My Weblog

Rain, Rain

It has rained most of the night and throughout the early morning hours.  A soaking rain like this is so unusual for us and so much appreciated (except when it comes to cleaning doggy paw prints off the floor, LOL).  During the night, starting about 9PM and lasting through 4 or 5 AM, God put on an electric light show that would put anything/everything Vegas has to offer to shame.  And, once again, Punky escaped from the bed and was found on a pile of dirty clothes that are headed for the washer.  Because of light snowfall north of us, the Lake, which is our main source of water continues to go down, even though it seems half of Vegas has been foreclosed and moved elsewhere.  So, while water consumption should be down, water levels are down too.  Not a good circumstance.

I spent $100 yesterday.  It wasn't easy for me to do.  But, for months, I've been fighting with inadequate RAM on my computer.  It locks up and I have to reboot and all my work is lost.  Or, I start to save and get an error message that there is insufficient RAM.  Then I start to scramble to figure out what I can close to free up enough RAM to save my work.  It's not a good situation.  I talked it over with Joe and we decided to add 4 GIGS of RAM to the computer.  Because of the Operating System, that is the most we can do, but it will double what I currently have, so that should certainly keep me going for a while.  AND, we paid cash for the RAM.  I shopped it and we got a deal on line.  So, within 10 days, my RAM worries should be over.  I am actually going to pull up my big girl panties, unscrew the back of the computer, and install the RAM myself.  I could take it elsewhere and have it done, but it would cost me downtime as well as $30.  Nope, gonna try it myself.  Now, if the Lord will just continue to maintain my EHD in working order, all will be well.

I had a "helper" with the kids last night.  Jason showed up.  He was half an hour late.  Then he spent substantial time eating the leftovers from dinner.  Then he decided he should spend some time with Atticus, but it was late.  I began pushing at him to get the littles bathed and ready for bed.  Finally at 7:57 I informed him he had 3 minutes to bathe 2 children and get them into their jammies and into bed.  Yeah, like that was going to happen--not even if he were superman!   Finally, I went in and started the bath water, whereupon he called to me and asked if I would start the bath water.  Yeah, Jason, I'm way ahead of you.  Elizabeth did NOT scream her way through her bath, a true mracle.  He got them into Jammies and into bed whereupon Atticus dropped his sippy cup of water on Elizabeth's head.  That set us up for a round of screaming.  I went in to see what had happened and he was trying to "calm" Elizabeth down by bouncing her around.  Maybe there's some logical method there, but I can't for the life of me figure out how a baby would find being jiggled up and down calming.  I swear, one of these days, she's gonna puke all over him and perhaps that will end the jiggling.  I offered to take her and put her to sleep while he dealt with Atticus but he turned me down.  Then a few minutes later, he showed up and handed me Elizabeth.  She and I have this down to a science.  I sat down in the rocking chair and rocked her and sang to her and she was asleep in minutes.  He was lying in bed with Atticus who looked positively angelic, lying there asleep, when I took Elizabeth in.  Then it was time to get William moving.  I don't think Jason even said good night to William, but I went in and rubbed his back and kissed him so hopefully that helped.  Jason was still there when Jennifer got home.  He'd gotten her a set of sheets and some gift cards for her birthday which was nice of him.  Finally he decided he'd left his dog outside and it was raining so he went home.  Jennifer shared some Haagendas (I have no idea how to spell that word and NO inclination to go look it up, so roll with it, 'k'?)  ice cream and then I headed home.  Finally crawled into bed at 11:08PM, a long day for Grandma who had crawled out of bed at 4AM yesterday morning.

So, Margie, my mother-in-law, called again yesterday afternoon.  This time, I think it was to say that while she was offering to pay Joe's way to Florida to preach, she could not afford to pay my way.  I'd be thrilled to see him take a day or two off.  He has only had one day off since starting this job almost two years ago, and that was because the garage door broke and I refused to deal with the repairman.  But, the idea of flying all night, spending two days in Florida, and then flying all night to get home sounds nothing but tiring to me.  As we've explored this issue further between us, we've also determined that she hasn't consulted the Deacon Board about this plan of hers.  And, we've talked about how unlikely it is that a bunch of elderly Baptists are going to want a wild-eyed Pentecostal for a pastor's wife and a Bapticostal for a pastor.  We'd probably give them all heart attacks in the middle of a service.  He may indeed go to Florida, and he may even preach, but I don't see it going any further than that unless God really has some sort of plan we don't see yet.  It just doesn't work on so many levels........

Design

The available hours yesterday seemed to fly by.  I didn't get home from work til around 10AM.  I had to leave for Jen's at 4PM.  And in between I worked and mucked around the house a bit.  I am finally landing the plane on that ACOT kit and mini kit.  Actually started previews this morning.  Since I am not a big fan of the color scheme, I've had real problems working with it.  I couldn't begin to tell you how many papers I've created and then trashed.  And, I've struggled with the elements as well.  But, it looks good and there's "enough", so I'm winding it up.  I want to move on.  Too much on my plate to muck with it any more. 

I SHOULD work on the NDISB collab next, but I have a feeling I'm going back to the Christmas kit that's done in traditional Christmas colors.  I think that one is going to be over-the-top gorgeous and I am anxious to see it develop on my screen.  Most of the papers for that are complete though I can tell you right now there's one that's going to hit the trash bin.  But, I'm pretty far along on papers and the elements will start to appear soon. 

Then, I guess I have no choice but to work on the NDISB collab.  I think it is the fall color scheme that is giving me a hard time.  After all, I've done a fall kit and a fall paper pack already.  I'm ready to move on and I can't.

I pulled together 3 color palettes for LaWanna to look at.  I have a hunch I know which one she'll choose.  Next will be to develop a "theme" for the kit.  She is quite the artist so I'm hoping she'll do her artistic thing and I'll do the more "mundane" or everyday thing, and when we're all finished, it will be gorgeous.  We shall see.......

