My Weblog

Saturday

I hope you like my very creative title.  If you're here for the freebie, scroll down.

I got up very early, considering it is Saturday.  6AM is a bit too early for me.  Joe is off at his prayer breakfast and when he comes home, I've little doubt I'll crawl into bed with him for at least another hour.  I've a busy schedule for the afternoon and will need some rest to be able to cope. 

With Joe working nights, I seem to have a really hard time getting to bed when I want to go to bed.  I was feeling really blah last night and decided that bedtime was going to be early.  I called him around 9PM to say good-night.  Finally, around 10:05, I was just exasperated and more or less told him I was hanging up that instant.  I call, he starts to jabber on about his latest ride and the one before that and the one before that and the traffic on "the Boulevard" (Las Vegas Strip) and the lousy construction on Flamingo, and so on.  Then he has to hang up to call a customer.  10-15 minutes later he calls back and he babbles on about what's going on at the airport and where he's going to go next looking for a customer.  Then he has to hang up to call a customer.  10-20 minutes later he calls back and does some more mindless random mind dump.  Then he has to hang up to call a customer.  10-15 minutes later he calls back and it starts all over again.  He will continue this routine for hours and hours unless I just hang up on him.  It doesn't feel right to hang up on him, but I wonder what he would do if I turned the table.  "Oh, the dryer just dinged.  I'll call you back."  10-15 minutes later:  "Well I got all that load of clothes out of the dryer and I moved the light colored clothes to the washer and then I had to pee.  And, I didn't take time to latch the door and the dogs, all 3 of them, wedged themselves into the bathroom to see what I was doing.  And then I cleaned the mirror in the hall bathroom.  It really took some elbow grease.  What in the world do you do to that mirror.  Oh, I have to go, I'll cal you back.  Now don't move til I do....."  10-15 minutes later:  "Hello, I'm back.  The dogs are barking furiously.  I don't know why but it's so noisy around here and its wearing on my nerves.  I've got to go check on them.  I'll call you back.  Now, don't you move til I call you."  10-15 minutes later:  "It's me.  I looked all around and can't see any reason why the dogs are barking.  Then I wiped up some coffee spills on the kitchen floor.  And, by the way, you need to be more careful with the kitchen trashcan.  You need to make sure you get the trash IN the can and not just throw it AT the can.  Oh, the other phone is ringing.  I'll call you back.  Now, don't you move til then."  I'm pretty sure he'd be well past the end of his rope if the tables were turned!

I decided to use a previously successful method to work on my blahs.  I read the NieNie Dialogues.  I have a good number of blogs on my blog reader which I read regularly.  The NieNie Dialogues is not on that list.  I save her for special occasions.  Her name is StephaNIE NIElson.  Over a year ago, she was flying in a private plane her husband was piloting.  The plane crashed and both of them were badly hurt.  Another pilot with them was killed.  Mr. Nielson sustained injuries, but Stephanie was burned over 80% of her body.  She was a beautiful woman.  Now she is disfigured because of the borns.  And though it's been more than a year, she is still undergoing all the hellish treatments medical science can dream up.  Yet, she manages to say and do positive things everyday.  If she can do that, then, surely I can get through a case of the blahs.  She brings me back to reality, helps me look at what I have with gratitude, helps me ignore what I don't have.  You can find her blog at http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/  .  I'm sure I'm not talking out of turn here if I say she would appreciate your prayers for pain free days and successful surgeries and more "real mom" days with her children and husband.

Designing

I have now completed previews for 8 of the 10 paper packs.  This part, the assembling of files, doing previews, making sure Piracy notices and tou are included, this is the part I don't like to do.  It takes all the self-discipline I can muster to push through and get it done.  I would say, given my performance, I'm not doing all that well in the self-discipline department.  Shame on me.  I should have had them all finished by last night.  Oh well.......

I haven't heard back from my fellow designer about our possible collaboration.  If you remember, I've given her two "official" color schemes and 2 suggestions without actual color pallettes attached.  Now I'm wondering if she hates what I've given her or if she has just not read the e-mail yet.  She gets a little side-tracked and if you're not on the right "track", you just don't get an answer sometimes.  I'll give her another day or two.  She has small children so she may be busy.

Scrapping

I think I might scrap a page or two this weekend.  The end is in sight on my current design crush so I'd love to squeeze in a little scrapping.  We'll see.

Have a blessed day.

Breakthrough!

Real Life

Around noon yesterday, we had a breakthrough.  Mozy actually quit "reticulating splines" and began backing up.  It's been backing up ever since and has backed up 8% of a ridiculous amount of stuff.  Once we get to actually backing up, it operates seamlessly in the background and is no trouble at all.  It's just that "reticulating splines" thing that screws up my world.  I'm happy to have the back up.  As to what happens if I have to do another restore sometime, I don't know.  I guess we'll figure that out when we get there.

I ground out a number of tax returns yesterday.  It was a good day on the money making side of things.  Joe also announced that he did pretty well last night.  I guess there is some Nascar thing here this weekend at the Speedway and the airport was one busy place.  His book was more than respectable for a Thursday night and his tips were reasonable too.  We're so grateful.  Nascar has my permission to hold 51 more events during the next year, one a week!

I just read through several posts on Ree Drummond's blog, The Pioneer Woman.  You DO read the Pioneer Woman, don't you?  Anyway, I watched a film clip of her on Fox News making her famous Cinnamon Rolls.  Now I am so hungry for Cinnamon Rolls I don't know what to do with myself.  I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but I don't have any yeast in the house.  I suppose, if eating loads of gooey, buttery, sweet baked dough is bad, then the lack of yeast is saving me from myself right now.  Besides her fabulous blog, where she talks about decorating, life on a ranch in small-town Oklahoma, home schooling, cooking, etc., she has written a cookbook which I'd love to have.  For now, I think most of her recipes are available on her blog and I'll be satisfied with those.  But, I can say that I've cooked/baked a number of her recipes and they are excellent.  Just look at these babies.  Cinnabon, eat your heart out!

We've made her Asian noodle salad, usually in the hot summertime.  We love it.  Our only problem with it is that after chowing down on it for one meal a day for a week, we still have some left over and can no longer face another serving.  But, it is yummy and has lots of chopped raw veggies so there has to be some nutrition in there too, right.  Here's a photo from her site:

Another of her recipes which we love is her "Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich".  It is so darned simple to make you just can't believe it will taste as good as it does.  We usually have it for dinner and then Joe scurries off to pack the leftovers in his lunch.

