My Weblog

Sometimes Facebook is worthwhile!

I don't subscribe to Facebook for the social part of it. I rarely post anything personal there, but I do read what is going on there multiple times a day. Sometimes I think too many times a day.

The other day I told you about one type of ad that keeps floating through my feed that I find borderline offensive and degrading. Today I am going to tell you something good about Facebook. Always good to try to balance the good with the bad, right?

While reading through the early morning posts, I came across an ad from a Commercial Use designer. I haven't bought many of her products, but I have bought a few. I found them to be of decent quality. However, I just CAN'T follow all the CU designers out there. It's financially not feasible. And, worse, I am on a CU-diet. Ever since I started tagging my Commercial Use stuff in ACDSee, I've come to realize how much stuff I have. It's A LOT! However..............

Today I found an interesting "freebie" on Facebook. I followed the link to find that I had to buy $5 worth of stuff to qualify for a coupon to download the "freebie". Well, that's still not a bad deal--spend $5 and end up with $10 worth of stuff. I took a good look around her store. I noticed that a bunch (maybe all, for all I know) of her stuff is on sale for $1. And then the miracle happened. I noticed an ad in the right hand margin. It said "spend $5 and get $50 worth of stuff". Wow! Let's see if I can get this right......I spend $5 and I get a coupon for a free set of CU stuff AND a coupon for $50 worth of stuff AND stuff is on sale for $1 a pop???????? How could you do better than that? So, I bit. Now I'm waiting for my coupon code for the $5/$50 deal and the freebie. It's gonna be a great shopping day! All for $5.

So, I'll bet you thought from all that that today is my day for a blessing. Well, let me tell you, you are only partially right. Yes, of course, that is a blessing, but..........

I had a most unusual day yesterday. A lot of times when you hear from me, it is with the stuff that is bugging me. I figure it's time for some good news from me. Yesterday was a banner day for me. I need to do some hybrid scrapping and make a banner that says "celebrate" on it. First, I went to the mailbox and found a card there from one of my clients. The lady has sent me cards before. And they always seem to arrive at times when I am at my lowest. I know the first time she did this, I found myself in tears, just so grateful someone cared enough to send me a card for no special reason.

 

So, I found the card in the mailbox and was set to have a little cry. I opened it and here is what it said:

 

    "I was out of town and when I got back I heard a rumor that you had been or are in the hospital with

    heart issues.

 

    I called several times but your mailbox is always full. Please call when you can.

 

    God laid it on our hearts to send you this money.

 

    Please let us know how we can help you besides prayers, in which you are already included."

 

and it's signed "Hugs and Love". Inside there is a check for $300! Can you believe it? These are not wealthy people. They're "comfortable" financially, but I know $300 has value for them. It's not throw away money. God has some remarkable children! And, yes, I cried.........again.........

 

Then, yesterday, I was set to prepare a tax return for a lady who is a friend/client. She arrived with my dinner, on a REAL plate. Grilled chicken sausage, potato to nuke in the oven (scrubbed and wrapped in foil just in case I decided to do it in the oven), a dill/cucumber yogurt sauce for on said nuked potato in a cute little dish, a zip-lock baggie of frozen peas to nuke, and the plate was garnished with three little orange colored grape-sized tomatoes. What a treat!

 

I found myself standing in the kitchen, wondering what I had done that was "good" to be so blessed. Then it dawned on me that God doesn't bless us because of what we do or even because of who we are, but rather because of who He is. And then there were more waterworks.........

I have been wanting one of those dry-erase year-at-a-glance wall calendars. And when I first got the idea I needed one, it was March. Now it's about to be June. And, I think I am NOT going to pay $20 for a wall calendar that is almost half used up. I also can't find one that doesn't have the dates written in. I want to write in those dates myself so that in 2014 I can erase what's on there and set it up to go again. I don't want to have to throw it in the trash and pay another $20 for another wall calendar. I searched and searched on Amazon.com last night. The only thing like what I want is horizontal. I think I need vertical. I KNOW where I'm going to put it and I do NOT have 5 feet of horizontal space. I DO have 5 feet of vertical space. So, for now, I'm giving up on that.

Years ago, in relation to my digi scrap business, I bought templates for a "perpetual calendar". This thing is really slick. You can create monthly calendars for years and years with this thing. Really, the only thing you have to know to make it work is what day of the week the 1st of the month falls on. Not a bad deal! I did one for June last night which I am going to print out on sturdy heavyweight paper and hang over my desk. Today, I will create one for July. And I'm going to keep at it til I have that thing done for the next 12 months. To quote the old tried but true saying, "there's more than one way to skin a cat". And, since this is printed on paper, I won't have to feel guilty about throwing stuff away when it's no longer useful.

