Friday, June 30, 2006

Fridays rambles.


Another week has flown by, and Aug. 10 is looming ahead of me. I have July left now, then back to work. I try to get it out of my head and not think about it(can you tell I love my job?)
I have been mulling alot of things around in my head this week,,lots of decisions and choices that I want to make. So I guess I will have to come out of my turtle shell and start making them happen.

Like my dear friend Annie, I plan to start de-cluttering my creative space. I have to decide what I am most happiest at creating. The problem is that I have too many ideas that run through my mind,,I want to do them all! But I have to be realistic.
Also I have been working hard on the excess pounds on my poor old frame,lol. I have learned that in order to actually lose weight I can only eat very small portions,,and no potatoes,pasta, or bread. Luckily I Love Veggies and Fruit and this is the time of year for them. I have alot of cucumbers, bell peppers and tomatoes that are starting to ripen in my small veggie garden. I am also hitting the fruit stands religously every week.
Last night we grilled several chicken breasts on the grill and they are so good. I am a charcoal grill girl,,I grill out almost every night in the hot summer,,keeps the house cooler when you don't use the oven.
Since monday I have lost 6lbs,,,amazingly,,but most of it was of course "excessive" water. And the first 2 days were tough,,learning to eat less is hard work,,,I go through withdrawals,,lol. Headaches, sleep problems,,and very moody. But now I am feeling more normal. I also am back on my treadmill and doing my weights.
Yesterday I made a collage for my daughter's friend whose wedding we attended last week-end.
She came and got it yesterday along with the cds that I burned of her wedding pics. Her husband was with her and when I gave her the collage she starting crying...She loved it,,and he did too. They both said that it was the best present that had recieved. That made me feel so good as I know that received some very nice presents and alot of cash. They just got a new apartment and were headed home to hang it on the wall. I was so thrilled and felt so happy the rest of the night! I am posting the picture of it today.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Ms. Turtle


I wish I could be like Ms. Turtle. Just stick my head in my shell when life comes at me too fast. Where I can retreat into my safe snug little place,,and lick my wounds,,and shore up my defenses,,and figure out my path again.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

tuesdays thoughts




Just having some coffee and thinking about alot of things that have been heavy on my mind lately. I woke up at 4 and couldn't go back to sleep, I hate itwhen that happens. I know why it happens but still,,I don't like not being able to sleep.
Well today, Mom is coming to spend the night. We are going to work on our quilt art book pages for a swap that we will be participating in for the next few months. We do a page a month, send to hostess and she will swap them out. We have a different theme each month.
Oh,,and thanks to my good dear friend Annie,,I have now mastered the posting of my blog links. Thanks so much AnnieElf!
Just going to post some misc. pics today. One of the pics are of my children when they were sweet babies. I just love this pic and it is so fitting for summer.
I have been flogging myself because I had so many plans for this summer, and as usual, I haven't followed through. I was going to be so creative,,make so many different things. Organize the whole house,,(yeah right). I so Love being off during the summer,,but yet it just seems to fly by. Here it is almost the first of July,,next comes August, and then back to work.

I just wish I could stay home,,,I have worked since I was 15,, with some time off for Babys. I know I have been lucky to be off in the summers, espiecally while the kids where young.
So quit complaining Beth!

Also trying to post some pics of my cds that I did for a swap and some of my newest ATCs. I Love the hummingbird and flower. They are some of my newest stamps.
Hope my friends in CA are staying as cool as possible,,I sure do feel for you as I know how miserablely hot summers can be. I think this Global warming is totally getting worse, as the weather stays so mixed up all the time. We are going to be in the low 80s today,,and for the end of June in Tennessee,,well that just ain't right,,,lol. But I will not complain,,I will try to send it to my friends in CA!!!! Hang in there,,,it will probably snow next month!
I don't know why but for some reason my pics will not post if I choose to center them,,only seem to post on the right or left,,,bloggerblip.

Monday, June 26, 2006

more wedding pics





Awesome week-end!





