This weekend...

It went by way too quickly, but we got a lot done. My parents came down for the weekend, and we worked on our house. My step-son's bedroom is now ready to be painted and turned into my "dressing room". If we planned to stay in the house, I would be painting the room a pale pink. Since we are moving as soon as we sell, I am going to stick with a neutral color, and paint my dressers, etc. black and pink.

I got my trash hauled away, my laundry done, the bedroom prepped, made lasagna, mailed off some legal paperwork, and cleaned my house. All in all, it was a productive weekend. Oh, I forgot mowed the lawn, pulled weeds, and took out more trash from the backyard. Why do they package patio furniture in TONS of cardboard? Geez! So much for environmentally friendly! I hauled it all down to recycle. It filled the back of the pickup!

I could go on and on, but I won't. Hubby wants to watch "Weeds" before we go to bed.

Tata for now ~waves~

My first Tear Bear

This is my very first tear bear using the heavy weight mulberry papers. I chalked the edges for added dimension & used pink chalk for the cheeks. The nose and eyes came with the kit. I used a slicker black fine writer for the whiskers and mouth.

Thank you BUFFY for sending me this kit to try! It was so much fun!

Time to Start adding my scrapbook stuff

These are file folders I made for a swap for Pet Pages for my dogs.

I stamped on colored card stock and added ribbon with staples to complete the look.



















These are altered coasters I made for the same swap, but a different group. I covered coasters with cardstock and then die cut them with my Sizzix to make the shapes. I inked and embellished the items with ribbon to complete the look.



















This is my very first attempt at a tear animal. I am happy with the results considering I used the wrong kind of mulberry paper for this project. I had tissue weight paper, rather than cardstock weight. I used chalk and a pen to add the accents.




















Lastly these are tags I made for another swap for Father's Day. These are done on heavy weight cardstock. I stamped and inked each tag. The papers are reproduction advertisements that I got from a collage kit. The bottle cap is a beer bottle cap I took from my husband's beer bottling kit. I hammered the caps flat and then used my creative memories circle cutter to make the inserts. I used a decorative stamp to add the "D" to the center.

Okay, so No one reads this...

but dang, then how do I get blog comment spam?!?!

I am the only one looking at my blog and reading it or doing whatever, and I get spam. *shaking my head*

Something just seems so utterly wrong with that! Heck, at least let me get one comment of, "wow, your blog sucks." That would be better than blog spam!

Hell, it is almost as bad as getting a message on your cell phone only to find out it is some damn telemarketer! Blog spam is the internet equivelant to telemarketing!

Can you tell this frustrates me?

Okay, ~stashing my soapbox back under my desk~ I will save my ranting for another time.

~goodnight~

Free Pearls

Pearls, pearlsand more Pearls

Have you ever..?

Awakened one morning and felt life passed you by?

Wondered where the time went?

Forgotten what it felt like to really live your life?

Gotten so caught up with illness (yours and your family's) that you just let it consume all of your being?

I have. I am. It sucks.

How did I get here?

When did I get old?

Where did my hopes, dreams, and plans all go?

Who is this person I see in the mirror?

How did she get here?

More importantly, how is she now going to change her life for the better?

How will she start living again?

I'm Back!

I haven't posted here since 2004. Wow! So much has changed since I started this blog. I still haven't gotten back into my size 3 Cruel jeans, but at least I was in them the first time I saw Trace Adkins in person *small swoon*.

Hubby no longer works due to his multiple sclerosis, so no more wishing him home early from work. He is always here now. He really hates that.

I have changed jobs three times since my last post.

I now have severe anemia which is totally messing up my life.

I only have three dogs now. It feels empty around here with just the three. I no longer only have boxer dogs. I have one crazy little puggle in the mix.

I no longer drive only a big SUV, but I know have an economical car. I commute 63 miles one way to work each day, then work 12 - 14 hours and come home. I barely have time to sleep and it is time to be back at work.

My anemia has put me in a bad place. It has made me very sick, and that has caused me to miss work and not be the wife I need to be. I sleep all the time. I am chronically tired, and chronically cranky. I thought I would avoid the flu this season, but when I got it, I got it good. I didn't think my blood levels could get any lower, but they did. So now I get iron infusions once a week to try to get me back to normal. I have been battling this for 6 months now, and my levels still haven't improved.

My house and craft room are a mess. We are remodeling for hubby, so that his wheelchair can get around everywhere. We previously had a sunken family room, now it is all one level. We also replaced the doors and widened the doorways to the kitchen and dining areas. We put in energy efficient windows and doors. We put up a new roof, and we got a new heating/air unit to keep the temperatures normal for hubby. With MS hot temperatures can cause severe flare ups.

My step daughter has graduated high school, and has turned 21. My step son will graduate in May and he is already 18. Wow, what a way to make me feel old. I wish sometimes that I would have had kids of my own, but I didn't. Some say it isn't too late, but with our health problems, I think my time has passed me by.

Well, I have rambled a long time, so who knows! Maybe I will post tomorrow. Maybe it will be another 4 years! ~chuckles~ Guess we will see where serendipity takes me!

Gawd, I suck!

I so suck at this journal thing and at staying on my diet this week. It has been a super rough week at work, and I just feel like total crap.

I go back to the gym tomorrow morning -- so wish me luck. I think I will need it.

~later~

DayTwo - More food posts ~laughing~

Okay so I ate another granola bar -- I think I am addicted to them!!!

And more tea/water.

I think I need to do something today. I am bored with being sick, and I want out of the house! Gawd, how I wish my hubby would get home. I guess I should be greatful for the overtime he is earning, but I would rather have him right now.

Time to do something even if it is wrong -- but rest assured it will NOT involve food! ~chuckles~

DayTwo - Okay so maybe I suck at this!

Well, I am sorta back on track. I did have a couple of potato chips which is a bad thing, but it could be worse! I read the back of the chips bag -- one friggin' chip is 10 calories! YUCK!

So anyway I guess I need to keep track of what I eat.

1 - granola bar
1- piece of toast
1/2 cup of cottage cheese

Tons of water -- cuz I am sick and I have to drink it with my medication...

We might go out for dinner tonight, so I am trying to keep my calories really low, but my protein high. I am trying to go back to my original gastric bypass diet, before my tummy would allow me to eat anything more than chicken!

Wish me luck! I think I need it!

Me and My Honey -- Last Christmas 

Just me! 

Day One - getting back on track

After going through gastric bypass surgery I swore to myself I would never get fat again. After going to the doctor today for a respiratory infection, I found out I have gained almost 20 pounds. This made me nuts! I wanted to scream, cry, rant, rave, on and on --you get the picture!

SOOOOOOOOOOOO after calming down, I decided to create this blogger to track my renewed progress as I get back down to my size 3 Cruel Jeans.

Food Diary for today:

1 - granola bar
1- skinny mocha (sugar free)
12 - cheez-it small size crackers
1/2 - peanut butter sandwhich on whole wheat bread
1 - beef patty grilled and all fat drained (thanks George Foreman!)
1 - granola bar

2 - tall glasses of ice tea
8 - glasses of water