So, my CT update is done. Now about today.

Well, yesterday's client called to say she's gathered the last of the info we needed to prepare her return. So, she will drop that off and I will enter it, review it, print it, assemble it, and call her to let her know it's ready for pickup.

Yesterday's client has problems with dust allergies. I made sure to run the vacuum cleaner through the whole house before she came. I also changed the filter in the HVAC system. I did some dusting in the office as well, but I need to do more of that.

I had wanted to work on my desk some, but didn't manage to make that happen. So, I'll work on that today.

It's hardly worth mentioning, but I want to get those dishes she brought over with last night's dinner washed up so I can return them to her in a timely manner. I have to get on that because she's planning to be out of town for the summer and she's leaving SOON.

Well, let's do some eye candy. That's always one of the best parts of my morning post!

This layout is done by Karla. I think it is just beautiful in its simplicity. It sure grabbed my attention in the gallery. I like the combination of the red, white, and blue goodies with the beige. Karla is honoring her grandfather, a WWII veteran, with this layout. Perfect to scrap his photo from that time period together with a photo of his gravestone..... Thank you, Karla!

Here's another layout by Karla. Again, I found her simple style very eye-pleasing. (I was also really impressed with her fireworks photos--way better than any I've ever taken. There's a skill to that, folks.) Karla always creates great clusters and she did it again here. I am particularly taken with her use of the round red frame as an element in her cluster instead of as a frame. It works so well!

Well, that's it for today. I'm off to accomplish some design tasks and some dusting and some bill paying and all that sort of stuff. YOU be BLESSED today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The lunch whistle blew......

Did ya hear it? I did and I went right out to my fridge and got those leftover meatballs out and nuked them. Oh, my goodness. Now that is close to heaven on a fork. So I ate the two meatballs and now I am full as a tick.

While I was in the kitchen, I found a stray piece of fried cauliflower that didn't make it into the plastic container and into the fridge. I gave it to Parker and he ate it! Maybe he's weakening on eating his veggies???? Then, of course, I had to get out the container and give some to Punkin as well...... No inequity of treatment allowed here!

I have so far vacuumed through the whole house and done some dusting in this room. Next, I have to climb onto a chair and change out the filter in the HVAC intake duct. Sadly it's the last one I have on hand. If I buy them at Costco, that's $40 for a pack of 3! Ouch!

I have been working on my "trippin" kit some more. Geez, you'd think I'd be done with that soon! Anyway, I've been quietly giggling to myself over two experiences I've had with regard to trips. I think I'll share them with you.

When DD was 4, I decided to go to San Diego which is a good 4.5-5 hour drive from here. Of course, she was pretty much too small to help with anything so I got everything loaded and got her buckled in. Gave her toys to play with and started driving. Now, this area has grown a LOT since then, but back then, to get to I-15, one had to drive through barren desert for about 12 miles. I got us on the road and we were about halfway to the interstate when I heard this little voice: "Are we there yet?" I knew right then I was in for the trying of my patience. Fortunately, the Lord was merciful and she fell asleep and stayed asleep until we were on the outskirts of San Diego. And people think miracles don't happen any more!

When I was a kid, we made an annual pilgrimmage from Florida to Pennsylvania. My father always drove and my mother was the co-pilot. Now, I need to preface this with the fact that my mother didn't have an opportunity to get a lot of formal education. And, my grandparents didn't place much value on education. They were dirt poor, had a bunch of kids, and when my mother turned 16 she became "the help" (think Downton Abbey) in someone else's house. I say all that to say that she most likely never had any classes on map reading. Anyway, one year en route, she discovered a "shortcut" for us to take on the trip to Pennsylvania. Why my father didn't check it out is beyond me. I'm sure he had a better background in maps, if only because he was in ROTC during WWII.... Anyway, we turned where she said turn and found ourselves driving through the Pocono Mountains. It was probably one of the most scenic drives we ever made. However, once my father realized what had happened, he refused to turn back. Instead he pushed on, driving overly fast. The scary part of all that was that it seemed most of the roads were carved into the sides of mountains, and except for guardrails, there was a straight drop of hundreds of feet into the valleys below. Of course, they argued. She wanted him to slow down. He wanted to drive faster to make up for all the twisty turny mountainous roads. And she kept telling him things on the order of: "If you don't slow down, you're going to kill us all." I'm not saying those were her exact words, but they certainly have the flavor of what she was saying. As I remember it, I crawled down on the floor and curled up into a little ball. I guess, if I was going to die, I didn't want to see it coming, LOL. Anyway, I think that is the root of my fear of heights. And I'm still likely to get queasy on a high bridge (you should see me try to drive across Coronado bridge (in San Diego)), in a tall building, in an open elevator.......well, you get the picture.