What a great time I had this week-end. The wedding was so lovely. Kalyn and I went down on friday night to their cabin. I had never been there and didn't know what to expect. Well, it was beyond my expectations, thats for sure. We got off the interstate and went several miles back into the wilderness,,winding country roads and then gravel roads. Then we came to the driveway to the cabin. The fence by the road was fully decorated for a wedding, so we knew we were in the right place,lol.
This cabin is smack in the middle of 108 acres. There is a big lake that they just put on the property that is fed by a spring. The Tennessee River is less than a mile away. The lake is fully stocked with so many different kinds of fish. And alot of ducks.

The brides father is a sportsman. He hunts everything and fishes too. We have a big deer population here in Tennessee. I don't like to see anything killed, espeically cute bambis,,but it must be done in order for the deers to not over populate. We already have numerous deers died on the interstate. He does not waste any thing he kills,,they use the meat and hides,,so if thats in redeeming quality then thats probably that and keeping the population down. (Can you tell I am not a hunter?)
Ok,,back to the cabin. The land was bought by her Dad's father in the 80s,,he was a sportsman too. They have built this cabin into a very beautiful show place. The inside looks like something out of a hunting magazine. Every kind of animal and fish on the walls. Its actually pretty neat,,It is a hunting lodge feel to it. There is 2 lofts on both sides. Kalyn and I slept in one of the lofts,,it was a little creepy sleeping under a deers head,,lol.
Her parents and her were so tired when we got up there on friday night. Her mom and grandmother and Aunts, had been decorating all week and it was so pretty. We ate dinner then sat on the big porch for awhile,,Hillary gave Kalyn a beautiful necklace for being her Maid of Honor. They have been bestfriend since 6th grade. After that they went to bed early to rest up for the big day.
Kalyn and I sat up for awhile on the porch. It was so nice. You could hear no traffic, no cars, nothing,,,but quiet and animals and birds. So peaceful. And I treasured sitting there with my daughter and talking and laughing. It was healing for us.
The next day was busy,,getting the cakes , dressing the bride and her attendants. Bathing the baby,,and meeting all of her very nice family. The wedding was so pretty,,and Hillary was gorgeous,,so was Kalyn. I took over 150 pictures for them. I will be burning them to a disc for her, her parents , and the grooms family. I am also going to print some and make a small scrapbook for Hillary to carry around with her. Her Mom and family will take the discs and have printed what they want to print. They are just really nice people,, I was so glad to be a part of this special day and celebrate Hillary and Chris special union. And also see my daughter looking so grown up and beautiful. My prayers are for the couple's wonderful beginning for a life of togetherness and much Love!

Friday, June 23, 2006

Finally Friday



Its Friday again,,the weeks are going to fast! August 10 will be here before I know it and then I will be back at work in my lovely concrete office with no windows,,yuck! Oh well, at least I get my summers off so I really should stop complaining,,lol.
Its hot outside right now,,but some thunderstorms are heading in and suppose to cool us down for the week-end. I hope so, as tonight we leave to go to Kalyn's friends cabin for the wedding tomorrow. Kalyn spent the night with me on Wednesday night,,we had fun just sitting by the pond and talking. She went with me to get my haircut yesterday and then we did lunch.
I am taking her to get her hair fixed before we leave town this week-end. She is going to have it put up in a very pretty up-do. I have my camera and tripod ready,,and some of the ideas wrote down on how I want to take pictures of the wedding.

It is going to be outside so I am sure it will be very pretty. Hillary, her friend, and her groom have been together 2 years,,they have a little boy who will be 1 year old next month. He was a accident but a very precious one. Chris has been a very supportive father to be so young,,and both of their parents have been supportive. I think that is the key to their survival and to helping them make this such a wonderful day for them tomorrow.
I am getting fustrated with my lack of skills in getting my blog the way I want it. Kalyn has a blog and I wanted her to show me how to post links and to help me make mine pretty, but we didn't get a chance. I am hoping one day next week she will be able to help me. I have tried a zillion times to post links in my sidebar, but I just can't seem to do it right. But I will keep on until I do it right,,I am not a quitter!
Just going to post a few pics today of my pond and where I love to sit and reflect and meditate.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

A few ATCs




I don't have much to post today.. so I will just post a few ATCs that I just recently completed. Also working on my white chunky book pages. Have to go get my hair cut this morning. Another hot one today,,but rain and storms tonight and tomorrow. My sweet flowers love that rain!

