sure).  One thing I can state with authority--there's German Shepherd blood in him somewhere! 

German Shepherds have a reputation for being thieves.  And, I've seen the thievery in all of the German Shepherd mixes I've had, so I believe the story.  Max has now proven he's a German Shepherd.  He steals food.  So far, it's limited to that, but he sure has fun with it.  We have an unusual house in that there is an actual door between the kitchen and the rest of the house.  I've always been pretty happy about that--kept the German Shepherds out of the kitchen and on days when the air conditioner is straining to keep the house cool, it keeps the heat in the kitchen.  Joe, on the other hand, just aches to have that door open.  Well, THAT is no longer an option.  I was sitting here at the computer the other night (before my left ear got weird) and I heard a strange "plop".  When I went to go check it out, I found Max had taken a "to go" box off the counter, opened it and cleaned up the food that was in it.  So much for having leftovers for dinner!  Today Joe got us sandwiches from Arby's.  I don't know why, but he also got us french fries.  I NEVER eat the french fries, so why he got them for me is a mystery.  Anyway, he gets french fries and shares them with the dogs.  Today, we had extra french fries (because he got some for me) and when he carried the trash to the kitchen, he missed the extra fries.  We eat lunch at my desk so, when I returned to the office after brushing my teeth and styling my hair, Max came slinking out of the office, head down.  Fortunately, he doesn't really have much stealth in his thievery.  He'd gotten himself a drink of water, dripped water all over my desk, and helped himself to some of those leftover fries!  He knew he shouldn't do it, hence, the head down pose as he crept back into the living room.  Of course, those water droplets all over the desk didn't tip me off!  It was so darned funny!  I guess the boy is really at home here now........

I don't think I mentioned it but Saturday was a lovely day here.  It was overcast ALL day!  And, that kept the sun from turning everything into a sauna.  About 2:30, it rained a few drops and rained a few more drops around 4.  Not much--in fact, my van was parked in Jen's driveway and the rain wasn't enough to wet the driveway under the van.......  But we celebrate every drop of rain we get here!  Many evenings it's still in the high 90's around here until 10PM.  Saturday, around 5PM, it was 79!  It was actually pleasant to be outside.

Speaking of rain, we have been on water rationing here for quite some time.  And, I've mentioned that we've had some astronomical water bills.  We had a leaky valve late in May/early in June and it ran our bill up.  I'm just sure they've estimated the rest of the bills this summer based on that artifically high month.  Anyway, during the hottest months of the year, we are allowed to run up to 3 cycles of 3-4 minutes duration daily on the sprinklers, between certain hours.  After the last bill, I cut that back to three days a week.  I'm happy to say that the grass appears to be tolerating the reduced watering very well.  I'll have to remember that next year!

Yesterday was a lost day.  I spent the bulk of it in bed, doped up with muscle relaxers.  I got NOTHING done in the house or design wise.  I'm so glad I tackled my CT pages for Bella Gypsy on Saturday instead of leaving them for Sunday like I usually do!  Last night after hours in the back brace and repeated doses of meds, I stripped the back brace off (the bones in it were killing me!) and laid down for the night, taking my chances with what would come next.  Well, what came next was this BIG THUNK!  I don't know what was out of place but it THUNKed back into place.  Of course, I'm still sore, but I've managed without the back brace all day.  I might even make it onto the treadmill tonight!  Now, if I could just hear and.......

Yeah, the blood pressure.  That's the other problem.  For years I took a medication called Verapamil.  I took an extended dose of it, just two pills a day.  It worked very well, so well, in fact, that we had to reduce the dosage and my blood pressure dipped way down.  Then the Mexicans quit making their generic equivalent and, due to cost, I had to switch to a different med.  The first thing I learned was that the old med and the new med worked in different ways.  So, there was no easy switching from one to the other.  I had a constant headache (that nasty headache that wraps around the back of the skull) for more than two weeks.  And, I couldn't get my bp down where I wanted it.  So, I e-mailed my Mexican doctor and asked what to do.  Isn't that cool?  I'll bet YOU don't have a doctor who e-mails you, do you?  He gave me a couple of ideas and explained that the switch would take some getting used to.  So, I've been on the new meds for a while.  I finally ended up having to take one pill every 8 hours instead of one pill every 12 hours, but we got that blood pressure in line. 