Oh, I just thought of another one. When we first moved here, her father had a sister in the LA area. Consequently, we made frequent trips there. Well, on a number of those trips, I was pregnant with DD. And, the truth is, that at that time there just weren't very many places to stop for the restroom. (In fact, you can STILL drive for many miles without finding a service station.) And, you know how it is when you're pregnant--a little foot kicks your bladder or a little head rests on it and suddenly you have a totally urgent need to pee, even if you just did so 20 minutes ago. Well, her father was being a butthead and I needed to stop and he wouldn't. I was just totally miserable; I've often thought it would have served him right if I'd peed my pants and peed all over the car in the process. So, the next time we were set to make the trip, I slipped a 3# coffee can into the back seat. By this time, I was retaining water and wanted to sit back there so I could put my feet up. Sure enough, I needed to stop. And sure enough, Mr. Butthead refused, again. I pulled out my 3# coffee can, maneuvered myself onto it (no small task for a pregnant woman) and did what I needed to do. Then I handed the coffee can up to the front seat and asked him what he'd like to do with it. That was the last trip where he refused to stop when I needed to!

I don't want to put a crimp in Pennsylvania state tourism. Please understand that this trip was many years ago and I'm sure there is a better route through the Pocono mountains now.........

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Thursday........

Well, my day is up in the air a bit today. I had a client who was supposed to call me Tuesday to let me know when she wanted to meet. She really wanted to get together this week because she is leaving this weekend to spend the summer somewhere cooler. Wise woman! I wonder if she'd notice if I hid somewhere in the back of her SUV? But, I digress............ She hasn't called. I keep waiting for her just to show up at my door which makes planning my days difficult........

Yesterday I got a call cancelling my tax appointment for tomorrow. Yeah, the one I worked so hard on that corporate return for. Friday's appointment is with one of the two shareholders and I was going to turn over the tax return then. Well, not now. And, no extra moolah from that activity right now either.

So, while I wait to see if one client shows up, I still need to accomplish something besides waiting.....

I've been working hard on the "trippin" kit. It's lookin pretty cute. I've been taking extra care with elements lately and I'm liking the results a lot. Special finishes, etc. I've done a lot of elements that were just stickerized. And that's just fine, but I was needing some variety and I'm satisfying that need with the extra work. I should finish the design work on this kit today, fingers crossed. I have a few more ribbons to make and I want to do a few more word art type things and then my usual search to find any additional elements that fit with the theme and mood of the kit.

I got one of the two shelves in the fridge cleaned out yesterday. So, I'm down to one to go. I hope to knock that one out today. Dusting is looming bigger and bigger as a necessary chore and I really need to take some time for my desk. And, it's drag the trash to the curb day. That ought to keep me out of trouble for today.

It is starting to get really HOT around here. We have 2 days out of the next 4 forecasted in the triple digits. Oh, how I hate that. Here it is 9AM and it's already too warm outside to open up the place and air it out. Well, I could fix that by getting up a bit earlier (and thinking of it a bit earlier) for now, but soon, it will be 84 in the middle of the night! NOT looking forward to that!

On the first, it will be two months since I escaped the gates of hell hospital. By the way, a friend of mine tells me that I am certainly not alone in having little to no appreciation for that hospital; apparently there have been scathing reviews of it on the news on TV recently. (Do you suppose it could be an indication of their efficiency if I told you, two months later, that I still haven't gotten a bill from them?) I can't believe this, truly, but I still have bruises on my lower abdomen. They are somewhat faded so it looks more like I'm just really dirty instead of really bruised. I'm not sure that's an improvement, LOL. I am also still experiencing random bruising. Not like before, but........ I went to push my sleeves up yesterday and realized I have a bruised area on my upper left arm. I have no clue what could possibly have brought that on.

I am still doing the treadmill on a pretty regular schedule. Sometimes I will not manage maybe a day a week, but I give myself points for the 6 days a week I DO manage. I have been working on moving for longer periods of time each day. And, as I move, I slowly increase the speed on the treadmill. I am not sure I have yet gotten to the point where I'm challenging my heart/lungs, but I'm getting closer every day. I was advised, starting out, that it was the duration of the exercise that mattered, not the speed, so that is where I have concentrated my efforts.