Scrapping

Nope.  Yesterday was too limited on time to allow me to scrap.

Gotta go.  I'm going to take a giant Ibuprofen and start in on design and house.  Pray for me and this headache I'm dealing with.

 

Long Day Ahead

Tonight I babysit while Jennifer teaches her evening class.  I got up at 4AM and am unlikely to see my bed again til, at best, 11PM.  That's about a 19 hour day.  I regret that the time with my 3 favorite young'uns comes at the end of that day, though I'm requested to come earlier today.  I'll actually be babysitting somewhere in the neighborhood of 6-7 hours.........

I no more than tottered out here to my desk than my cell phone rang.  It was Joe's mom.  Somehow she lost Joe's phone number and called my mother to get it.  However, she got my number.  Joe and I are coming up on our 8th wedding anniversary.  In the previous 7 years 10.5 months, she has never called me.  Now, she has called me twice in two days.  She has some idea that Joe should come and preach at her church--they are looking for a pastor.  However, she really doesn't understand what she's asking.  Her church is Baptist, and while Joe USED to be Baptist, he really can't say that he still holds those beliefs.  Eight years of living with me has made quite a dent in the old Baptist theology.  Her church is looking for a pastor, but I'm pretty sure Joe is not the man they want............

So, I have decided that to live in Las Vegas and have so little money is a hardship.  I have just learned that Andrea Bocelli, the tenor, will be performing at the MGM Garden this coming Saturday.  For a mere $1500, I can get tickets for two down front, stage center.  I would love to be there.  I have a feeling it would be an experience I'd remember for as long as I lived.  He has a magnificent voice and a delivery that is easy.  That "delivery" part is important.  I don't want to hear or watch someone sing who appears to be in pain while doing so.  Those who sing in an operatic style frequently look like they're in labor and about to give birth to a horned water buffalo.  Not Bocelli.  At least not in any of the clips I've seen.  Let's face it, an operatic tenor who would sing a duet with Elmo on Sesame Street can't be all bad, right?  Of course, there are cheaper tickets to be had, but we can't afford those either right now.  Hopefully, someday when we have some spare change, Mr. Bocelli will come back to Vegas and sing to US!

So Joe had a celebrity in his cab yesterday.  Of course, we don't watch TV so had the guy not mentioned that he was "somebody" Joe would never have known.  It seems he is one of the stars of the new 90210.  I'm not too sure that would be on our "must view" list if we did watch TV, but the truth is neither of us has seen a single episode of it.  He was in town with Jerry Bruckheimer, the big time TV producer.  At least, he gave Joe a decent tip! 

Design

Mostly yesterday, I designed.  I have been working on a collab for ACOT.  I really could have finished my contribution for that in a day, max, half a day if I were on a roll.  But my habit is to always create a full kit for those.  Sometimes I surrender part of my full sized kit to make a mini kit, sometimes I make a mini kit and a full kit.  This time it was a full kit and a mini.  I have a LOT of papers for this kit.  Some I really like, some that I don't like all that much.  Well, I don't want to give up the papers that I REALLY like--I want to be able to sell those since I've had to work to produce them.  On the other hand, I certainly don't want to pack the mini kit with my least favorite papers either.  This mini kit will be marketed for NSD and I don't want anything but my best work, work that I'm proud of, being included that is going to be in the hands of customers or potential customers.  So, yesterday, I fleshed out the elements for the full kit and then pulled together the mini kit as well.  It was a good, full day's work.  I may still put some additional elements in the full kit, but the mini is done.  This afternoon, I'll do the preview for the mini and try to figure out where to upload it. 

Tomorrow I'll go back to the collab for NDISB.  I have 12 patterned papers and 4 elements for that so far.  I ALWAYS start with the solid papers, but in checking out that file just now, I find 4 of the solid papers have disappeared.  I'm betting I used them as backgrounds for patterned papers, ditzy me.  So, a day or two of work on that and I should have a kit and a mini kit for that collab as well. 

In the meantime, yesterday I made contact with my adopted daughter, designer Amanda Rockwell.  She used to live in Tucson and it felt good, knowing she was nearby.  Now she's in the Florida Panhandle.  Her husband is military so they move around........  If you want to talk about designers who are successful, you'd have to rank Amanda right up around the top of the list.  She is very well known and I've been on her CT for years.  Unfortunately (for me) she's been designing mostly commercial use stuff lately.  Don't get me wrong--I own a healthy bunch of her commercial use stuff.  You can buy her stuff and KNOW that you're getting quality, which is something that can't be said of too many designers who are working in that part of the industry.  And, she's been more than generous with me.  In fact, we agreed yesterday that we are going to do a collab.  Mostly, I think, I "guilted" her into it.  Truthfully, I will be the sole beneficiary of such a collab.  I will be introduced as a designer to all of her clients!  It will also put my designs in another big name store.  And, no doubt, I will learn from her as we work together as she has been at this design thing for 5-6 years now, as compared to my two years!  She runs a forum for designers in which she does tutorials on how to do certain things in Photoshop so, certainly, she is very knowledgeable.  I am really looking forward to it, even though it's a good 2 months out. 

I pulled three color schemes for the upcoming collab kit with LaWanna Desjardin.  I just finished the baby boy kit, I'm working on a feminine kit now, I've done enough fall kits for the year, I'm also working on Christmas kits.....  I think it's time for a masculine kit.  I'm hoping she's in the mood for that.  She has two boys for whom she scraps, so, it's a good bet.  Anyway, I really like the color schemes I've pulled together so I hope she'll like them too.  One's a little "softer" than I would usually work with, but the "softness" of a color changes with overlays, so I think I can still feel pretty comfortable with it.  I'm going to e-mail the three color schemes to her today and let her choose one or say no, if that's her preference.  I don't know--maybe she'd like to collab on a Christmas kit.........  We'll find out soon enough! 