However, taking three pills a day instead of 2 pills a day chewed through my supply too fast.  And, we're not planning another trip to Mexico til November.  Well, we came back from Mexico last time with a business card from one of the biggest pharmacies there offering to ship meds from Yuma in response to e-mail/mail orders.  We were thrilled.  No matter what, we still find it cheaper to see a doctor in Mexico and to buy our medications there, even if we have to drive to Yuma, cross the border, buy the meds, come back across, rent a hotel room for the night, and drive home.  BUT, being able to do it by mail is cheaper still, so that made us very happy.  So, two weeks ago, I was almost out of the newer medication.  I sent an e-mail to the address we'd been given and got prices for what we needed.  Then I sent a check for the price of the meds and a $20 bill for shipping. Apparently there was some problem at the border (according to a more recent e-mail I had), but the meds were mailed from Yuma one week ago today.  And they're still not here.  In the meantime, I used up all the "new" meds I had, then used up the few "old" meds I had.  So, today, I got a different kind of blood pressure medication from a friend.  Cross your fingers that these work well enough to hold me for a few days without that blasted headache coming back and say a prayer that that package gets here soon!  There's nothing illegal in it, no controlled substances.  Just blood pressure meds, thyroid meds, and water pills.  So, there should be no problem, but we can't figure out what is taking the USPS more than a week to deliver a package from 5 hours away.

I have got to get on with life here in a minute.  Due to my "lost" weekend, there's much to do around here.  But, I do have a few scrapbooking pages to show off first.

 

Bella Gypsy Designs came out with a really cute called Housewarming.  This page bemoans the fact that my piano has been in the guest room and my living room has looked like this since November.  With Joe working so many hours, he hasn't had time to do much else and he doesn't want me up on the ladder doing the high stuff because he's afraid I might get dizzy.  Not likely, but I'm behaving myself according to his instructions.  Housewarming is available at Elemental Scraps today and will be available at Gotta Pixel and ACOT later this week.

 

This page is also with a new kit from Bella Gypsy Designs called Let Me Be Myself.  It talks just a bit about my spiritual journey.  Let Me Be Myself is at Elemental Scraps today and will be at Gotta Pixel and ACOT later this week.  The stitched border is by Gina Miller.

That's all folks........  Got to go do some laundry before Joe has to "go commando" to work! 

Just call me Gilda

Well, here I am, Miss Gilda in disguise.  Yes, it really IS always somethin'.  I woke up about 2am Saturday morning with a muscle spasm in my back.  It hurt all night long and most of the morning.  I just kept knocking myself out with muscle relaxers.  Finally I plopped myself into a very hot bath and soaked for a while, still unable to hear with my left ear, but muscle spasm gone.  However, as I sat here working last night, it slowly crept back up on me.  By the time I laid down, it was really painful.  I took several muscle relaxers through the night, trying to obtain relief, but, this morning I am in a lot of pain as well as being "hung over" from the drugs.  I should have slept several more hours, but I couldn't stand to be there any longer....  So, i went to the restroom, Got myself into the back brace, and here I am.  No doubt I will catch some naps herel  Meantime, my ear is still deaf.  So, like I said, it's always somethingl 

So, yesterday afternoon, as I was in muscle relaxer recovery, I got a phone call from Jen.  Seems she had scheduled to have a Sears repairman come out and take a look at her water softener.  It's been leaving little puddles on her garage floor.  Only problem was that she had scheduled to take Will and the dog to obedience school at 3.  So, I got the call, would I please come and stay at her house incase Sears called.  She had heard they call once and if someone doesn't answer, your appointment is cancelled.  So, I got in the car and drove to her house.  Seems Atticus had awakened early from his nap and was a real pistol.  And, according to her, Will was wearing on her last nerve.  She left Atticus, a very cranky Atticus, with me and she took Will to obedience school with the puppy.  I stopped on my way there and got myself some lunch.  Atticus laid on the floor and cried for a good half hour.  He wanted his mommy, and nothing I offered him, from a new CD in the CD player, to part of my lunch would dol  Finally, at the end of the half hour, he seemed to experience something of a change of heart and decided to eat a fruit roll-upl  Then he decided maybe he could choke down part of my sandwich.  After that, he seemed to be doing better.  It wasn't long til I caught Beatrice, their older dog, on the table with her head, eyes and all, in my sandwich box, trying to finish off my burger.  Do I need to tell you I left it for her?????