I am seeing results from my change in eating and the exercise. I posted a couple of weeks ago about how there is room for one of my grandkids AND me in most of my shorts. Yesterday I wore one of the smaller pairs of shorts in my drawer. Funny, they are too big now too. I am doing no concentrated ab work at all, but just with weight loss, I am seeing improvements in both upper and lower abs. I am still not to a "flat" stomach. I do have a major surgical scar to contend with and that doesn't help in the "flat" stomach area, but I just might be touting a "flat" stomach within the next month. My butt is tightening up nicely. I wish I could say the same thing for my upper thighs. Yes, they are improving, but very slowly. But, as I continue on the treadmill, increasing time and speed, I expect they will continue to improve and, most likely, improve at a faster rate.

So, all in all, I'm pretty well satisfied with my progress. As I've said before, I am working out very consistently, but at slow rates, so I'm happy to see improvement. And when I started this, you would have laughed to see what a short period of time I spent on the treadmill. I am doing my own medically-unsupervised "cardiac rehab" here and I am NOT about to try to jump in with both feet before I'm ready. Slow improvement is perfectly fine with me right now.

As to eating....... Well, bit by bit, I am finding things that are low carb that taste great and that are nutritious as well. Last night's dinner consisted of about half a head of fried cauliflower, seasoned with some garlic powder, parmesan cheese and lightly salted. It was delicious and I was FULL when I quit eating. I still have two meatballs in my fridge from my trip to the Italian deli a couple of days ago. I'm guessing those will be gone today, LOL. I finished off all those cucumbers in sour cream yesterday for lunch. In my freezer I have several servings of the cabbage/ground meat stuff and several servings of chicken enchiladas. I'm a little off the salads for now. I think next I will attempt to create my Italian sausage/cabbage one pot thing. I haven't made that in years, but it's a good thing on a low carb diet and, if I get it right, it will be tasty. I also have a large container of chicken broth in my freezer. I'm thinking I could make some yummy soup with just some onion, carrots, and celery (what Emeril calls the "holy trinity") and some quinoa. We always think we need some sort of grain product in soup, but pasta, rice, etc., is extremely high in carbs. Quinoa is not! And, cooked in properly seasoned chicken broth, it should be delicious! I have no clue what I'll find to cook/eat after that, but I'll let you know when I do, LOL.

Well, my client just called and she will be here sometime after 3PM. So, I need to get rolling for the day. Let's look at some gorgeous layouts with Never Forgotten and be on our way.......

Here is another layout by Carla. What could be more meaningful and symbolic of Memorial Day than the flag for which so many fought and died? Carla has layers and layers of goodies behind that photo and I also love the little clusters on each side of the page. Love the title work too!

Christy did this layout. I can always count on Christy to do a super job with multi-photo layouts. I love the papers she's used, separated/bordered by the red, white, and blue ribbon. That sprinkling of 5-pointed glitter flowers leads the eye from the photos to the journaling, a great design idea. And, Christy always does a great job with her journaling. She describes here a trip she and her husband made to Washington, D.C. It isn't related to Memorial Day, but it's certainly an appropriate topic for a red, white and blue layout. Thanks, Christy!

Okay, gotta run. YOU be BLESSED today!

 

Eat your heart out.........

Yes, I'm doing it again. I'm doing another cooking post. And what am I cooking? Well, I'm frying cauliflower.......

Yes, I really am, and it's just delicious. And, if you can stand the heat in the kitchen, it just might be the best cauliflower you ever ate.

When I was first married to the Italian Stallion (hey, don't laugh! I coined that name long before anyone ever heard of Sylvester Stallone), I used to watch my mother-in-law cook. She made things I'd never heard of, things that would have been familiar if her son had just had the good sense to marry an Italian woman. And, eventually I learned to make them too. And, then, eventually, I learned that a lot of them were incredibly fattening......... I had to find different ways to get the same taste.

She used to parboil cauliflower and broccoli, dip into beaten egg, roll in seasoned breadcrumbs, and fry it. It was out of this world good. With those breadcrumbs, you got the flavor of garlic and parmesan and with the frying you got the added flavor of the olive oil. Nummy......

However, we all remember that Marci is doing low carb, right? Hence, breadcrumbs are not an option. But, I still love the flavors of olive oil, garlic, and parmesan with my cauliflower. So, here's what I do.

Cut your cauliflower up. Ideally, you'll have reasonably uniform pieces, but it never quite works out this way. I do not boil the cauliflower at all. Instead, I cover the bottom of my frying pan with olive oil and lay the cauliflower down. I recommend cutting the bigger "heads" in half or quarters. You want, as much as possible, flat sides to lay against the bottom of the pan. Fry those puppies. On ALL sides. Then, turn them head side down and let that part fry as well.