Finally, I started talking yesterday to a different someone about advertising.  Two months ago I signed on with someone to do my advertising.  I only put out 3 kits a month and she's screwed up on the advertising of 2 of them.  67% may be a great baseball batting average, but it's failing in advertising, at least for THIS customer.  I put Capri in the store on 10/11 and sent her an e-mail, as requested, letting her know I needed her to advertise it.  On 10/15, I had still seen nothing from her.  I forwarded the 10/11 e-mail to her whereupon she posted an ad on Facebook at 8:30PM Pacific time Friday night.  I can't help but wonder if anyone saw it!  And, as far as I know, Capri has not hit any of the Yahoo groups.  For this I pay money?  Not too sure about that.  Two months before signing up with this person, I signed up with someone else.  I got piss poor service from that person as well.  So, I'm hoping third time is the charm.  I do not have several more hours per week to advertise.  I just don't.  I'm thinking, with the current person, part of the problem is that I'm small potatoes compared to some of her clients.  So, the importance of my account to her is probably not very high.  But, you can't build a business by ignoring your newer smaller clients, right?

Scrapping

Nope.  Not a bit.  Designed all day and watched my butt spread in this chair!

I'm outta here.  Got to go to the office this morning.  Have a blessed day!

Running late today

It is long past the time I normally have my blogpost up, but I'm running late today.  I tried to go to bed early last night, but I wanted to shut down the computer and let it rest.  Instead of shutting down, it announced it had 13 updates to install before it could be turned off.  An hour later, it was done. 

It rained here yesterday, and it was a reasonably good rain.  I think our yard got well over 3 drops of rain.  In fact, I'm sure it did because the carpet inside the pet door is wet with muddy footprints from dogs who keep running in and out.  In fact, by last night it seemed as though the whole world smelled like wet dog.  Punky decided to have a nervous breakdown in the middle of the night.  There was thunder and lightning and that just did not set well with her.  She got down off the bed and wouldn't come back up for anything.  When Joe and I got up around 2:30AM, she was lying on a pile of dirty clothes that are headed for the washer. 

I don't normally get up at 2:30AM but I had the "headache" again........that headache that is a combination of sinus pressure and blood pressure.  I sat up til I felt better, then went back to bed for another couple of hours.  I no sooner got myself up and out here to the computer than Joe called to give me the details of his 7 rides so far today and how much this ride was and how much they tipped him and how much that ride was and how much they tipped him and how much.......well you get the idea.  I wasn't equipped to cope with all that.  I just sat here and stared at the wall and let him ramble on.....He finally got the idea that I wasn't coherent yet so he hung up.

He got me a "present" yesterday.  Our office is carpeted and that necessitates those plastic pads under our chairs.  Those things are great while they last, but they DO have to be replaced from time to time.  Months ago, mine was so full of holes that the rollers on my chair kept getting caught in the holes.  So, Joe bought me a replacement.  It was really small, and I kept rolling off the edges of it--then I'd get stuck, wouldn't be able to roll back on, and would have to get up and LIFT the chair back onto the pad.  This was not a good thing for a person with back whatsis.  The larger ones were $40 and he didn't want to spend that kind of money, so he got me the small for $25.  Yesterday, he was at Costco and noticed THEY had the larger ones for $22.  What a bargain.  He grabbed it and brought it home.  Now he has the smaller chair pad and that's probably okay since he doesn't spend hours and hours at his desk daily like I do.  And, I have a brand spanking new LARGE chair mat!

And, all is well in the world of food because he went to Albertson's and bought me PopTarts.  Now I am reassured that if I'm hungry, there's something quick and easy to eat........

Design

I did do some design work yesterday.  First, I did all the previews for the baby boy kit so it is ready to go into the store.  I think I've finally gotten into a routine with previews so that I can just march through them.  And, actually, I didn't get ALL the previews done for the baby boy kit done as I still have to do an alpha and preview that, but I made measurable progress.  And I did a few more papers for the ACOT collab kit. 

I need to make significant progress on design this week.  I kinda fell behind last week with all the tax clients coming and going.  So, I've got to make up for that this week as it's my week NOT to put new product in the store.

I saw an ad for a new kit from one of the hoity toity big shot designers yesterday.  I just sat and stared at it for a while.  Then I realized what was going on--she had used the exact same colors for her kit as I'd used for Judy Ann's Tee Shirt.  She had added a bit of gray to the color palette, but that was MY green and MY turquoise!  Thankfully, her kit is a guy kit and mine is feminine.  Not that her customers and mine shop in the same place.......... 

Scrapping

Nope, not today..........

 

Do I look 60GB lighter?

Yesterday's project was deleting.  Deleting duplicated stuff.  Still leftovers from the tragic EHD crash and recovery.........  I deleted so many duplicates my wrist actually hurt by the end of the day.  But, I have a little wiggle room on the older EHD.  That was an important goal to achieve.  There are still more duplicates to delete, but I can't spend another whole day at it so I'm not going to start it.  I deleted and I deleted and I deleted, and before I went to bed last night, I did a reboot and then did a defrag.  Hopefully, that EHD is purring now.  Seems to be working fine........

I am pleased to announce there will be pumpkin something in our family for Thanksgiving.  Of course, Jennifer and Atticus can't have "normal" pie crust, but we've always taken whatever pumpkin custard was leftover and baked it in custard cups with no crust.  So, if we have to make a "pie" that way, I guess that's what we'll do!  Jennifer got two pumpkins yesterday and dropped them off here.  I'll get some help to open them up and cut them into pieces.  Then I'll peel 'em and boil 'em and freeze the results.  I was concerned because they're saying in the stores that pumpkin is going to be in short supply this year because of flooding.  Of course, I don't know if these two pumpkins will make 5 or 6 pies like we usually make, but we'll have something.  I'm angling to grab Jen's carved pumpkins and cook those too once Halloween is over.  Don't carve 'em too early, Jen! 