I've also made her "the Best Chocolate Sheet Cake Ever".  Actually I had a similar recipe years ago but hers is better, definitely better, and again easy-peasy.

So, for lots of interesting photos, great recipes, and lots of other fun stuff, I highly recommend The Pioneer Woman's blog.  You can find it here:  http://thepioneerwoman.com/

Designing

In between clients, I managed to get three more paper packs ready to upload to my lonely CT girl.  I'll start that upload process when I finish here.  I'm trying to get them to her before I'm ready to put them in the store.  It always helps to have another pair of eyes check things out.  I also uploaded my contribution to the NDISB collaborative kit so that detail is taken care of.  It was not due til 3/1 but it seems that lots of other folks are uploading theirs so I thought I should get mine uploaded as well, since it's done.  4 paper packs still to go and then I'll start on the elements.  Want to hear something funny?  For the last two nights, I've dreamed about color schemes and about ways to "package" the element packs to show them off most appropriately in the previews.  I've actually dreamed up some good ideas, I think.  I'm thinking maybe I'm getting a bit of divine guidance in the process for which I'm grateful.  In the meantime, I've spotted another scrapper that I think I'd like to have scrap for me as a member of my Creative Team.  I would like to see a bit more of her work, but what I've seen is really enough to convince me that the woman knows how to scrap!  I think I'll send her a Private Message this morning..........

My one lonely CT girl has produced two beautiful pages with the Misty Morn kit.  I thought maybe you'd like to see them:

She's very creative and knows a lot about designing.  For example, she created that plaid paper in the first photo herself.  She also changed the buttons from two-holers to four-holers.  I'm sure she could design if she had the time.  I'm thankful she doesn't!  And, BTW, aren't those some great photos?

Well, that's all I have time for now.  I need to put together previews, etc., for four more paper packs and upload the paper packs I've finished yesterday and the day before.  That'll keep me out of trouble for the morning, along with an occasional "break" to get dressed and do some clean up work around here.  I hope your day is everything you'd like it to be.  Mine will be.
 
 

Slow boat to China

If you're looking for the freebie, it's two posts down.

I am once again a beneficiary/victim of Mozy.  I toddled out here at 7AM.  It took me an hour and 15 minutes to get my computer to work.  And it is still working VERY slowly.  To change from one web page to another is so slow it's painful.  In addition, I don't type that fast, but I have to keep slowing down to get what I've already typed to show up on screen.  Lo and behold, Mozy is trying to back up.  Most of you have probably read of my woes with Mozy since November when my EHD crashed.  I had a backup of the EHD but time had passed in the interim and I needed to recover the stuff which had been backed up to Mozy but not to my extra EHD in that time frame.  When I signed on to my computer, Mozy would just start doing something, but not necessarily anything I wanted it to do.  I finally had to do a series of web restores which resulted in me getting duplicate after duplicate and sometimes I still did not get what I needed.  Well, a couple of days ago it started restoring again.  Now listen here, Mozy, you've restored that exact same 15.6 GB over and over.  I just ignored it.  I keep hoping if it ever actually finishes restoring that 15.6 GB it will stop trying.  At least that's what I've been told by the customer service people at Mozy.   However, it now seems to me we've done this at least twice all the way through and it's still doing it.  Worse yet, while I was asleep, it decided to try to back up.  Hey, an off-site backup is good.  I'm all for it.  That's why I joined Mozy in the first place.  It is set to occur at midnight.  At 7AM, it was still "preparing to back up".  Now, as of 8:41, we have moved over to a process called "reticulating splines".  This will go on for hours and it gums up the works in my computer something awful.  NOTHING was accessible.  I couldn't go to the internet.  I couldn't open an e-mail.  I need to print a tax return but couldn't get the software to open up on my screen so I could click the right button.  Now, an hour and 45 minutes later, I have finally got my internet access restored but it couldn't possibly be slower if I were on dial up.  I can also read an e-mail, but it's unbelievable how long it takes to load, given there's no graphics in it.  I have work to do!  Give me my computer back!

Well enough of that.  I put a freebie up here several days ago.  I had asked to participate in one of the charity kits for Haiti.  We are on a very tight budget around here and I felt that by making something, I could "give" even though I couldn't give money.  Giving my time was my way of helping.  However, when it came time to upload the contribution, I just was not feeling well enough to mess with it, particularly given that tax season madness had descended on me.  I decided to try giving away my contribution with links to the main kit, in hopes that would do more good than having it mouldering on my Hard Drive or giving it away just to my Newsletter subscribers. 

I suppose it's important to describe how I work.  When I participate in ANY collab kit, I create a full kit to sell with the color scheme as well as creating my collab contribution.  It would be easier on the start up side to create just a little something for the collab in terms of time, but usually I get more "inspired" as I go along and see how things come together.  I also find that, even if I love the color scheme, it does not work for me to do a collab contribution and come back to the color scheme later.  By the time I get back to it, it no longer turns me on. 

So, I created a full kit and my contribution to the collab simultaneously.  And I'm giving away the mini kit I made for the Help Haiti kit.  And I've said all that to say this:  To date, it's been downloaded 103 times.  No one has posted a single word of thanks in either of the three sites where I posted the announcement.  I have received two comments here on the blog.  No thanks posted at 4shared.  2 out of 103.  I didn't do this for the thanks and not getting much thanks isn't going to influence how I respond the next time I get an opportunity to contribute to a good cause.  But, it does make me a little sad.........  I didn't do this for the praise or for a spotlight or for my ego.  But, I know there are other designers who would, on the basis of that response, quit contributing to charity kits.  What those who download freebies don't know is that there is much discussion in the design community as to whether we've given the consumer the "right" to "expect" freebies because we are so generous with them.  I certainly hope that is not the case.  If it is, then I'm sure many designers will back off the whole freebie thing and that's not good for the consumer. 