I have a bit of difficulty regulating the frying temperature on my stove. "8" seems a bit too high, and, at "7", I kinda want to check to make sure the flame hasn't gone out. But, unless you want to stand there for a good long time, get your temperature up there! If you find the concept scary, go at it as if you were stir frying. The stir fry approach will take longer to get the right color, but you won't be biting your fingernails worrying about burning it.

What you are looking for is for your cauliflower to take on a color much like you would see on Kentucky Fried Chicken. Or, maybe even a little darker. This releases the natural sugars in the vegetable, adds a bit of crusty crunch, and is just all around delish. It is done when you try to rescue it from the frying pan and it falls apart when you stick it with a fork! That's okay, just scoop it up however you can, slotted spatula, slotted spoon, whatever works.

It will absorb some olive oil. It doesn't hurt to have a paper towel-lined plate on which to drain it. Once you have it all fried, lightly sprinkle it with salt. Add a pinch or two of garlic powder and maybe a teaspoon and a half of grated parmesan. The flavor of the cauliflower is strong enough that even that cheap parmesan in the green container or something similar will taste just fine.

At this point, toss it like you would toss a salad. You want to mix the salt, garlic, and parmesan throughout what you've cooked. Then put on a bib to catch the drool and eat. You'll be amazed at how much better it tastes than steamed cauliflower with that nasty cheese sauce!

When I first married Joe, he used to come home from the grocery store with that nasty frozen cauliflower in "cheese" sauce. If you want to be very afraid, read the ingredients on that stuff sometime! It used to break my heart to serve that stuff. I never did eat much of it because other than salt, I didn't think it had much flavor.

Finally I got him to come home with just a plain old head of cauliflower from the produce section. I wish you could have seen his eyes, his face when he'd tasted the first bite. It was a combination of mild fear switching to surprise and moving on to delight. The man DID like his food! He never brought that nasty frozen cauliflower in "cheese" sauce home from the store again, but there were a lot of heads of cauliflower from the produce section in our future.

You can do this same thing with broccoli or asparagas as well. It is also excellent with zucchini or summer squash. Give it a try. If you hate it, you wasted a bit of time and the price of a head of cauliflower. If you love it, you'll find a lot of heads of cauliflower from the produce section in YOUR future too.

By the way, for those of you who have BIG questions about low carb eating I have a report. I have one of those bib style aprons. I rarely use it, but when frying, it's a good idea. It saves a tee shirt from instant death from oil splashes. I grabbed mine and put it on tonight and found I had a good 3 inches more to hang down after I wrapped that thing from front to back to front again and tied it in a knot.

As you know, my goal is not to lose weight, but rather to eat healthier. You may have big questions about "frying" a vegetable when it could just be steamed. The trick here is that cauliflower is very low on the glycemic index. That means, it is very low in carbohydrates. Now, the body will burn carbs if it can get them. It's easy fuel for the body to use. And, if you eat more carbs than you burn, the extra gets stored on your hips as fat. If you do not give your body carbs, it will burn fat. Fat you eat, fat you have stored, even fat in your arteries. And, therein, lies the miracle for which I am working!

 

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Mrs. Droopy Drawers..........

Glory for me........

Most days lately, I wake up with a song. Yesterday's song goes like this: Oh that will be glory for me, glory for me, glory for me. When, by His grace, I shall look on His face, that will be glory, be glory for me. This morning's song is: You and me against the world. Sometimes it feels like you and me against the world. When all the others turn their backs and walk away, you can count on me to stay.

Yes, I know that second one is a secular song. The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir will most likely never record it. You will probably not hear it sung by the Gaithers. But, that's my song to God for today (first 2 lines) , and His song back to me (last 2 lines).

So I am calling yesterday a successful day. I did pretty much everything I could do to move that tax return forward. When push came to shove, I found I was short one Social Security Number and one address for one shareholder. That finally came in, so, today, we'll "type" that baby up and print it out and call it done. Then we'll do a happy dance!

I didn't get a whole lot done in the house, but I did package up 5 meals for the freezer and I cleaned out the bottom shelf of the fridge and the veggie drawers. And I woke up to a clean kitchen so you can't knock that!

Design wise, I was an animal last night. The ideas kept coming so fast they were banging into each other! I've got about 60 elements created for this "trippin'" kit I'm working on. And, there are some good lookin' and original creations in there too! Yay, me!