Speaking of pie crust, I don't think I've ever shared about that here.  I went for years, scared of trying to make pie crust.  When I was a kid, my mother wanted to make an apple pie but was running late for work.  My father claimed he'd watched his mother make hundreds of pies and he and I were perfectly capable of finishing the pie.  So she went off to work and we started on the pie crust.  Of course, he was management and I was labor.  I tried to roll it out and it was sticky.  So, management dictated that more flour should be added.  So, labor added flour.  Then labor tried rolling it out again and it was too crumbly and wouldn't stick together.  So, management indicated labor should add more water.  So, labor added more water.  Then it was too sticky and needed more flour.  And this sequence recurred multiple times until management decided we either had to get it into the pie pan or roll it on the floor because it was "growing"--almost too big to roll on the table.  Of course, the pie crust turned out like shoe leather.  And, we forgot to add sugar to the apples, etc.  My mother worked her way through one piece.  My father and I would not eat more than one bite.  And that's why I was scared of pie crust.

Years ago, I found a pie crust recipe that worked for me.  It makes 12 crusts at a time.  Off the top of my head, I can't remember how much water is called for, but I do remember it takes 5 pounds of flour and a full 3 pound can of Crisco.  So, when I make the Thanksgiving pies, I make extra crusts and freeze them.  Just big balls of frozen pie dough.  This past week I broke out a couple of those balls of dough and made a scrumptious dinner.  Remember those 4 chickens I roasted and deboned?  And those cups and cups of broth?  Well, I turned some of all that into a chicken pot pie.  I'm not sure I've ever seen a flakier pie crust--pretty as a picture!  And full of lots of chicken, carrots, onion, celery, and peas.  We chowed down on that thing and enjoyed it very much.  And it sure did taste better than those frozen pies you get at the grocery store!

We have cause to celebrate.  Joe actually made enough this month to pay the bills, all of them.  I couldn't begin to tell you how long it's been since that's happened.  As it turns out, that means I can keep the tax money I brought in.  Wow!  So the big question has been what's best to do with the money.  Well, we could easily spend it on all sorts of things.  I think the only part we will spend is whatever is required to get us a good box fan.  We could make a payment to the IRS, but the truth is, that money has far more value to us than it has to them.  If we could pay them off, I'd do it in a heartbeat.  Or, even if we had enough to make a settlement with them.  But this is hardly enough to make a downpayment.  Common wisdom says it should be paid on the credit cards.  But, since the banks have been so busy cutting my credit lines, in spite of timely payments and paying more than the minimums, we aren't too sure we want to do that.  There's nothing to say they won't continue to cut the credit lines just because the balance goes down.  We aren't using those cards for anything but emergencies, but right now, if the house burns down, we can't charge enough for a hotel room, LOL.  At the moment, we are considering putting the money into a savings account (after we pay our tithes on it) to accumulate so we can pay those cards off down the road.  I'm not sure about this.  I have to think about it.  We'll see.  I'm not sure that's a faith-filled decision........

Design

Nothing.  Just freeing up space on my design EHD and backing up.

Scrapping

I actually scrapped a page.  I have scazillion Bella Gypsy kits on my hard drive.  So, I decided to use one, not because I needed to have a layout ready for a particular day for the team, but because I wanted to.  Here's my layout with Pink Sugar by Bella Gypsy.  By the way, all their kits are marked down to $2 right now.  Heckova buy if you ask me.

The word art is by Elegant Word Art, Bethany at ScrapbookGraphics.

The morning after

Well, there's got to be a morning after and this is it.  Jen dropped the kids off last night around 6:15 or so.  By that time, Joe had already eaten and gone to bed because he was supposed to start this morning at 2AM.  When Joe came home, we ate beef stew.  It had an excellent flavor.  However, the veggies weren't cooked.  And they'd been in the crockpot since 10:30AM!  Crock pots are all different.  Mine happens to be quite large.  I fed Joe, I fed the kids, and there's at least enough for another meal left over.  The instructions for the recipe said to put the meat, the carrots, the potatoes, and the onion in the crock pot and stir them to mix.  I'm not sure but I think this particular step was part of the problem.  Most crockpot recipes with which I've worked tell you to put the veggies on the bottom and the meat on top.  It seems that the veggies cook better in liquid than they do dry.  And, of course, the liquid forms on the bottom of the crockpot.  Then, the "sauce" called for a 6 oz can of tomato paste, 1/4 cup of red wine, and 2 Tablespoons of Balsamic vinegar.  Considering I had 2.5 pounds of meat, about 7 chopped carrots, and 2 of our Costco-gargantuan potatoes in there, there was no sauce of any kind on most of what was in the pot.  I let it cook that way til about 2:30 and then added a cup of water.  That seemed to help.  But, by dinner time, the veggies were still undercooked.  Of course, when Will got here, he announced that he doesn't like "mushy" carrots.  Apparently I was supposed to serve HIS carrots raw!  Well, that kind of defeats the whole "stew" thing, doesn't it?  So Will ate LOTS of meat.  Atticus ate meat and carrots.  Bethie threw everything she had onto the floor, very methodically.  The dogs were happy..........  And my lovely beef stew just did not garner the kudos it deserved from anyone. 

One of the funniest parts of the whole beef stew thing occurred while Joe was eating it (two big plates full with a piece of bread to mop up the sauce/gravy off his plate).  When I married him, he was a 52 year old man who knew how to cook bacon and eggs and pot roast.  He does an excellent job with bacon; he can't crack an egg without slopping it down over the stove and sometimes the stove front; and then there's his pot roast.  All I can tell you is you'd better be a BIG fan of parsley.  It's edible, and the meat tastes like meat.  Beyond that, I don't like it much.  I've never really said that to him.  I mean, the man has such a small repertoire of things he can cook, I really can't tell him I don't like his pot roast; BUT, I don't like his pot roast.  As he was mopping the juice up off his plate with a piece of bread and darn near smacking his lips, he proceeded to tell me again how he fixes "his" pot roast.  Apparently, he wants me to parboil the veggies.  Yes, that would get them cooked alright, but one of the glories of the crockpot is that the slow cooking allows the various flavors of the ingredients to mix over a long period of time.  I can't see how that is going to happen if you parboil the veggies first.  Just sayin.........