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

My add for Artella!



I am a member of the wonderful art and writing group at Artella! Well recently I took the challenge to create a add for "Artella's inspiring adds". They send you some vintage adds and you re-do them and create adds the inspire creativity. I Love playing around in my Paintshop Pro, and creating digital art. So,,thats what I did with the add. I sent it back to them several weeks ago, and wasn't sure if they were going to publish it or not on the site. Well, I got my news letter today and there it was. I was so excited. This is a great site,,I love the inspiration that I receive at Artellas! I am posting a pic of the original add, then the add that I altered.
Please check out Artellas site,,you will love it!
http://www.artellawordsandart.com/index.html

Hot and Humid, summer in the south!!!


After two days of some pretty good rain(which we really needed) and cooler temps, its heating back up here. Mid 90s by tomorrow and 90% humidity. But thats the way the it is in the south in the summer. It sure took my husband a few years to get use to our lovely southern summers. He moved here from beautiful Washington State. The summers in Washgington were hot,,but not humid,,nor were there alot of bugs. He loves his beer, but learned really quick that you cannot drink much of it in the hot sun here,,lol. Now he just does gatorade and water,lol, and has a couple of beers in the evenings when its cooler. He is a hard worker, and makes our house look so nice. He has built a beautiful sun room on our house. Also numerous flower beds and our pond area. He is a civil engineer during the day and comes home to be a carpenter at nights and week-ends. He has almost finished with our flooring,,he puts extra care on his finishing work. His work is very precise,,he is not a" slap it up and call it good" kind of guy,,he takes his time and makes it look awesome! I feel so lucky to have him as a husband. Our relationship is good and gets stronger every day. Everyone says that he is so skinny,,but he eats and eats and doesn't gain a pound(how lucky,,),,,he has weighed the same for the last 25 years. He is also very strong. He is also a good father! The picture is how he generally looks on the week-ends,,his do-rag on, and paint all over him, or saw dust, spackle, glue, dirt,ect...,,but he cleans up really nice too! He is truly my partner and bestfriend!! I Love you DB!!!

Saturday, June 17, 2006

saturday's news



Another hot day today,,but a good chance of rain by this afternoon,tonite and tomorrow. It has been dry for the past 2 weeks,,having to water the flowers every day. Yesterday was spent doing a little father's day shopping (for a electric razor). Also stopped at Michaels to buy a few things to finish up a scrapbook that I made for the girl across the street for a graduation present. I finished it last night. This girl and my daughter were bestfriends for many years. When we moved in she was 5 years old,,and sat across the street with big eyes looking at all the toys coming out of the moving van,,espeically the girl toys,,lol. I instantly inheritit another daughter. He parents worked alot and an older teen-age sister kept her most of the time until we moved in. She is very pretty,,,she won alot of beauty pageants as a child and teen,,and won a scholarship to college for cheerleading. Its so hard to believe that she is now 18 and heading to college.
I am also making a wedding scrapbook to give the Kalyn's bestfriend who is getting married next week-end. I am taking pictures at the wedding, so I am going to make a mini scrapbook the same size as the one I just made. I really like making scrapbooks. Alot of people who do Rubber stamping have problems with scrapbookers,,,I have never understood that,,as you can use your stamps and make great scrapbooks,,just some kind of dumb taboo.
Any ways,,I am headed up to Moms today,,we are going to do a fabric book swap in one of our groups,,so we may go to walmarts to get some material. I have to go to Big Lots to get another one of those expensive photo albums for the wedding scrapbook($1.99),,lol. I am going to try to post a pic of the scrapbook that I just made. Also a pic of my daughter Kalyn at the river the other day,,,she was showing me a new dance move that she learned,,lol. She was so much fun to be with,,,I had really been missing her. So glad I get to spend the week-end with her next week-end.