The Sears guy showed up moments before Jen returned home with Will.  He could find no leak in the unit itself, but found a slow drip coming off the pipes into the unit.  These, he claimed, he could not fix because they were beyond the realm of Sears' responsibility.  I can wait to see her with a pregnant belly, trying to find the right wrench to tighten that down.  If tightening it doesn't work, then, according to Mr. Sears, she will need to disassemble the pipes and use more plumbers tape and reassemble them.  I've forewarned Joe he might get a call to come over there and work on the water softener. 

I packed up my cares and woes and headed home.  I sat here last night designing pattern overlays for commercial use.  And, as time passed, I felt the cramp coming on again.....  And, sure enough, by bedtime, I was in a lot of pain.  And, I've been hurting ever since, despite multiple muscle relaxers throughout the night.  So, I'm back here in my back brace.........

I had hoped to go into the office yesterday afternoon and make up some of the hours I missed during the week.  But, with the need to go to Jen's that vaporized.  So, I will have one mighty small paycheck next week.  In the meantime, I do have a paycheck in my purse that will cash and Jen has paid me for the babysitting I did last week.  Of course, I'd take care of my grandson's anytime for nothing, but the money is very welcome.  I had paid a partial payment, all I had, on one of my credit cards, but the babysitting money put me over the minimum requirement on that.  And, because Jen was willing to put that money directly into our joint account, I was able to transfer the amount directly to the credit card and meet the payment deadline.  Phew!

Well, that's all I have for now.  More later...........

New kit in the store

Well, I finally put a new kit in the store.  I've been on a "food" kick with kits lately, and this one fits right in.  It's called Chocolate Covered Strawberries.  The color scheme is rich and beautiful, though very simple.  I hope you like it.  Here's a preview:

 

The kit contains 4 solid papers, 10 print papers, 5 color coordinated buttons, two satin bows, 2 flat folded ribbons, a strawberry and a chocolate covered strawberry, a leaf, 3 floral items and 2 journalers, a basket of strawberries, and three white strawberry flowers.  Not all elements are shown in the preview.   

I also had some other items which I put together into a mini kit.  The mini kit contains one solid paper and 4 print papers, a lace frame, two folded ribbons, two satin bows, and a pearlized bird element.  Here's what it looks like:

 

I will be giving this mini kit away to anyone who has subscribed to my newsletter by August 28th.  If you are a current subscriber, I'll be sending out a newsletter with links today (though it may be tonight before I get that done).  If you are not a subscriber, just click on the button to the left to subscribe and I'll send you links within 48 hours. 

Both the kit and the add-on are marked down 20% from now through the 28th so grab it while it's hot!

I do have a sample page which I scrapped with this kit.  It will let you get a closer look at the papers and elements.

 

On another scrap-design note, I have reloaded my Chocolate Raspberry kit in the store.  If you've been reading this blog, you know that the forum and gallery at NDISB was hacked.  As a precaution, the store owners uploaded a backup to the store from approximately 1 week before the hacker appeared.  The only problem there was that every new item that had been placed in the store in that week disappeared from view!  Like magic!  I figured there would be scores of folks messin' around in the back end of that store and uploading product to the server, so I just kind of hung out and waited and worked on other stuff.  Anyway, just so you can remember, Chocolate Raspberry looks like this:

 

Well, this was a drive-by blogging if there ever was one.  I've been working on scrap-design stuff all morning and now I have to leave for work in 5 minutes and I still have to brush my teeth and do something to my hair!  Do you ever have one of those days?????  Have a good one!