If there is one thing in life I don't do well, it is waiting.  I can wait, okay, but while I'm waiting, I'm just waiting.  I'm not reading a book, I'm not cleaning a toilet, I'm not..........  I'm just waiting.  The last client out the door didn't show up til 2-ish.  I sat here and did my hyperfocused version of waiting (and chafing) til she finally came.  Oh, what a waste of time, but I don't seem to be able to stick to any other plan no matter how many times I decide I can't just sit here and wait......  So, beef stew and waiting.  Those were my two main endeavors for the day. 

And, of course, backing up.  Backing up, when done during the daylight hours is akin to waiting.  My computer badly needs a transfusion of RAM.  So, once I start a backup, it just churns and churns and churns and takes FOREVAH to complete the backup.  Meanwhile, I have to be VERY careful what I do because if it takes too much memory, then it's possible I'll lock the whole thing up.  So, I read e-mails, and I flip back and forth to Facebook, but I'm not likely to do much designing because those graphic files are large and they take a lot of RAM.......

All in all, it was a frustrating day!  And, after dinner, William ate my last Pop Tart!  That's like the end of the world as Pop Tarts are a staple in my diet.  I guess today I'll try to survive on Peanut Butter or Peanut Butter and Jelly, but it won't be easy...........

Design

No design work done yesterday.  But, I did a LOT of waiting and backing up if that counts for anything.  Today, I must add some elements to the ACOT collaborative kit and I must sit here and try to figure out how to split the kid kit into a kit and an add-on.  That's where I'll start and we'll see where I go from there......

Scrapping

Lo and behold, I scrapped.  It occurred to me that since there will be no more new products from Bella Gypsy through the end of the year, I can scrap anything I want for 2.5 months.  It doesn't matter what colors are in the photo.  I can use my own stuff or I can pick and choose from amongst the humongous stash of scrapping stuff on my EHD (that takes forevah to back up) and I can just scrap a layout. 

In my opinion, there are two ways to scrap.  One way is from the kit down.  You are given a kit and you prowl through your stash of photos to find one where the colors in the photo go with the kit.  OR, you find a photo that is on-theme with the kit so you can use all the cute graphics and you convert it to black and white so it will go with the kit. 

The second way is from the photo up.  You have a photo you want to scrap and you prowl through your scrapping stash til you find a piece of paper here and a piece of paper there and a ribbon somewhere else and assemble all the various pieces into one integrated whole--a layout!  It's been a LONG time since I've scrapped from the photo up!  I've been doing creative team work for 5 years and I've been designing for 2.  Design takes so much time, a lot of designers bemoan the fact that they no longer get to scrap!  Well, I grabbed a cute photo yesterday and scrapped from the photo up.  I was fortunate that I had a kit by me that worked perfectly with it.  Here's my layout, done with my kit, Arizona Sunshine.

Have a great day!  I have about 6.5 hours til Joe comes home.  That means 6.5 hours of peace and quiet with no one to tell me how to clean a toilet or make a bed or cook a pot roast or how to sit, stand, walk, sneeze, or do any other function of life.  I will celebrate the next 6.5 hours of my life!  And, then there will be no more peace and quiet until Monday.........

 

 

Computer tragedy averted, for now

I have been worried about my older EHD for a while now.  But, yesterday, in the middle of the day, it just shut down.  Suddenly, clicking "my computer" brought up a directory minus the G drive.  I was on the verge of tears.  I sat here for a while just pondering how this could happen again, nearly 1 year from the last time and I might be in worse shape than I was then............

I have had to kiss Mozy goodbye.  It insisted on doing what it wanted to do no matter what I wanted it to do.  It insisted on doing what it wanted to do WHEN it wanted to do it no matter when I wanted it to do it.  For example, it continues to try to restore the same stuff over and over to my computer, basically every time I reboot.  How many copies of the same stuff do I need?  Certainly not THAT many!  So, I go in monthly and back up everything from the older EHD to the newer one.  But, yesterday, in my state of panic, it occurred to me that I had done at least parts of 6 different kits since I'd backed up the "my kits" part of my external hard drive.  All that work was gonna be lost.  I was just sick. 

Then, I turned it off, waited a few seconds, and turned it on again.  Praise God, it started up again!  I spent hours long into the night and again in the middle of the night doing "emergency" back ups.  The very first thing I did was copy those kits that had not been backed up because they were new.  I also backed up part of my "commercial use" file, the part to which I'd copied items purchased in the past few days.  For example, I told you about that clip art I found with 10 packs for $10 (regular price $5.30 per pack).  "Clip art" is now backed up--happened around 2AM. 

I am trying to figure out how I am going to deal with having a high risk EHD with all my most precious stuff except my photos on it.  I'm going to have to back up stuff nightly.  While it's an hours-long job to back up the entire "commercial use" file, I can back up most of the sub-files in around 10 minutes.  I'm going to have to track everything I do and make sure I back up that stuff on a daily basis.  AND, I'm going to have to be super organized about deleting old back ups so there's room for new backups on the EHD.  For example, after the emergency was averted, I immediately backed up the 6 files I'd worked on in the last two weeks.  I knew I could do that in just a few minutes.  Then I backed up the entire "Marci's Kits" file.  Now I need to find the old "Marci's Kits" back up and delete it.  AND, I need to delete those 6 individual files as all of that is not duplicated.  This is going to be complex! 

I woke up at 2AM.  I knew the file I had started backing up before I went to bed would be finished by 2AM, so I came out here and backed up more files.  Sleep would have been good, but how does one sleep in the middle of all that?  So this morning I have the headache from h-e-double-hockey-sticks.