Real Life

Over the weekend, we had to have the "breaks" re-done on our second car.  I work with a very sweet man who has immigrated here from Mexico.  It is my opinion that many people who come here from Mexico can do a LOT of different things.  I think that may have something to do with the way they are raised.  Maybe they work alongside their dads or their uncles or grandpas and learn many skills.  He is multi-talented.  He did the brakes for a VERY reasonable price and did them quickly.  However, they were making a grinding noise.  So, yesterday when Joe got home from work, we dropped his car off at the shop.  Our friend worked on 'em again--found a small rock in there--and then when it was time for Joe to go to work again, we drove down there together.  I stayed and got some work done and brought home some stuff to work on as well.  Joe said the brakes sounded much better yesterday evening when he drove the car.  We are thankful for good friends with skills and tools.  We got our brakes done at a very reasonable cost and our friend got some extra money in his budget which I am sure was welcome.

I have several appointments for tax returns today.  I also need to print out several returns I've finished.  I mentioned here a few days ago that I'd worked for hours and hours on our tax return and finally got us down to a $300 refund.  One of the returns I'll print today will show a $4700+ refund.  It's so hard not to be just a little envious........

Designing

I "shipped" 3 paper pack from the new collection to my one and only CT girl.  I hope she's got her waders on as there are 7 more paper packs and a bunch of element packs headed her way.  I hope to have the bulk of it in the stores by the first of the week.  She'll soon find she's well supplied with things with which to scrap!

Scrapping

Still nothing.  If I can wrestle this collection of paper packs and elements to the ground, maybe I can work in a little scrapping next week.  Of course, I'm on the hook for a BUNCH of quick pages in the meantime.

Well, the computer seized up again.  I heard a signal that I had an e-mail, flipped over there to read the e-mail and the whole computer seized up.  That was more than half an hour ago.  Since then, I went to the kitchen and made myself some delicious, nutritious pop tarts, ate the pop tarts, and sat here fretting about what would be lost this time........  It came back for just a minute and I managed to get the tax return on which I'm working saved and to close the tax program.  More waiting and fretting.  It came back up again.  I managed to close the hard drive I had open.  More waiting and fretting.  In the middle of all this, Microsoft very kindly sends me messages like "Internet Explorer is not working" and "Windows Explorer is not working".  Gee, I would never have known from the little circle that just keeps rotating and the failure to get any kind of response by clicking on icons.......  Anyway, I'm going to publish this now and go take a bath.  I've wasted entirely too much time waiting to do this anymore.  Have a great day!

Designing and Designing and Designing.......

I have been working my little fingers to the bone, right here at this computer.  Several weeks ago I was presented with a color pallette for a collaborative kit to which I was expected to make a contribution.  I wasn't wildly impressed with it and it's tax season so I decided I'd do a pack of solids and call it a day.  Try for something more creative some other day.  As I worked with the solids I liked them more than I thought I would.  I decided to create some paper packs, not just solids, but various prints as well.  I've now created about 100 papers and about 60 or 70 elements.  Phew!  So far, I'm still loving this project so I hope my customers will too.  These are great spring colors.  In fact 8 of the 10 colors are straight from the Pantone Spring Color Pallette so they couldn't be any more "timely", particularly since most of us are sick of winter by now. 

I also just got an invitation to do a collaborative kit with another designer.  This is something I'd love to do often.  I know there are many designers out there who know more about photoshop than I will know if I keep working with it on a daily basis for another year.  I think I learn a trick or two with every new kit I create, but there are designers who have taken professional graphic design classes, particularly in Photoshop........  I'll be working with one of my favorite designers and one who has already taught me SO much.  I can't help but learn more as we go along.  She's put me in charge of choosing a color palette so I'm going to have to spend some time on that really soon.  I'm anxious to get this started.........

I ran across a blog today that had me so inspired.  The blogger is a fashion designer or former fashion designer living in Milan.  She travels throughout Europe and Eastern Europe, camera in hand.  Her photography is excellent and from her photos she extracts fabulous color pallettes.  Between looking at her photos and looking at the color combinations, I thought maybe I'd died and gone to scrapbook heaven!  No, I'm not going to link you up!  For now, I'm going to keep it my little secret.....

Real Life

So yesterday's winner of the "client of the day" award came in to get his return done at 3PM.  We like him a lot.  In fact, I think Joe likes him even more than I do and he's been my client for scazillion years.  He knows nothing about tax except that he wants all his withholding back......  Don't we all?  That's not always easy to achieve.  He is, or was, a multi millionaire.  Unfortunately, he dumped a lot of money into the real estate market at the top of the market.  He's now had to kill off most of his other investments just to support his real estate investments.  Anyway, I had finished doing the return, I had printed it, and I had stapled it together, stapled his W-2 to it and he mentioned that he had rented two of his properties out to help out with the payments on the mortgages.  I just quietly laid aside everything I had already done and started over........  I'm not used to doing a return twice, but I'm sure glad he mentioned it.  It would not have been good if he'd gotten out of here without a rental schedule.........

Today we are celebrating Chris who managed to pull together EVERYTHING I needed for his return for the first time in 20 years.  All together in nicely labeled envies with totals on the front.  What used to take me 3 or 4 hours took me 45 minutes.  I just love it when a plan comes together!  I have to input the data, but that won't take too long.  Should have that done tonight.

We went to Costco Sunday and Joe was blown away at the prices.  I've always told him that the store he favors is pricey, but now maybe he believes it.  Anyway, he usually gets 32 pounds of dog food for around $22.  At Costco, we got 52 pounds for $24.  That's a great savings.  We bought ink cartridges for one of my printers.  I chew through ink like crazy during tax season.  We paid $65 for what would ordinarily have cost us more like $90.  We got a great price on TP.  We priced laundry detergent.  Joe usually buys a container that will do 64 loads and pays around $15.  At Costco, a container that will do 110 loads is $19.69.  We got me another shrimp salad that has already provided 2 meals for me and will provide another tonight, total cost $13.  We also found a package of precooked pulled pork.  Smells just like what you'd buy at Memphis Barbecue.  Tastes wonderful.  We bought some rolls and had pulled pork sandwiches with barbecue sauce Sunday night for dinner.  We had pulled pork sandwiches again for lunch today.  We probably have 6 more meals worth of pulled pork between what's in the fridge and what's in the freezer.  It's just yummy and the meat was less than $10 for the package and requires no more work than heating it up in the microwave.  All in all, we are finding this idea of joining Costco to be extremely beneficial to our long term budget.  Short term, we're spending more on grocery stuff in a week than we've been spending in a month, but Joe's not buying his dinners out and we're eating lunches from the fridge, not Arby's, so that's bound to be cheaper.  We'll make up part of we're spending on grocery stuff in other areas of our budget.  It sure is nice to open the pantry and/or the fridge and see something more than condiments and eggs and a lonely can of apricots, LOL. 