Hey, a funny thing happened to me last evening. Now, you know I'm a grandma, and no spring chicken. And, no, I haven't changed my mind about any possible involvement with the male of the species. No thanks. At least for now, I've had enough disappointment, LOL. But, it was still noteworthy and it did good things for my opinion of myself. I have been trying to get back into wearing makeup. Yes, I am well aware that most days only the dogs see me and they don't care if I'm wearing mascara. But, it does help me not to feel nauseated when I look in the mirror. So, yesterday I was wearing makeup. I walked into that little Italian deli last night and there were two guys sitting at a table. They actually looked at me and smiled. And it was one of "those" looks--I'm not so old I don't recognize "those" looks when I see 'em, LOL. Was I interested? Not in the least. But it did make me feel good! Maybe that was my reward for my attitude adjustment yesterday?

So, today........

Need to finish that tax return!

Need to clean two more shelves in the fridge!

Need to design about 60 more elements, LOL.

Need to dust this room and the living room dining room area.

I also need to do some advertising. I am having a dilemma. I have signed up to advertise on a number of different advertising sites on Facebook. This means folks subscribed to those sites see my ads, but it also means I see ads from other designers who have signed up there. A couple of these sites have a lot of designers who put out stuff I don't need to see. It is not simply irrelevant to my life. It is borderline offensive. It's offensive if you're a Christian. And, it's offensive if you have any respect for women. I'd be embarrassed if my grandkids were here looking over my shoulder. And, if they don't need to see that stuff, neither do I. I'll give you an example, a "tame" one:

Now imagine something like that with a WHOLE LOT less clothes. One went through, twice this week so far, that had nothing more than a string of fabric across the boobs. Like a cut up tee shirt..... Most are in suggestive positions, etc. I am thinking that I need to track which sites these are coming from and take them off my list.........

To create these, a program called PSP is used. They make female figures of pretty much every description. I can actually see some ways in which I could use "clean" versions of this type of thing in my kits. For example, a designer friend of mine (who is now retired) had someone create a series of young girls, dressed in enough clothes to be decent. She was able to use the girls, while changing out the clothing, in her kits. However....... "clean" is pretty tough to come by. I did a motorcycle kit a while back. I went to one of these websites and solicited to see if I could get someone to make me a fully clothed, "normal" looking female and male, who might be riding a motorcycle. You know, dressed in boots and leathers, but without half exposed boobs, etc. No takers. I guess "clean" is not an option......

Well, that's enough of THAT!

Let's do some more fabulous eye candy and move on with our day, shall we?

Carla did this layout. I love it. She did a great job on that border and the layering behind the photo is fab. There are so many layers to this layout. I posted it on the HFD Facebook page last night with a challenge to look at it, walk away, and then come back and look at it again. I think if you did this, you would undoubtedly discover a new "goodie" here that you'd missed the first time. Love that quote too!

Here's another layout, this time by Deanna. It is just darling, made even more so by the photos of that cutie pie little grandson of hers! She's got some great layering going on here. Do you love those papers with the tone on tone stripes? I think that scalloped border almost looks like it's been crimped, but it's the design of the papers that gives that effect. I should mention here that Deanna used one of our frame clusters for this layout. The frames and all the goodies layered across the bottom of the frames was pre-done for her. What a deal, huh?

Well, that's it from me for now. I'm gonna get started on my day. I went to bed late so my morning started late, and it's well beyond time to accomplish something! YOU be BLESSED today; I know I will be.

 

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A successful day......

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Fabulous dinner........

I have been doing well on my low carb eating plan. But, this afternoon I got this overwhelming craving for meatballs. It was way too late to defrost the meat and make them myself, so I couldn't quite figure out what to do next. Finally, I got an inspiration.

When I was eating this way before, I used to go to Olive Garden and order just a salad and a side order of meatballs. They looked at me funny, but I got what I wanted. Well, I wasn't prepared to drive a 10 mile round trip for meatballs, but it occurred to me there is an excellent Italian Deli in the 'hood. It is probably about 2 miles away.

They had what they called a "side order". Two meatballs with sauce. I bought two side orders because I didn't know for sure how big the meatballs would be. Well, as it turns out they are good sized, bigger than a golf ball, smaller than a tennis ball (but not by much). Two was more than sufficient so now I have a second meal to eat tomorrow. They were 'licious though just a little heavy on the oregano for my taste. Still darned good.

I guess this tells me I should make up some meatballs and some sauce and freeze in individual containers! I paid about $2 per meatball and I'm sure I can make them for less.

Yes, I know there is some sort of filler/binder in these meatballs that is made from carbs, probably bread crumbs. But, compare the little bit found in a meatball to eating those meat balls on a big plate of spaghetti and you'll see it's probably a pretty sensible choice!