Tonight I have the kids for some period of time.  And, the company has asked Joe to work tomorrow so he will want to go to bed almost the minute he gets home.  So the big question is what to feed the kids that doesn't have gluten and that I can have ready to eat the minute he steps through the door.  I've decided on doing a beef stew in the crockpot.  This means I'll have to make a run through a supermarket somewhere early this morning, but I can't think of any other way to cover the bases as far as timing and gluten free ingredients are concerned.

The last tax return goes out the door today.  I won't know whether to laugh or cry.  Should I laugh because, Praise God, they are all gone, or should I cry because, woe is me, all the income for preparing them is also gone.  It's not like I get rich from them; in fact, the money is a little less every year.  Clients use "the box" or they move or they simplify their lives, and it all results in me earning less.  But, I am so happy for what I DO make!  I guess I better laugh and praise God and rely on His promises to meet our needs.....  That last one was a bugger.  It always is and it's always last minute.  If I could have gotten my hands on the scrawny neck of my client around 2 PM yesterday, I'm not sure what I would have done to her.  She didn't send me any information until the 8th, and once I got into it, I realized it was incomplete and incorrect.  And this woman bills herself as an accountant!  I wouldn't let her near my paperwork without a keeper!

Design

Yesterday I worked intermittently on two kits, one for the collab due November 5, and a Christmas kit.  I pretty well have the papers for both finished.  Also have a few elements for each of them.  Now to expand what I have. 

I've also decided to sell the kid kit a bit differently.  And I have to get that all set up by Monday when I upload for the team, so I'll have to make that a HIGH priority.  Basically, the kit is absolutely huge.  I am going to break it into a kit and an add-on with the add-on being a separate purchase.  Pretty much there is a ceiling on what one can charge for a kit, no matter what is in it.  You could have pure gold in there, but the customer is used to paying around $5 and they won't pay more, pure gold or not.  So, if I break it up, I can still get a little extra for all the work that went into creating that monster kit.  I've got to decide how to break it up.  Obviously, there has to be enough to scrap a page with in the kit.  But not so much that the customer doesn't really WANT or "NEED" to buy the add-on.  It will take some analysis and thinking. 

Goodbye

Still no scrapping.  With tax returns and back ups and designing, there's been no time.  With Lena retiring, there's little motivation..........

As the World Turns

Wednesday.  Two more days til the 15th.  Two returns finished and ready to deliver to clients.  One to do today.  Actually it's two to do today, an individual return and an LLC.  I'm NOT looking forward to it!

Met with my bi-polar client yesterday and, of course, ended up having to redo the return because of information she hadn't given me before.  Oh well.  It's only time and paper and ink, right?  And, of course, I got a post-dated check..........

So, once there were two girls, sisters, from Kentucky.  One was more talented than the next.  But you never knew which was more talented on any given day.  Five years ago, one of them started designing digital scrapbooking kits.  Not long after, I joined her creative team--I think she had 5 kits at the time, 8 at the most.  And, not long after that, the other sister joined up and they began to design together.  They worked together for a long time, split up for a while because one was no longer able to continue because of a health condition, then got back together and back to work.  Besides being uber talented, they have produced an amazing body of work.  And, for almost all of that time, I've been along for the ride, scrapping my little heart out with their amazing kits.  Then one day (yesterday) they announced that one sister is retiring from design.  We are all welcome to stay on and create for the other sister.  But, to me, it feels like the end of an era.  Yes, yesterday, Bella Gypsy Designs announced that Lena will no longer be designing; she's looking for a job job.  Tabatha will continue on, and, of course, I'll continue on with her.  However, I am taking this somewhat personally.  Five years is a long time, and Lena will definitely be missed.  Honestly, I think they were born to do this together.........

Design

Well, that muse of mine made it in through the pet door again.  This time she pestered me til I did a baby boy scrapkit.  I had mentioned to my CT just a few days ago that I thought one was in the offing, but I thought it was a few weeks down the road.  Nope, it hit yesterday.  I worked on it most of the day.  And it's darned cute.  I still have two sets of elements I want to do for the kit.  And, I want to do a second alpha.  I did a blue alpha last evening, but I also want to do one in yellow.  The kit is in pale blue, pale beige, pale green, pale yellow and white.  I must have been inspired because I really got a tremendous amount done--picked out the color scheme, picked out the artwork, made 5 solid papers, 16 patterned papers, one alpha, and almost all the elements.  There are days when it all just flows, like a river.  There are other days when it feels as though I'm slogging through quicksand.  Yesterday was a "just flows" kind of day and I'm pretty darn proud of my accompishment.  Of course, it goes without saying that I get a lot of supernatural help..........So, after I finish the tax returns that are on the agenda for the day, I'll see if I can get my baby boy kit finished and that will keep me ready to go through November 15th with kits ready for the store.  But, I still haven't gotten back to that garden kit! 

I had planned to put my store on sale for the 15th which is my daughter's birthday.  I put in a request to make that happen last Friday.  Haven't heard a word.  Makes me so mad.  I guess we won't be doing that sale afterall because now, it's pretty much too late to put an announcement together.  Bah!

Scrapping

I am too sad to scrap.  Scrapping will never be the same.........

Cha-Ching!

Finished up a big tax return last night and got paid.  Yeah!  That was a good feeling.  We just love this couple; they are good Christian friends of ours so it's fun to see them, talk with them, and it's fun to get paid!

Did two more yesterday.  One I won't get paid for; the other I probably will, but I'm not sure the check will cash.  The client is bi-polar but decided some time ago she doesn't need her meds.  Since then, she's not filed tax returns for 6 years and this year alone, lost $20 thousand gambling on gross earnings of $32,000.  Maybe those meds would be a good idea 'bout now with IRS levying her paychecks.........

Well, today I will go to work.  I will do payroll, book a few entries, and come home.  If anyone has left me instructions to make a payroll deposit electronically (has to come out of our bank account tomorrow to be timely) I'll do that too. 