Well, that's it for now.  I've got a laundry list of things to do.  Have a good evening.

Freebie and Compassion

There have been several charity kits manufactured and sold to benefit Haiti.  I had volunteered to provide a mini kit for one of them.  Unfortunately, though I had my contribution ready early, I was not feeling well around the time it was due to be uploaded and got it submitted too late to be included.  I've been wondering what to do about that.

Today it struck me that I could offer it as a freebie.  All I ask is that you go to Divine Digital or Scrapbook-Bytes and check out the actual full kit.  I think you'll love it.  It's got great colors and it's $25 worth of goodies for only $8.00.  Each store is selling the kit without taking any fees so your entire purchase price will go to Compassion International for their relief efforts in Haiti. 

This particular group of designers got kind of a late start.  And, when it was announced that there was another "Help Haiti" charity kit in the works, there was some discussion as to why have another one when several had already been done.  I think first, folks may want to pick the charity to which they contribute.  Compassion International has an excellent reputation and a great deal of experience in reaching people in need.  Since they will benefit from this particular kit, I think that's a point in its favor.

Secondly, each kit has had different colors, elements, etc., all from a different group of designers.  There is no duplication that I can see.  Therefore, for the customer, it is an opportunity to purchase several different mega kits for excellent prices.  That's a VERY good thing. 

Third, the need is overwhelming.  It would not be possible to send too much money to aid these people.  If you've bought one or two Haiti kits, consider buying another one.  It's excellent value and you'll be helping some desperately needy people.

So, even if you've already purchased a Help Haiti kit, check this one out as well.  I LOVE when you buy my kits and my paycheck goes up a bit more.  And I do what I can to use the money wisely in the support of my family (and my creditors, LOL).  However, this particular kit holds a special place in my heart and I'd rather you buy the charity kit than something from me. 

Here's the freebie:

And you can find it here:

http://www.4shared.com/file/227083326/86472ca4/HFD_HelpHaiti_MiniKit.html

You can find the Help Haiti charity kit here (choose your site):

Divine Digital  http://www.divinedigital.com/boutique/product.php?productid=16935&cat=0&page=1

Scrapbook-Bytes  http://scrapbookbytes.com/store/digital-scrapbooking-supplies/charity_haitiicollab.htm

If you grab my mini kit freebie, and you grab the charity kit as well, and still can't get enough of this yummy color scheme, I also have a full kit using the same colors. 

This kit is available at either my ACOT store or my store at NDISB.com.  Just click on the button of your choice at the top right.
 

Dodging the bullet

Our forecast was for rain--Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.  So far, no rain.  I see some white billowy clouds to the southwest of me, and to the north, over the mountains, some slightly more threatening clouds.  But I am sitting directly under blue, sunny skies.  I love it, particularly with the good breeze that is blowing, making the tree tops rustle.

It's Sunday and Joe went off and did his waylay-a-pastor thing this morning while I, once again, thoroughly enjoyed going to church on the internet.  It is amazing that I can "attend" a church service being held 800 or 900 miles away and feel the Spirit of God right here in my chair.  Amazing message on what is becoming one of my favorite topics--faith.  We plan on listening to it again tonight.

At the moment, Joe is nestled in the bed with Punkin.  Nap time.  We had a pretty amazing experience yesterday.  Clients came over during the time Joe was asleep.  Max is not a barker, but Punkin and Parker are.  However, neither of them made a sound, knowing their "daddy" was asleep.  Somehow this doesn't bode well for what happens if a burglar comes to visit, does it?  It was, though, a good thing yesterday afternoon.  Waking Joe before he has had a certain amount of sleep is a pointless and frightening prospect.

I had the boys for a few hours yesterday morning.  Primarily, I was alternate transportation.  Jennifer had to go to work.  Jason went somewhere, I know not where, and took Elizabeth with him.  I took the boys to swim class and then on to a park where Jennifer and Jason were hanging out with some friends.  It was pretty funny watching Atticus in swim class.  I couldn't get over that he spent the whole time with his mouth open and his tongue out.  Wouldn't you think he'd want to avoid getting that water in his mouth?  I can't really say he's learned a lot.  I'm not sure if he's yet absorbed the point of the whole thing.  He is supposed to be practicing kicking, but forgets to kick.  He is supposed to be practicing moving his arms but forgets to move his arms.  He is supposed to "hum" (to get used to breathing out through his nose) and he forgets to hum.  Of course, he won't ever remember any of these things unless he practices them, but it is pretty amusing to watch.  One thing he has down pat--if he does what his teacher tells him to do, he gets candy.  He came out of the pool and I wanted to dry him off and dress him.  He just stood there and wouldn't move.  Then the teacher produced the candy box, he chose two pieces, and all was well.  Ah, perhaps in his mind that IS the point of the whole thing!  I was surprised when I looked at William.  I honestly think he's grown two inches in the last month.  Even his face looks more grown up.  He has a new dental appliance which I had to view and comment on within moments of arrival.  I am glad he's proud of it--there's a great deal more orthodonture in his future.  Although Jason was officially responsible for Miss Elizabeth, I found her crying in mom's bed, lying in a puddle of pee.  I don't know if her diaper was put on incorrectly or if she had just had a LOT to drink, but the diaper certainly was not up to coping with the level of her output.  So, I changed her, put her into a dry outfit, gave her a bottle, rocked her, etc.  I noticed she's growing eyelashes!  She's going to be a pretty girl!  I understand, later, it was a matter of note that Miss Elizabeth was actually dressed in a color matched outfit, for which Jason was receiving positive strokes.  Unfortunately, he had to sheepishly admit that Grandma dressed her, LOL.