Friday, June 16, 2006

Wonderful day yesterday!

Just had to post about what a great time I had yesterday. My daughter Kalyn called the day before. We had not talked for almost a month as I couldnt accept her boyfriend. Well she called and was so excited as she had gotten a job(that was such a happy bit of news for me too). She is going to be working in a Children's clothing store in the mall. She has only had one other job at that was at McDonalds when she was in High School. She is so happy about it too, and said the manager told her that she could have as many hours as she would like. She is also talking about going to College in the fall. It is a community college but they have a great graphic's art program, and she is so talented in setting up web pages. We talked for quite a while, and then she asked me if I would want to go to the river the next day(yesterday). I said of course! So we spend the day at the river,,it was a very hot day with a nice breeze,,we floated the river alot and laid in the sun,,and we talked and talked. It just did my heart and soul so much good! And the good news is she is getting pretty disgusted with her boyfriend. He is actually a grown man with 2 children who is doesn't support because he doesn't like to work. She is getting sick of his laziness,,THANK GOD! So hopefully when she starts making money she will not spend it on him,,I dont' think she will as she has told me of her plans and they don't sound like he is going to be part of them. Also good thing too,,,she is going to be in her bestfriends wedding next saturday. It is going to be at her parents lovely cabin on the river. Her friend asked me to take pictures(no,,I am not a professional wedding photographer,lol) at the wedding. She invited me and Kalyn to spend the friday night before the wedding with her and her mom,,so I am excited about more time with Kalyn.
More good news,,My son also has a job now. He has always wanted to be in law enforcement since he was a little boy. He had a hard time in school,,very smart,,but struggled with attention problems and didn't tolerate the medicines that they gave him for it,,and I didn't like that he had to take them,,the side effects were horrendous. But don't get me started on how they just think that giving kids pills will make it all better,,it don't,,tolerant teachers who are willing to look outside the mold is what helps kids with problems. Any way,,back to the story, Kyle didn't want to go to college for 2 years in order to be a Metro police in Nashville. So he signed up for Armed Guard training, and is working as a Security Guard right now. He is working 10 hours a night, then doing training classes for several hours during the day. Day before yesterday he had pepper spray and taser gun classes. He volunteered to be peppered and tasered. I didn't care for that part and asked him why he would do that. He said "if I am going to have to do that to people, I want to know what it will do to them",,well I felt proud of him for feeling that way. But I dont' care for the tasers,,I know several people have died from them. He told me that there have been studies on why people have died when tasered. He said all of them had very potent drugs in their systems(meth, coke, acid,,etc,,),,which causes what they call Euphoria,,which makes their hearts unstable,, so some how when they are zapped it causes their hearts to stop or skip beats even more. He said that the tasered companys have not ever been sued because of the findings. I still don't like them,,but I guess they are better than bullets.
He is going to go to a Police Academy in the fall in the eastern part of the state for 8 weeks. He will then qualify for positions with smaller city police department, state police , or sheriffs department. I really worry about this career,,, but this is his dream,,and to me its like if he was in the war,,,he is battling the wrong to make our world safer,,so I do feel proud in that aspect. He also says being in law enforcement you can help people,,and that is true. He is a very personable young man and never meets a stranger,,so I could see him a being the type that might could talk someone out of doing something that they would regret.

Whew,,this is a long post,,but I am just so happy,,,it does one good when they feel their off-spring are finally growing up and making better decisions in their life!!!!

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Hummingbirds



My little hummers are sure keeping me busy this year, actually they do every summer. I have 3 big feeders and 3 small feeders in my flower boxes on the porch. They love the little feeders in the boxes as I have alot of petunias in those boxes and they love them. I have to feel the little feeders up every day. So I have to keep a big pitcher of sugar water in the refridgerator at all times.
The hummers are so cute,,but they are also very aggressive and territorial. So funny to watch them fight on the feeders and chase each other. And if their flower box feeders are empty, they will zoom very close to me when I come out to let me know they need refills,,lol. I have a feeder in my bedroom window that I can stand and take pictures of them. I can also sit by the feeders on the porch and take pictures,,they are a little skittish, but I guess they figure if I feed them they can be photogenic sometimes too,,lol.