I scrubbed and scrubbed at the kitchen stove yesterday.  I even rubbed dishwashing detergent into the surface and left it sit in hopes it would cut through some of the baked on grease.  Nope, didn't happen.  I also spent a good amount of time working on my desk.  I've really let it get piled up with stuff and wanted to be able to see my clients without peering around the piles of paper so I sorted through a lot of junk.  Unfortunately, I asked Joe to empty my trash can over the weekend, but he only does trash for the Tuesday pickup.  So, by last night, trash was toppling out of the can no matter how much I pushed it down.  I'll bet it was fun to pick up and empty.  Musta weighed a ton..........

Design

Well, yesterday I pulled out an older kit that's been out of the store since NDISB was down back in December.  I had multiples of everything on my hard drive so my first task was to take that down to just one of everything.  Then I sorted it into folders, elements, patterned papers, and solids.  I didn't have to do a thing with the solids.  The elements were good.  I omitted some I thought were of questionable quality and did a set of strings for clustering and stopped there.  I ended up re-doing a lot of the papers.  Then I did two different alphas to go with it.  It needs an updated Terms of Use and I need to update the product description and it's done and ready to go in the store.  So, now I'm covered with kits through the 8th of November.  I won't be putting a kit in the store this coming week, so I can hopefully get even further ahead.  I still have to finish up the elements for collaborative kit #2 and then break it into the part I will donate and the part I will sell.  And I haven't started the collaborative kit that's due November 5.  So, a week of design work without having to put a kit in the store will come in handy. 

I don't know what's up with my CT.  It seems folks, even Christians, don't take commitments all that seriously.  I give these ladies free kits and ask, in exchange, 3 layouts a month.  I have one woman who hasn't posted a layout since 8/2.  I know she's scrapped with my stuff since then because I've seen it on Facebook.  But she hasn't posted her layouts to anywhere that would do me any good, sales wise.  So, I've given her 3 kits in August, 3 in September, and 2 in October and has one layout.  Hmmm.  Not so good.

Scrapping

No.  Designing.  Chiseling burnt on crud off the stove.  Cleaning my desk.  Doing tax returns.  No scrapping.

Copiapo Chile

So, it's 3:30AM.  You've had about 5 hours of sleep.  You woke up to use the restroom and found you couldn't go back to sleep so you shuffled out to your computer.  You've read your e-mail, checked out what's happening on Facebook, opened up a kit to work on, and are sitting quietly at your computer working away, intent on what you're working on.  Suddenly, behind you, someone says "Copiapo, Chile".  You don't say anything.  Then that someone says "Copiapo, Chile" again.  You haven't a clue what started this, so you just keep working.  Then you hear "Isn't that something?"  Huh?  You turn around and say "I haven't a clue what you're talking about."  There's a slight mocking tone to his voice as he states "You don't know about Copiapo, Chile?  That's where those miners are trapped."  Well, no, at 3:30AM trapped miners in Copiapo, Chile are not in the forefront of my mind, but, yes, I DO know there are miners trapped underground in Chile.  Does this make me weird?  So, I turn around and give him an instant replay of the conversation.  And, I ask him to connect the dots.  Why in the world is he mumbling about Copiapo, Chile?  "Well, that's the city where one of the people is from that I use in my Gideon presentation."  It's 22 minutes later and, thankfully, he's gone to work.  I still have no idea what started him mumbling about Copiapo, Chile.  I just love these conversations..........

Yesterday was an eventful day.  We welcomed a new grandson to the world.  Matthew Jordan Evans was born by C-section at 10:19AM.  Mom and Dad wanted him born at 10:10AM on 10/10/10, but the doc was a little slow........  Anyway, he's cute as can be and Mr. Copiapo Chile is proud as can be.  I only got to see him briefly in a hallway before they whisked him off to the nursery, but, yes, I did have my camera in my purse.

The concensus is that he looks just like his father except that he has his mother's nose.  Patty's mother is here from Mexico and Matthew's mother is here from Los Angeles.  And so it goes.  I sincerely doubt we'll see that much of Matthew Jordan Evans as the other two grandparents involved will be all over him.  But, yes, he IS cute.  He weighed in at 8 pounds 3 ounces and is 19 inches long. 

We hung around the hospital for a couple of hours.  It was not particularly comfortable for me, hanging around with Joe's ex-wife, though they've been divorced for 30+years and she was very pleasant, hanging around with Patty's mother who seems as sweet as can be but does not speak English (and the only Spanish phrase I remember from High School has something to do with forgetting my notebook), and hanging around with Matthew to whom I'm not supposed to speak.  I was hungry, and the baby wasn't due to come to Patty's room for 2 hours, so we went to get some breakfast.  I had Joe bring me home.  I was in the process of lying down to take a nap when my back went out.........  Yes, it was a great day.

To top it off, by the time dinner time rolled around, my breakfast still hadn't digested.  Dinner ended up being chips and dip.  Oh well, it's not like we needed another big meal........

Design

I have been a busy little beaver in the design side of life this past week.  I did two sets of papers, three sets of frames, 1 set of flowers to coordinate with the fall paper pack.  I did a Christmas kit.  I had a computer lockup and lost the alpha for the Christmas kit, then recreated it as well as creating it in another color way.  I totally finished the kid kit, down to previews and all the little detail junk. 

I suddenly realized a few days ago that I had agreed to participate in 3 different collaborative kits with due dates of November 1, November 3, and November 5.  That spooked me pretty good.  So, I did a mini kit for the November 1 due date.  I need to zip and upload, but other than that it is done.  Then I started on the one due November 3.  I had my choice of two color schemes and chose the one that is more feminine, shades of gray and pink, to work with.  I chose that color scheme because I have wanted to do a gray and pink kit for a while.  Just haven't had time to get to it yet.  Well, I now have a full kit paper pack as well as numerous flowers and frames done.  It still needs ribbons and such, but that one is within a day of being finished.  Haven't touched the one due November 5th yet.........