I've come to the conclusion that there's a part of child rearing at which I totally failed.  My daughter-in-law and stepson come to the house or the office and I am hugged.  My friend Frannie's children come to my house and I am hugged.  My daughter-in-law and stepson leave the house and I am hugged.  My friend Frannie's children leave the house and I am hugged.  I go to my daughter's house or I leave her house and there are no hugs!  How can this be?  Do they not know how important hugs are to my mental and emotional well-being?  Do they not know that I need 12 hugs a day just to be able to navigate through life?  In that house live 5 of the people who are dearest to me in the whole world!  Why are they so stingy with their hugs?  When I arrive at their house, if I've actually managed to open the garage door with their very cranky number pad, normally only Atticus is visible.  He  is generally engrossed in play and pays no attention to the fact that there is now one more person in the house.  William is usually in his room doing something.  Jennifer and Jason are usually in their room and Elizabeth is with Mom.  If I corner Atticus and ask politely, I can get a hug and give him a kiss.  Same with William.  If I can find Elizabeth, I can do anything I want to her because she's just 4 months old and is totally defenseless.  I can even do raspberries on her belly and she can't object.  Generally, if I can find Jennifer, she will say "Hi, Mom", but that's as far as it goes.  If I see Jason, it is usually a phenomenon as he whizzes past en route to clean something.  He rarely even speaks.  When I leave, no one is told "kiss your Grandma goodbye".  No one hugs me or walks me to my car.  Shoot, I even walk tax clients to their cars and I don't love them that much!  Sometimes, because they're busy, I kind of get the feeling as I leave that I've served my brief period of usefulness and should try to avoid letting the door hit me in the behind on my way out.  So, I ask you, where did I fail?  How come children of other mothers are so free with their hugs, but I have difficulty getting a hug from my own family?  And, for heaven's sake, let's not rely on Joe for hugs.  We are together in the house, awake, for about an hour and a half a day.  He generally manages one hug and a G-rated kiss on the cheek as he leaves.  I feel so emotionally empty.........The only comfort here is that I'm officially past my child-rearing years and so cannot fail in this area of life ever again.

I've been advised that I have to cut this short.  Joe is more or less awake and is ready to go to Costco.  I'll have to do a little spit polishing before I'm ready so I've got to get off the computer and get to work.  Wish I could hang around longer......  Have a great day. 

Communication

It's always been my position in life that if I'm going to write something, I want to write it in such a way that you, the reader, end up with a good idea of what I wrote.  Otherwise, I just wasted whatever time I spent writing.  For this reason, man has developed rules for writing.  We have rules for what an "r" should look like in our own alphabet and in the Cyrillic alphabet.  We have rules for punctuating our writing so that the reader will be able to see when we've arrived at the end of a thought, take a deep breath, and read on.  And we have rules for how things are spelled.  Violating these rules just turns writing into a collossal pile of worthless words. 

We have a standing joke in our house.  It goes like this:  "He/she must have gone to school in California."  California, the self-admitted land of fruits and nuts.  The land of lousy schools.  It's a phenomenon that truly amazes me. 

Obviously, there is no Mrs. Wright teaching 8th grade English in California.  If there were a Mrs. Wright teaching 8th grade English in California, their schools would not be lousy.  Their school children might be VERY afraid, but they'd know when to use "there" and when to use "their" and they'd remember the difference for the rest of their natural lives.  I had a Mrs. Wright when I was in 8th grade.  I didn't like her one bit.  She was MEAN.  She didn't take any crap off her students and she made us diagram sentences 'til our eyes were crossed and our hands were numb and we were choking on clouds of chalk dust.  She walked around her classroom like a tiger on the make for edible prey.  And her bite was definitely worse than her bark which scared me out of 2 months growth everytime I heard it.  But, one thing was for certain:  when you left Mrs. Wright's classroom at the end of the term, you knew when to capitalize and when not to capitalize.  You had a VERY firm grasp of the difference between an adjective and an adverb.  You could spell adjective.  You knew the function of a semi-colon.  She was some teacher.  It's many years later and I think I'd still be afraid of her!  But, I still remember the proper function of a semi-colon.

I went to the office last night.  I was on the phone with my stepson when it became necessary to consult a calendar.  It just so happened he left his Google calendar open.  I clicked on it and found what I needed.  However, I also found the following:  "Ask Teno about Dad's breaks".  Yeah, right.  Dad takes a lot of breaks--coffee breaks, lunch breaks, pottie breaks, and like that.  However, in this case, the actual topic of discussion was those little thingies that make the car stop when you stomp hard on the pedal.  You know--BRAKES!  Yes, you guessed it.  My stepson went to school in California.

I also know a young lady, age 16, who lives in California.  I nearly dropped my teeth when, at the ripe old age of 13, I heard her talking about "most wettest".  No, she didn't really say that, did she?  OMG, hide!  You never know--Mrs. Wright could be around here somewhere.  Frequently, we hear from this young lady via e-mail.  Not long ago, my daughter got an e-mail from her.  To quote my daughter, "Mom, it was like monkeys on a keyboard."  We know that this young lady comes from a home where some brand of English is spoken as a first language.  However, it is the brand of English that talks about being "most wettest".  So, we are not too surprised when conversational usage makes our stomachs turn flip flops.  However, what's really scary is when you get an e-mail from her.  The best you're ever gonna do with one of her e-mails is meditate on it for an hour or so and then guess right as to what the heck she is talking about.......  We have yet to determine for sure whether the problem is that she can't spell, can't type, or both.  We're also a bit confused over the use, or lack thereof, of syntax. 

My daughter didn't go to California schools.  She does a pretty good job with the spelling.  An occasional mental block, but, all in all, she does fine, even without spellcheck.  She knows the difference between "there" and "their".  She almost certainly knows the proper usage of a semi-colon.  She is a speed demon with deadly accuracy on a keyboard.  She would have been one of Mrs. Wright's pets.  However, she missed out on Mrs. Ryan's fifth grade penmanship class.  You know the one.  The one where you made whole rows of circles without lifting your hand off the paper.  The class where the whole purpose was to teach you to form an "r" to look like an "r" so that when someone was reading it, they actually understood.  For example, if she wrote "I simply can't endure this" and it looked more like "I simply can't endune this" you might be a bit puzzled.  What does "endune" mean anyway?  Is there such a word?

And then there's spelling.  Yes, it really does serve a function in communication.  If you can't spell properly, there's a pretty good chance I can't read properly and, under normal circumstances, I'm a whiz at reading and have been for half a century.  If I can't read what you've written without solving mental puzzles, I just may skip reading what you've written because I'm too tired to be solving mental puzzles at the moment.  If I really want a challenge, I'll have you write it to me in Czech and I'll puzzle out the translation, thank you very much. 