Fustrated with my blog


For some reason my blog is not cooperating. It will not let me post pictures now. Also the message about cookies and clearing cache keeps popping up. I have done every thing that it tells me to do, but have not been able to load my pictures. Going to try to post a picture in this entry of the picture of Mom and I this past week-end. Hope it works.
Well it did work,,so I am not sure what the problem was on the previous post. Hopefully it will work right now.

Monday, June 12, 2006

Late night monday!

Well its been several days since I last posted. My last post was about the baby birds,,they are getting so big,,it won't be long before they will fly away. Its looking really cramped inside their little quarters.
Mom and I went to our Artiscape on friday,,and what a great time we had. When we got to Jackson, we checked into our hotel and put our luggage and art supplys in the room. Then we headed out to eat lunch and do some shopping. We don't have a Hobby Lobby near us,,so that was one place we wanted to go to in Jackson. First we ate lunch at a really cool diner. The diner was a remake of the 50's diner,,kind of like the one that Fonzi and Richy hung out at. They had so much memoribila on the walls,,just great old pictures of Elvis, James Dean, Marilyn,and on and on. Really cool. Also they had the best chocolate shakes,,the old fashion kind they made in the metal cups.
After that we headed to Hobby Lobby. It was a new store too and really big. Of course they had to have their rubber stamps on sale for half price,,and also their stickers too. Well we racked up on them. After Hobby Lobby we went to Booksamillion bookstore to check out the craft magazines. Got the new Somerset Gallery magazine, and the Paper,Clothe and scissors magazine. Mom got the new Take 10, and Somerset gallery, and the neatest book by Papercrafts. I have got to have it,,going to try to order it online this week-end as they only had one at the store.
After that we went back to the motel to rest for awhile. Then we met several of our stamper friends at the Casey Jones restaurant for dinner. After we got back to the motel we stayed up and did some stamping and read our magazines.
We got to our Art classes at 9 the next morning. There were about 50 of us gals,,and we were revved up to do some creating,,lol. The Jackson Rubberstamp club were the ones who put on the classes every year, and man,,do they bring alot of yummy food. We ate all day long.

The classes were great too. And we had several vendors there. Suzanne Melvin, the owner and creator of Oxford Impressions also did a class, and had all of her stamp sheets there. We have several of her sets and bought even more. I will post pictures of the wonderful art that we created as soon as I can.
We went home saturday afternoon,,stuffed with food, and greatly pleased with the fun we had ,,,also very broke,,lol.
Mom and I have such a wonderful time together,,,so I just have to post a picture of us with our "Tennessee Stampers" shirts on at the classes,, a good friend of ours made the picture.
I Love you Mom,,and I so treasure the fun times we have together and feel so blessed to have you as my bestfriend and partner in Art!

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Our new babies!



I have to show the newest babies at our house. We have been watching 2 blue birds, Mom and Dad, sitting on a nest in the birdhouse in our pond area. We have had the bird house there for several years and it was mainly for decoration as we have alot going on in that area and didn't figure any birdy would habitat the house. Well they did and now we have 3 babies inside of it. So cute!!! I had to take some pics of them this morning. Mom is pretty use to me now,,so she sits in the trees and watches me snap photos. I am going to try to get a pic of her flying in with worms to feed the youngsters,,
I also have a slew of hummingbirds now too. I have 6 feeders and there are battles going on constantly. I will post some pics of them later too.
We are still working on our floors, Daniel took off yesterday and worked all day and night.
We now have the living room and dinining room finished. The hallway is next. It looks like a new house,,and I just love it! So glad I have a hubby who can do chores like this. He is a Civil Engineer,,but was a carpenter for many years before going to college to get his degree. A very talented man, and very good to me!
Mom and I are going to Artiscape III this week-end. It is about 100 miles west of here,,we went last year and loved it. We will be having classes all day on Saturday. We are going on friday so we can meet up with friends on friday night for a nice dinner. Also going to hit the hobby Lobby there. It will be so much fun.