Today we launch Capri.  This is such a pretty kit.  And, I did quite a few different and pretty elements for it.  I was taken by the color scheme and the kit came together in a very short time.  Let me show you:

It's already uploaded at ACOT, but hidden in the store.  I'll change that in just a few minutes when I finish here.  I think it's really pretty and hope my customers think so too. 

Scrapping

No.  I'm a total failure in the scrapping department.......as well as in the Copiapo Chile department.  It's a down day for me, LOL.  Have a blessed day.  I've got to go wave my magic wand and make my kit visible........

Headache, headache go away

I have the Grandmother of all headaches this morning.  It's a double hitter, sinus and blood pressure, synthesized into one.  My blood pressure headaches are generally in the back and my sinus headaches make me want someone to use an axe to relieve the pressure in the front, so from the neck up, I am one big ball of pain.  So, I've had a mega ibuprofen for the pain and to relieve the swelling in the sinus passages and help the front and a blood pressure pill to drop the pressure; soon, I should be as close to normal as any woman ever gets after she becomes a mother.  I am watching Battle of the Bulge, or rather listening to it, on Netflix and sincerely hoping the headache concoction works before the shooting starts, or I'll be listening to a silent war movie, LOL. 

Last night we had the kids briefly.  Unfortunately Joe was tired and cranky.  He was crankier than the kids.  We would all have been better off if he'd just gone to bed.  He'd have been hungry, but asleep, and the house would have been more peaceful, even if dinner had been 5 minutes later.  The corollary to Bethie's "There are two kinds of people, Mom and non-Mom and only the first is acceptable" kicked in.  The corollary is "If Mom's not around, there are two kinds of people, Grandma and non-Grandma and only the first is acceptable."  Bethie wanted no one but Grandma.  William wouldn't do and Grandpa wouldn't do.  Unfortunately, Grandma was pan frying some steaks for the tribe to eat and it just wasn't safe for her to be in the kitchen with popping oil everywhere.  I sure didn't want her burned.  We closed her out of the kitchen twice and she kept coming back in, pushing the door open and crawling right on in.  Grandpa tried to hold her; she screamed.  William tried to hold her; she screamed.  We put her down and closed the door again (tightly this time) and she sat on the other side of it and screamed.  What a fun way to cook, a cranky man in the kitchen and a screaming child just the other side of the door.  It all did wonders for my stress level.

At last dinner was ready.  It honestly didn't take more than 10 minutes once the potatoes boiled, but it seemed forever.  We had some of our frozen bonanza of steak, sour cream mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn.  Except for those who got huge servings of mashed potatoes from Grandpa (William and Atticus), plates were cleared.  Grandpa even sweetened up enough to feed Atticus.  It's not that Atticus needs to be fed, but it did get a few more spoonsful of food into his tummy.  Who knows, he may grow half an inch because of them. 

Jennifer is not thrilled at the "support" Atticus is getting from the school district.  Actually, she is not thrilled with the attitude of the teacher in whose classroom the "support" is being rendered.  However, he has already made progress in his speech.  I noticed at dinner last night that I could understand him much easier than in the past.  Truth be known, I'll be sad to hear him speak without his little babyish pronunciation, but he is almost 4 and it's time. 

And (Jennifer, if you're reading this, skip this paragraph) Miss Bethie actually took a single unsupported step last night.  She had been holding onto the ladder and wanted to grab the table leg and let go of the ladder in time to take one step and grab the table leg.  Jennifer doesn't want to hear that because that way, when SHE sees Elizabeth take a step, she can pretend it's a first.

The hall bathroom has a floor that's clean enough to eat off of and all I have left to do in there is the windowsill, the tub surround, and the woodwork.  So, I'll try to finish that up and head into the master bedroom today.  That may be tricky because I know Joe will head to bed as soon as he gets home from his meeting.  I thought I was going to get away without doing a load of laundry yesterday; then I looked at Joe's bath towel.  I have no clue what he does to them.  Needless to say, I am grateful they are white and can be bleached!  I also did some work on the kitchen floor.  It was the REALLY yucky part.  Several weeks ago, I roasted 4 chickens.  Then Joe and I sat at the dining table and deboned 4 chickens.  Then I cooked the bones and skin for broth.  When I strained all the bones out of the broth, he tied them up in a grocery sack and put it down next to the trashcan.  Of course, he left it there for a couple of days during which the chicken spoiled and rotten chicken juice leaked out all over the kitchen floor, gluing some sort of cardboard box to the floor.  It was totally gross and totally nauseating.  I left it alone til I was pretty sure adding water to it wouldn't make it all smell again.  I didn't want to be cleaning up that mess AND my sickness.  It's not perfect yet, but I went over and over it with the mop.  I could have done better on my hands and knees, but that was too scary a proposition.  I'll just work at it some more throughout the week..........  Then there's the stove top.......

Design

I started on the collaborative kit for ACOT yesterday.  It's come together really nicely.  I have enough papers for the mini kit for the store and a regular kit for me to sell.  I worked briefly on elements to go with last night.  I don't have much done on elements yet, but I like what I have.  I should be able to finish that up today, I hope.  Then, one more collab and it's back to our regularly scheduled program of design.  That garden kit is still calling my name.

I just got a mailer from a store that specializes in hand drawn illustrations.  They are offering 10 packs for $9.99.  And one of my stores paid me a few bucks this week so I can actually cover that cost.  In general, each pack will do one kit, so I can create 10 kits for $10.  That's a darn good deal.  Unfortunately, there are 10 packs per page and 10 pages..........a LOT to choose from, so I will have to choose very carefully.  I know one thing I will grab is his nativity set.  Those are tough to come by, even though Christmas is supposed to be about the birth of Christ.  So, that's one item that's already in my cart.

Scrapping

No, not today.  Gotta go.  Have a great one!