One of the things that I find frightening, truly frightening, is when I read poor grammar in the newspaper.  I also cringe when I hear poor grammar from a TV newsperson.  I have a good friend who was raised in Germany before the TV era.  In her little part of Germany there was a certain dialect of German spoken.  That's what she learned and that's what she speaks today.  When she goes back to Germany to visit family, she finds that even in her hometown she has difficulty communicating.  Why?  Because, with the advent of television, people have become used to a different dialect than what was spoken in that area years ago.  I am concerned that if we continually expose our children to newspaper articles, TV news reporters and, yes, sadly, even to teachers who cannot use the English language properly, it will die out, much the same as my friend's German dialect.

So, folks, (yes, I know one shouldn't start a sentence with a conjunction) spelling, handwriting, grammar, and punctuation ARE important.  They help convey a message that you've taken time to write.  At my age, I can say with authority that the one thing you can never get more of is time.  Why waste it?  Even more important, to those of us who sat in Mrs' Wright's English class for a whole year, they convey something about the person misusing them.  They may convey that you don't know; they may convey that you don't care.  (See, I told you I could use a semi-colon properly!)  Neither of those messages is particularly favorable or flattering, and may not be what you would choose as the basis for formulating an opinion of your abilities.. 

Several years ago we got my son-in-law a tee shirt that dubbed him a "Grammar Ninja".  Personally, I think it went to the wrong recipient.  I think it belongs to me!  To misquote Minnie Pearl, "I'm all through talkin' now."

Just another day in paradise ;)

Well, I'm happy.  When I got out of bed this morning, I was able to walk all the way to the office.  I was able to see to get here.  I was able to hear my husband mumble good morning as he went to bed and I was able to mumble back.  It's a great start to the day.

Right now, I'm trying to figure out what I should eat for breakfast.  There's plenty to choose from.  It's just that my brain is not quite functional yet and I can't quite figure out what I want to eat.  So, I'll do this for a while and, perhaps, something will come to me.

I took my rusty butt to work last night.  There isn't much day-to-day stuff going on these days.  I updated the cash account in Quickbooks and updated my running bank reconciliation.  We're twenty cents out this month.  I could spend some time looking for the twenty cents, but honestly it would cost more than it's worth.  I also updated the checkbook.  Then I went through my inbox and booked some payables.  Then I was done!  There are some very long involved journal entries that I need to book, but I don't want to stay really late to do them.  It's enough right now that I have to stay til long past the time our office complex is more or less deserted........  But, I have noticed lately that at least I get to ARRIVE while it's still broad daylight and I love that.

I will start my official workday here with a tax return.  From there it will be on to designing and scrapping related activities, then to the office, then home to do more on the designing and scrapping front.  I'm not wild about tax season.  It's a lot of hard work to work tax returns into my days and nights.  But, I do LOVE the extra money that comes in and I do LOVE seeing my clients.  Many of them have been with me for years, some as long as 20 years.  So, it's a bit like getting together with old friends.

I went to the bank yesterday and cashed some checks and paid the minimum payment on my credit card early!  Most months I hold my breath to see whether or not I'll have enough cashable paychecks to pay the minimum payments at all.  Early is a phenomenon I haven't experienced much lately, LOL.  And, I still have a few checks to deposit in my checking account.  I don't know if we're going to be able to do this, but we're hoping that I'll be able to take the tax money and, after covering the cost of software, make a big dent in one of the credit cards.  That will be a real blessing! 

I am really not impressed with this so-called protection act that was passed with regard to credit cards.  In theory, it was designed to protect us from banks just raising our interest rates without warning and similar "abuses".  What I've experienced and what I'm hearing from other folks is that the banks have raced to find a way to raise every interest rate, every fee, before the new law takes effect.  I wouldn't think that would fall under the description of "protection", but I'm not in Congress.  They have some strange "descriptions" of what they do up there that don't mesh with my vocabulary.  I would think that anyone with a brain would have figured out just what the banks would do, given the very long time period that elapsed between the time the legislation was passed and its effective date...........  Yep, I'm one of those who got hurt in this process.  The last two due dates on my credt card have been on legal holidays.  Sure enough, I didn't have the money to pay the payment until the last minute in January.  I went in on the bank's website and couldn't get a payment through.  Then I called their customer "service" and they couldn't take the payment either.  So, because their system was not set up to accept a payment on Martin Luther King's birthday, I am now paying a truly exorbitant interest rate.  I don't know how they're going to manage in March--no legal holidays to cause people to stumble..........  And, maybe I'm just a cynic, but I'd swear those legal holiday due dates are intentional.  It seems to me if you can't accept a payment on the date the payment is due, you should extend the due date one day past the holiday, much like the IRS does.  But, then, the IRS is not a profit-making institution.........

Designing

i put a kit into my stores yesterday.  It is the kit I was trying to put up on Monday.  It's actually an older kit which I've reworked, adding some elements and re-doing the previews.  It uses a softer more muted color pallette than I usually like but, for some reason, these colors just called to me.  It's called Misty Morn.

Here are some of the elements, shown larger:

The print papers:

And the solids:

And here's a page I did with one of the photo papers:

My son-in-law's uncle is an avid hiker and an avid (and excellent) photographer.  Every now and then I am graced with some of his photos.  His photography is responsible for the beautiful scenic papers in this kit.  Of course, I've used some filters on his photographs to mute them.  One doesn't want the paper to compete with what is being scrapped.

I've also done a set of quick pages and an alpha to go with the kit.  So far, those are only up in one of my stores, ACOT.  One of my goals for today is to get them up in the other stores as well.  I'll hold off on posting those til tomorrow--kinda give those people on S-L-O-W dialup a break by lightening the image load here today.

Next up, I have a bunch of paper packs that will hit the stores soon.  I want to design some element packs to go with the paper packs and kinda started working on that last night.  I got my contribution for the March blog train finished yesterday.  The colors are scrumptious and my contribution came together quickly.  I'm still working on my part of the NDISB collaborative kit for March...........  Worked on that last night.........

Scrapping

Nothing.  Nada.  It's a shame.  But, not feeling tip top and having tax, accounting, and design work all nipping at my heels, I am having problems with finding time to scrap. 

