Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Hump Day!

And just getting around to my weekend update!  It was a busy one, but did you really expect anything less?
Friday night Michelle and I had a date to see a concert over at the Fair.  Lonestar was opening for Rodney Atkins.  We had seen Lonestar before, back before they lost their lead singer and we had really loved them.  We haven't heard anything from them since Richie left and they recruited a new lead singe, so we didn't know what to expect.  We were not dissapointed.  They were great!  They rocked to the old songs and played some new ones as well.  They only played for about 45 minutes though, but it was a good solid 45 minutes of song.
Lonestar
Then Rodney Atkins took the stage.  He was really great!  It was a terrific show.  He really interacted with the audience.  Right after he sang 'I've Been Watching You', a little boy moved up to the stage and gave him a hat to sign, he held it up and the audience saw that it was a  Colts hat and some started to Boo.  (Colts are not well liked in the Baltimore area anymore!)  Rodney put his hand up and motioned for everyone to stop & said 'He's a little kid, y'all'.  Then the kids mom yelled that it was his dad's hat & he had just returned from Afghanistan, that got a big round of applause and Rodney talked about  how this is what its all about and got on one knee and whispered to the boy and then the two of them sang the chorus of the song together for the little boys' daddy.  It was very touching and got a standing ovation.  Then the little boy j ust looked up at Rodney and said with tears in his eyes 'I'm happy my Daddy's home'.
You had to have ice running through your veins not to be moved by that!  He and his family got a meet and greet with Rodney after the concert. 

On to Saturday.  We took Bella out to get costume for Halloween.  Thought that wouldn't take too long.  WRONG!  She had to try on every costume in her size before deciding on which one she wanted.  She'd try two on and say I like this one better than that one, but I'm still looking.  Then she'd try on two more and so on until we had tried on every one.  It took 90 minutes to pick out her costume and thats only because they ran out of costumes in her size or it would have taken longer! 
Then we had a few more errands to take care of and before you know it it was five o'clock and we were just getting back home.  Time for Michelle and I to get ready and head back over to he fair grounds.  This time to see Danny Gokey and Craig Morgan.  I hadn't really heard of Danny Gokey before other than the fact that he was a runner up on American Idol and didn't know what to expect, but I really enjoyed him.  Again, he was the opening act and was on for only about 45 minutes, but I really liked him and would get his CD.  He signed autographs after the show and the line for his booth was crazy!!

Craig Morgan, well what can I say?  He was super!  Just great!  And cute?  Woo-weee!  It was a great night of music.

Craig Morgan

You might think that was enough to fill my weekend, but no.  Not me!  We had more planned. 
Sunday morning we woke early, got dressed and drove over to a local farm and joined in with our favorite radio DJ for a 5K.  Me, Michelle and Isabella were on JessWright's SNARKY Team.  SNARKY stands for Seriously Not About Running 5K's Y'all!  We walked!  But it was still a 5K and it was a cross country one to boot.  The terraine was rough with lots of hills and uneven terraine, but I did it!  We all did.  And in doing so helped to raise over $10K for St. Jude's Hospital.  How's that for some serious $$? 
Course, I was pretty much done after t hat.  Went home and rested then did a bit of house work, and made dinner and after dinner I lay down on the couch and fell asleep-for 2 hours! 
Monday morning when I got up, I felt it all over again.  Every bump, every hill, every step I took.  Again, and again and again.  UGH!
Since then, I've been busy at work and at home.  Had our photos done yesterday for the church directory and then took Bella to dance.  Running, you know the usual. 
Friday is the wedding.  Looking forward to that. 
Till the next time!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Craftiness Happens!

It takes some time, but I can eventually get to it.  I have been invited to participate in a Card Shower for a friends' 80th birthday.  Everyone has been asked to send her a card for her birthday in the hope that she will receive 80 cards for her 80 years, I love that idea.  Anyway, I will be doing my part.  Here i the card that I have made for her:
Happy Birthday Dear Friend
Next up, another birthday card for another friend, I won't divuldge her age just in case she is reading.
Here is a sneak peak:

Sorry the image is so bad, had a difficult time photographing cards last night.
Both are made with Papertreys Delightful Dahlia Stamp Set and Papertrey Cardstock and ribbon.

 I also worked on waterbottle labels for the upcoming wedding.  I came up with four different designs for the bride to choose from, she liked them all so I used all of them.  Labeled 2 cases of water last night, here is a sample of each label.  (Click on the picture for a close up view.)


I also had to make 30 more favor tags for her and I was able to get them all cut out.  Hopefully this evening I'll be able to get the stamping done on them.  If not all, then at least some.  Feeling the pressure now!
That's it for today. 
Happy Hump Day!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Back with the Weekend Roundup!