My project of the day is as complete as I can get it for now. I am waiting for a response from one of the stockholders. Need a Social Security Number and a mailing address. Once I get that, I can "type" it in to that $20 a month program, print it out and I'm finished. It is all good!

I saw what I thought was a kind of funny sight while I was out and about. I saw this guy. He wasn't particularly tall, but he was wide in a sturdy, muscular way. He was very tan and I assume he maybe works construction and is in the sun a lot. He was also heavily tattooed. He was wearing a muscle shirt and you could tell he was in pretty good shape. What was funny was that he was walking a tiny little chihuahua on a leash. Somehow, I'd expect to see a muscular, tatooed guy with some sort of dog other than a chihuahua. It made me smile.

So, I guess for tonight we will get back on our regularly scheduled program of design and housework. And I WILL be on the treadmill tonight, LOL.

Later, maybe............

 

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Mrs. Droopy Drawers..........

Found a fabulous restaurant for lunch.........

Step One.......... check

Well, Step One is complete except for 3 items I have to dig out of the instructions. I've done the actual return, pencil copy only. Next I'll go look up what goes in those "code" boxes.

Step Two is actually complete complete. Needed to do a schedule in Microsoft Excel as the first attachment to the return and that is done.

Step Three involves preparing two additional schedules to attach.

Step Four will be "typing" it all up and printing copies. Then, ta da, Done.

Thank God, I have stayed on track today.

I ended up eating some of my cabbage roll-less cabbage stuff for lunch. I don't really know what the official name is for this stuff. I just call it yummy. I appreciate that I made it with ground turkey. I like that it has lots of tomato flavor. And, the cabbage, well that serving of vital veggies is just the icing on the cake, so to speak. THIS will be something I do again, and soon. So far, I've had four very filling meals from the one recipe and I have at least two more to go! All for the price of 1.5 pounds of turkey (found on sale), two 14.5 oz cans of tomatoes, and one head of cabbage. Delicious. No carbs to speak of, other than occur naturally in the tomatoes. Very low fat as well. Can't beat that!

I remembered, the other day, another dish I used to make fairly often with cabbage. I think it will be a good bit pricier, sadly, but I'm going to make it anyway. Its primary ingredients are bulk Italian sausage and cabbage. I'll be sure to clue you in when I do that.

Well, I need to get back to my pet project for the day. Later.......

 

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Praying for a better day.........

Well, I have to tell you I do not rate yesterday as a successful day. I accomplished a good bit, but I was hyperfocused in the wrong area. I whined and complained to God, to myself, to the dogs about what was hanging over my head. I was wrong. I gave myself an attitude adjustment this morning and repented.....

I am going to be thankful today for that thing that is hanging over my head. It will bring money into this house. And on what day, in this house, is that not a truly wonderful thing? I am supposed to give thanks "in everything". So often I live in my feelings instead of where I'm supposed to. The Truth is I'm gonna live forever and this task I must accomplish is but a bump in the road in my eternal life. Why am I whining? And, why am I whining when this is part of God's provision for me? Because I am focused on the wrong thing.

Well, I'm going to be thankful and full of praise today even if it takes a monumental effort. So there!

Yesterday, I allowed myself to play with design ALL day. It was NOT what I intended. It was productive, but.......... I started off making some word art strips for the girl scout kit. I couldn't call that one finished til that was done. Didn't take long but then I had to redo previews for the kit and the elements. Finally I got the raw previews fixed up and gathered everything necessary for my Design Assistant to finish off the wrapping for both the girl and boy scout kits. If I had stopped there, I'd have been okay. Did I stop there? Of course not........

I needed to update my spreadsheet so I'd know what I'd sent for previews. And, while I was at it, I decided to handle the rest of the details with those two kits. Had to be done, though it didn't have to be done yesterday......... But, that stuff is taken care off and all marked off on my spreadsheet. I'd have been okay if I'd stopped there. Did I stop there? Of course not.........

I noticed another kit that had not been sent off for previews. I decided to correct that little omission. However, when I took a really good look at the kit, I found out it was a big omission. My preview was full and I had a LOT of elements, but they were low mb and so it looked like the kit was itty bitty. Well, I decided to fix that. :( The kit now has 141 elements. I made 53 of them yesterday! And, with all that, it still is low on megabytes! How the heck did that happen? I dunno..... I'd have been okay if I'd stopped there. Did I stop there? Of course not...........

While I was saving a bunch of stuff in Photoshop, I ran across a color scheme I loved. And I had a theme just waiting for it. Oy! So what did I do, I designed 12 papers and 3 of them required specialized stuff I had to make BEFORE I could make the papers. I also pulled together 7 elements that are NOT part of what was used on the papers....... I quit at midnight. I had worked so completely focused on the computer that a) I did not get on the treadmill, and b) I had a headache, and c) I had a major cramp in my right shoulder. That's where I finally stopped--and went straight to bed.