Well, just over two hours til my clients are due.  I've got to get dressed and pull the front of the house together before they arrive.  I hope you have a wonderful day.
 
   

It's a nevertheless kind of day

I've had some Ibuprofen and I'm sitting on the heating pad.  I'm wearing the GOOD back brace, trussed up tighter than a sausage.  I've been prayed for and it's a nevertheless kind of day.  I'm attempting to avoid the muscle relaxers as I really don't have time to sleep a bunch of extra hours today.

I also don't have a lot of time for blogging so I'll have to make this fast.

Well, Friday night I took the plunge.  I went and joined Costco.  It cost me $50.  Joe and I sat down with the receipt yesterday as it is usually he who does the grocery shopping.  We figured on items for his "lunch" alone, we saved $45.  I also bought some breakfast things, bagels, cream cheese, and PopTarts.  Now the only problem is that Joe and I like the exact same flavor of PopTarts and the package is mixed flavors!  I can see we'll be armwrestling for our favorites.  I bought this shrimp salad.  At first I thought it was pretty pricey.  Then I looked at the volume of food v the price and decided that what was exorbitant for one meal was just reasonable for 3!  It was my dinner Friday night, my lunch on Saturday, and will be my lunch today.  AND, it is "just" the best shrimp salad I've ever eaten.  The great disappointment of the evening was that the Costco I went to did not have that magnificent Frappucino mix.  Even worse, via computer, they were able to check stock at the other Costcos in town and they don't have it either.  I guess it was a specialty item, maybe for the holidays.  If it shows up next year, I'm buying a ton of it!

Yesterday I got to do a tax return for an amazing man.  He's been my client for about 20 years.  What is amazing about him is that he's 78 years old and still working.  He rides a company bus for two hours to get to work, works a 10 hour day, and rides a company bus for another two hours to get back to town.  That's a 14 hour day, 4 days a week, at age 78!  His hands are a little shaky, but his mind is sharp as a tack.  He's amazing!  He tells me they're considering having his wife go back to work.  It's about time!  She is much younger than he and has sat on her duff and allowed him to work for many years past "normal" retirement age.  He has supported her parents and every cat she's dragged in and even though he makes excellent money, he's ALWAYS broke.  I don't remember where they lived before they moved here, but apparently she was paid more per hour there than anyone would offer her here.  So, for 20 years, she's been on strike.  How stupid and silly, using up her man when she has the ability to help him out.  Even more fun is the fact that she's quite the spendy lady.  If it's expensive, she "needs" it NOW!  I've never met the woman, and perhaps if I did I'd decide she was just the greatest person God ever created.  But for now I don't have a deep appreciation for her..........

I've been working on getting a kit ready for the stores.  I was just sure I'd have it up yesterday.  Then I realized Joe would be home and awake yesterday morning because he didn't work Sunday night.  ARGH!  Try getting anything done while he's around.  He is a constant source of confusion, chaos, interruption, and noise.  I was ready to strangle him by 11:30AM.  I'd gotten up earlier than he, and while I was up, alone, things moved along swimmingly.  And the minute he appeared, things went to h-e-doublehockeysticks in a handbasket. 

He arrives in the office, yelling at the boy dogs.  We've finally agreed to keep them out of the bedroom, thank God.  So, when he emerges from the bedroom, they're SO HAPPY to see him.  And he doesn't seem to be able to control them so they dance around him and jump on him and just generally get in his way so he starts yelling at them.  Then he decided he needed to fiddle with the fax/printer/copier which is on my side of the office.  He needed to fiddle with it for about an hour and complain that it was too slow.  And, he fiddles with that thing in some way every week so wouldn't you think he'd know by now that it's slow and give up the whole complaining thing?  No, of course not.  Then he has letters that need to be printed on MY printer.  So, of course, I must drop everything I am doing and edit and print his letters.  All this because I have a laser printer that prints in color and his prints only in black and white and the stationery he's using has a colored emblem on it. And in the meantime, he's muttering and mumbling and complaining and carrying on and I'm sitting here in the middle of a 3 ring circus trying to remember what the heck I'm trying to do. 

I think I need to change my plan.  I've been staying home on Mondays to spend more time with him.  This is beginning to seem like an idea that will eventually result in me smacking him upside the head with a frying pan.  I'm thinking I need to go to work on Monday mornings if only to avoid him!  He seems to have some idea that I have nothing important to do and whatever he's doing is supremely important and he has every right to make it impossible for me to accomplish ANYTHING. 

So, here's another fun encounter with Joe.  About a year ago, my photo quality printer quit printing.  I have scrapbook pages and more scrapbook pages that need to be printed and we certainly can't afford to have them professionally printed.  Nor can I afford to buy a printer.  So they're saved on my hard drive and someday I'll be able to print again, I hope.  Several years ago, Jennifer and I went halfsies on an inkjet printer for him for Christmas.  As of a month ago, the box had never been opened.  (Yet, he has no problem with driving me nuts so that MY color printer can be used to print his letters..........)  I have NO CLUE why he's never hooked that printer up to his computer.  Perhaps it's not good enough for him.  Maybe he's not good enough for it, kinda like wearing his holey underwear instead of buying some new ones at Target.  I just don't know.  I finally asked him if I could SEE the printer.  We opened the box, I looked at the printer, and he closed the box up again.  Apparently it is of no importance that I have things I need to print and he has a printer that would work that he refuses to install.  No offer was ever made to let me use that printer and the box is now sitting behind his desk.

Over the weekend I worked on our tax return and got it finished.  That is always an adventure.  He fiddle farts around over there in his corner, mumbling, slamming his fist into the desk, etc., for hours/days until he announces he has everything ready for me.  Then we start and I find that nothing is broken out to fit the way our tax return is done.  He knows, for example, that we have two phone lines--one for the fax (business) and one for telephone conversation (personal).  Yet, he never breaks out the cost of the business line which is deductible from the personal line that is not deductible.  We pay for a cell phone for my mother.  No, we can't deduct the cost of that phone because it's a personal expense.  Does he ever break out that expense and classify it as personal and give me a number I can actually use on the tax return?  No, of course not.  And nearly every expense is handled in the same manner.  Yet, he has our household expenses on Quickbooks!  I can't help but think of that very old computer line "Garbage in, garbage out".  I do my clients tax returns in about an hour.  We chit chat, I input, we chit chat, I print, we chit chat, I staple, sign, and organize, and we're done.  I spent all Saturday night til the wee hours of the morning Sunday working on our tax return and then started again on Sunday afternoon.  Why does it have to be SO hard?  Anyway, when I got done, we'd gone from owing $1500 to a $300 refund.  All completely legit of course.  We owe the IRS so we won't get the refund, but at least we didn't increase what we owe.