Monday, June 05, 2006

A new week!






Monday,,and its a very pretty one. It got chilly here last night,,but I won't complain, soon it will be so hot that one can't breathe. We have more flooring down now. It is in the dining room now,,and it just makes my house look so pretty,,almost like living in a new house. Mom and I got to spend several days and a couple of nights together. We really made some pretty greeting cards,,sure did enjoy that. I will scan them and post them later. Going to post some pics of some of my Altered CDs that I did for a swap. Its for a "Around the world" swap. I chose China as I had some new Asian stamps to play with.
Now I must run into town for a few. I will post more later.

Friday, June 02, 2006

Refreshing friday!





It is a nice morning today. Another thunderstorm came in late last night,,making way for a cold front. Temps this week-end will only be in the low 80s and less humid. It has been in the 90s all week and miserable,,too early in the summer for those kind of temps. I plan on cleanig the pond out this week-end, playing in the yard,,and help put the new flooring down,,still have hall and dining room to finish.
Just a few garden pics to start the day.

Thursday, June 01, 2006

What kind of Animal I was! Its definetly me!

You Were a Zebra

You tend to see life in black and white - clearly without filters.
You enjoy being part of a group while maintaining your individuality.

The A-Z of Thunderwoman!

accent: Howdy Ya'll (does that give you a hint)

booze:yes,,I partake occasionally

chore I hate:cleaning out cabinets and drawers

dogs/cats: Ranger-a hugh dog in the back 40 who is very old, but still scary, Lady- a very spoiled Rat Terrier who is OCD, and Carl-my good kitty,,the best of the bunch,,lol.
essential eclectronics:my computer, and my digital camera
favorite perfume/cologne:tre'zor
gold/silver:silver(most affordable), but I do wear gold too,,so 50/50
hometown:Nashville, TN- thus the "Howdy Ya'll"
insomnia:off and on
job title:Attendance Officer(use to be called Truancy Officer,,,ugh)
kids:3 spoiled ones -Allison 24, Kyle 21, Kalyn 19
living arrangements:a humble little shack
most admired trait:I am a peacemaker,,hate turmoil, turmoil causes stress, stress sucks
number of sexual partners:whats sex? lol,,
overnight hospital stays:tonsilitus, 2 wrecks, 3 c-sections, gallbladder/appectomy, hysterectomy, broken ankle,,,nothing left now that I can live without.
phobias:snakes and derranged lunatics
quote:"I can see the world tonight, look into the future, see it in a different light, I can see the world tonight- Paul McCartney
religion: baptised a baptist,,but more of a unitarian now.
siblings:5 brothers(3 are stepbros)
time I usually wake up:6 a.m-but when I am off in the summer I force myself to stay in bed till 7:00 a.m.
unusual talent:I can reach high places because I have long legs,,does that count?
vegetable I refuse to eat:not to fond of artichokes-is that a veggie?
worst habit:smoke and eat too much,,but trying to control both,,lol
x-rays:way to many to count,,I probably glow
yummy foods I make:uh,,not much of a cook,,grilled steaks?
zodiac sign:Aquarius-which is definetly me as I am a water lover

God's art show!



Last night I sat on my front steps and watched a Thunderstorm move slowly towards me. I am one of those people who truly love Thunderstorms! The light show is so awesome,,its like its just for me. And the power in the lightening strikes and the roar of the thunder,,it really does something inside of me. Sometimes its like how my life feels,,stormy. Sometimes it shows me just how much beauty there is in my life.
The breeze and the bending of the trees like they are bowing down to this mighty force that is heading our way. And after a hot and humid day,,I sit on my steps,,feeling so refreshed,,and Thanking my God for this wonderful show of his mighty art!

(picture is from webshots,,but I wish I had taken it)