So, I'm gonna get today right. Yes, I am! Priority One is the project I avoided so successfully yesterday, thus ruining my plans/hopes for the day and my attitude in the process. I WILL do this today. I WILL. And I WILL be grateful for the opportunity, so help me God.

The reality is this project is almost certainly not that big a deal. It is my attitude that is the big deal. If I can win the battle with my attitude, the rest will fall into place. And, besides getting paid for doing it, it will save me $20 a month. I do very few returns other than individuals (1040s) these days. So, I no longer order software for the other stuff. I grind 'em out by hand. However, I think it looks unprofessional to hand a client a tax return with all the data handwritten. So, I paid $20 to have access to the software in fillable .pdf format so I could "type" in the data. I thought that was a one-time fee. NO! It is a monthly fee! So, the minute I finish this corporate return, I can ditch that thing and save myself $20 a month.

So, I have no clue how long it will take to do that return. Hours, yes. All day, probably not. What else I'll do today I don't know. I do know I will carry another full bag of donation stuff to the van. It is all listed out properly and the bag is so full it's darned heavy. But, I'll get it there. And I still have stuff lying around that needs packed up to go. Unfortunately, I only own one more black bag, so that may not happen right away. But I can get this heavy bag out of here.

Well, for now, I need to quit this. So, let's do eyecandy and I'll be on my way. My Creative Team ladies really produced some gorgeous layouts with this week's kit.

Yes, this is a red, white, and blue kit. And, yes, I created it with Memorial Day in mind. But, I DID tell you it could be used for other stuff, didn't I? Ms. SarahWhithers used it to scrap some photos of her cat, Link. She used the heart-shaped elements and the bear who is holding a heart to show us all that this is her beloved cat. I love the blocked design of this layout and I also enjoyed the placement of the hearts outside the borders of the blocking. As always, she's done a great job of embellishing the page.

A happy coincidence! Laura's husband's birthday falls right around the Memorial Day weekend. So he gets to celebrate the two events together. And she gets to create a birthday layout with Memorial Day colors! Good deal all around. It just so happens the colors in the photo are perfectly complimented by the colors of the papers. I love that pointed half-circle shape she's used on the page. It really adds visual interest. The "Never Forgotten" word art is from the kit. I think those accordion flowers are perfectly placed and really help "make" the page. Great job, Laura!

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Does God care........

Avoidance, that's my middle name.......

I have a tax return that I must do today. And I have hidden behind design work ALL morning. Once I finally firmly grasp myself by the nape of the neck and start, it won't be all that difficult (I hope), but it's the starting that is the problem.

I started out by just doing a "little something til I woke up". Had two kits that needed stuff bundled up to send to my design assistant for previews. Then I figured I'd better open up my status spreadsheet and update it or I wouldn't remember I had done it. Then I noticed that there are two kits that still need work. One of them, I thought, just needed previews. Yeah, well. No. There are actually plenty of elements in the kit, but a lot of the doodled variety, so they are mb light. So, it looks like there isn't much there. So, first I added some stitching. Well, come on now. How many megabytes can you chisel out of a row of stitching? Not many, I'll tell ya! So, I did some cute flairs. Hey, that didn't help much more than the stitching did. Then I decided to add a line of flowers, both singles and layered, with buttons and little bows. Well, I've done a lot of that now and I have just barely made the absolute minimum of mb that I would consider releasing in a kit. Holy cow......... I'm running out of ideas!

Hours later............ Well, I've accomplished more than I thought I would on that tax return but I've had a headache for hours. I am now going to give it up and see if tomorrow goes better...........

New Stuffs, week of 5/25/2013

I have a kit for you this week of which I'm really proud. It IS patriotic but is versatile as well. And I refuse to tell anyone for how many years I have loved playing with red, white, and blue! Let me show you this cute stuff.

In my opinion, the use of the whimsical bear graphics lightens this kit. Yes, it seeks to honor the original purpose of Memorial Day. But, notice that several of those bears are simply holding hearts or stars, making them adaptable to other types of layouts as well. I think the addition of the yellows and browns to the color palette also facilitates that.

Of course, you can buy the full kit, or if you choose, you can buy just the elements, just the papers, or just the alphas. It's ALL on sale at my A Cherry on Top store.

And, YAY! We have some gorgeous clusters for you.

LOTS of other goodies in the store as well. Check us out! Happy shopping and happy scrapping on this long weekend!

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