Another fun Joe-ism.  He goes through things on my desk.  He'll be sitting here talking to me and just stop and pick stuff up off the desk and read it.  Some, he'll decide to throw away.  Some he'll move from one spot to another.  Some he just piles up.  In any case, it's my STUFF.  Not his.  I don't have anything on my desk I don't want him to see.  Don't get me wrong about that.  But, I don't have anything on my desk he needs to see either.  If he'd needed to see it, I'd have shown it to him!  Nosy.  He's just nosy.  Or, maybe he thinks I'm cheating on him like his ex-wife did.  He caught that by going through her bills.  Well, buster, I don't cheat.  And you don't need to act like you think I do by inspecting everything on my desk!

Have you figured out I'm completely and totally ready to have him go back to work 6 days a week instead of 5?  Either that or I'm going to start working all night on Monday and going to bed about the time he gets up just so I don't hurt him!

Well, thank you for letting me vent.  The man makes me crazy.  If I don't tell you, I'll do something drastic.

I did find some dandy photos of Ireland, the first stop on the bucket list.  These photos are all from public photo sites on the internet. 

This was posted as a teensie photo and it's a bit blurry being enlarged.  But I thought it was such a great photo.  I loved the goodies around and on the windowsill and the view through the window.

That's just a photo of a typical Irish pub.  Several of the casinos here in Vegas have restaurants with an Irish pub theme.  I thought it would be interesting to see what a REAL Irish Pub looked like in contrast.

Would you look at all that green!  Is it any wonder Ireland's referred to as the Emerald Isle?

Just another view of the Irish countryside.  I knew Ireland was a country where there was lots of rain.  I had no idea there were so many lakes and rivers to boot.

I love the window box, the basket of hanging flowers and the moss growing on the roof.........

For the woman that loves history and historical architecture, how about some Irish ruins to explore?

An open air market........  Just look at those flowers!  And the fresh fruit on the stand in the background.

This is labeled "a fisherman's cottage".  Reminds me of the verses in the Bible that contrast building your house on rock v building a house on sand.  And, don't you love that bright colorful door!

Excellent photography, capturing the reflection.  And, there's that green color again!

And how about a small thatched roof cottage?  I'd move there in a minute if I didn't have to take Joe along.  If he makes me nuts in THIS house, imagine what a raving lunatic I would become after a week or two with him in this small, beautiful, quaint place. 

Yes, Ireland has wooded areas, lakes, meadows, countryside, towns, villages and CASTLES to explore!

How about a little green on green?  I love the bright colors of Ireland.  Perhaps it's a way to dispell the gloom on a rainy day? 

There was one more photo I had planned on sharing with you but I backed out at the last minute.  It was extremely blurry.  However, it was of the same open air market as the flowery photo above.  Difference was this was a shot of a cheese stand.  I could have eaten my way to oblivion there!

So, those are some of the sights of Ireland and people with ancestral names like Evans and Hagans should certainly go there for a visit!

I'm going to get that kit in the store today no matter what.  Off to finish that up now.  Have a great day!
  
 
 

Bucket List

I am a home girl.  I have never traveled outside the contiguous United States except to Tijuana and to Los Algodones (where I go to see a doctor and get medication), Mexico.  Not that we have an extra nickel to our names, but Joe and I started a "Bucket List" the other night.  Joe contributed one item.  He'd like to travel to Ireland.  I could certainly be excited about that! 

I had quite a few ideas.  I'd like to go to Hawaii and spend a week on each of the four major islands--I want to walk on every beach, tour every natural wonder, drink Hawaiian coffee, and photograph everything whether it moves or not! 

I definitely want to finish our tour of the California missions.  We started that several years ago.  We've got quite a few (I'd have to check my records to be sure) around 6 under our belts.  We're not halfway done.  Though Joe is not the history buff I am, even he found them fascinating.  It's amazing to see how folks lived 400 years ago, the tools they used, the magnificent buildings they built with so few resources, and to know the history of the buildings themselves.  For example, did you know that the mission in San Diego was once used to stable horses? 

Then there's Europe.  Being a history buff, where else would I want to go?  I can imagine myself (and my camera) lost for days in the architecture of Europe.......great cathedrals, humble cottages, countryside, beaches, mountains, castles, etc.  Put on my list England, French Countryside, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Austria, Prague, and Poland.  Doesn't that cover most of the continent?  And, I don't want to just see the major cities; I want to see small villages and farms, etc.  AND, I want to visit every World War II war memorial around.  I know the villages in Holland, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway are quaint and definitely good photo fodder, so if I'm "forced" to go there, I'll quickly pack my wooly sweaters and smile!  I wouldn't turn down the Eastern European countries either?  Again, I've seen pictures.......

I'd also like to go to the Greek Isles.  I've seen photos and I just yearn to see those white and blue homes and that turquoise water with my own baby browns. 

I stumped him when I said I wanted to go to Buchart Gardens.  But, yes, in fact I really do.  Again, I've seen photos and I can only imagine what it would be like to tour that place in person.

So we've got a bucket list started.  Oh, and by the way, I want to tour all these places, eat their native foods, and gain no weight.  Wow!  What a concept!  Actually, my desire to eat all that native food, be it Paella in Spain or Croissants in France or Goulash in Eastern Europe, without gaining weight is just about as likely as getting there in the first place!  But, it was a fun mental exercise, a fun game, and I hope we play it again someday. 

I thought I'd post a teaser of photos I've accumulated of Ireland.  Come back tomorrow and you'll understand even better why we think this destination fits with our bucket list!

Now can't you just imagine the two of us, bundled up in our Irish Woolen sweaters, sitting out there, doing just absolutely nothing at all.  I can!  Of course, I'd have to throw Joe's cell phone into that water, but it just might be worth it.......

I've got a busy day today with three tax returns to prepare, a house to straighten before the first client, a need (I think) to go to the office, and so on.  Can't hang around.  Come back for more photos from our bucket list!