We had another  busy weekend, but it was a good one.  On Saturday morning, Michelle, Bella and I went down to Bella's dance studio to help out with their yard sale.  The proceeds were to go towards The Company of which Bella is a part.  We had donated a bunch of stuff to it and we had volunteered to work a two hour shift.  It wasn't too busy, so we will be anxious to hear what th final tally was.  The money will go towards entrance fees for the different competitions that the girls will be part of.  They will also do various fundraisers to help off set the cost of the costumes, but those are more directed fundraisers.  Meaning that if the company decides to do a fundraiser selling cookies for example, then each girl will sell them and whatever each girl raises individually will go toward their personnal costs.  Every little bit helps as the costume cost really add up!
Afterwards we went home and rested for a bit and then I headed to my craft room to work on some more wedding stuff.  I am just about finished and I'll hopefully have some pictures to show you all soon.  The wedding is a mere two weeks away and the tensions are beginning to run high!  Bella is so excited though, she can't wait to get all dressed up and walk down the aisle for her 'Aunt Brookie'. 
The Frederick Fair
After church on Sunday we all headed out for the Frederick Fair.  This is a big event in our small town, the kids even get a day off school each year for it.  It is an agricultural fair with lots of animals, farm goods, contests, shows, food and rides.  Bella was very excited to see the Birthing Tent.  We got there shortly after a pig had given birth to 7 piglets, they were so cute!  She was fascinated.  Then we saw a calf and Bella noticed that it still had the umbilical cord on it and said that it must have just been born because she could see where it had been attached to its Mommy.  She was able to pet the calf and it was so soft, she just loved it and wanted to take it home.  Ha!  There was also a baby sheep.
Pigs
Bella and Calf
Lamb
We also let her go on some of the rides and she again showed that fearless side.  No more kiddie rides for her!  She wanted nothing to do with them.  She rode a roller coaster, the Whip, the Scrambler, the Swing, she was non stop laughter!  She'd get off and say 'I wanna do it again!'  She had so much fun. 
We finished the day up with some ice cream for her and she was one happy little girl. 
She gets to go back on Thursday with school but only to see the animals, no rides this time. 
Our little country girl!
What fun!

I must say though, we got home after several hours and I lay down on the couch and before I knew it I was out!  That's right, just nodded right off to sleep.  I have realized something, I am not nearly as young as I used to be.  Ha! 

Monday, September 20, 2010

Just Dropping In,

With a quick post.  Just had to show you this picture of Isabella's doll house:

Do you anything funny?  One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong...
That's right-my telephone!  It is turned around with the buttons facing inward, but it is the phone in her dollhouse.  Guess she was afraid of missing a call while she was playing.  I can see trouble brewing.
Be back later!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Too Good Not To Share!

Too Good Not to Share

I just read on Steals and Deals that you can get one of three different baking dishes for FREE from One Kings Lane (just pay shipping - $7.95).
Here's how it works: when you sign up for One Kings Lane, you get a credit for $15. You can then use that on the Bia Cordon Bleu bakers. This ends on Saturday.
It comes in a bright cheery red too.  It would also make a great Christmas gift. 
One Kings Lane is also running a promo that when you refer someone, you each get a $15 credit!
I love stuff like this. :)
Happy shopping.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

The Invasion Has Begun!

UGH!  I am not kidding when I tell you that we are being invaded.  It is terrible, horrible, ugly and it smells bad too.  What is this invasion I am speaking of?  The dreaded 'stink bug'. 
Now, many of you may be fortunate enough not to know about these despicable creatures.  Count yourselves lucky.  They are heinous!  Truly.  They are one of the worst insects if not the worst that I have crossed paths with.  And they have truly invaded my world.  Up until a few years ago I too, had never heard of a stink bug.  Then these dasterdly creatures started appearing on my windows and doors.  Soon they made their way inside my home and we found them on the inside of the windows and doors, on the floors and curtains, on the fireplace, they were everywhere.  It got to where you couldn't walk out of the house without the fear of one flying into your hair.  And if you swat them, heaven help you!  Because if you swat them, or pick them up, or scare them in any way, they defend themselves the only way they know how-they emit a knoxious odor.  It is horrible and it lingers for a loooooooooongggggggg time.  
The very worst thing about these horrible bugs is that they are very difficult to kill!  They have a hard shell that protects them and regular pesticides have a difficult time permiating that shell.  Truly they are horrible! 
Did I mention that I hate these things?
Bella who likes most creatures, even snakes is terrified of the things.  The other day she was outside playing and we heard this ear piercing scream, followed by her cry.  Michelle jumped up and ran to her to find out what was wrong only to find out that a stink bug had flown into her hair.  The tears were rolling down her cheeks and she was just shaking.  Poor thing!  They are really awful.
Even at my work they are causing a ruckus.  We are on the 2nd and 3rd floor and our windows don't open and still we have stink bugs in our work space.  They get in everywhere!  It takes practically the whole year to get rid of them and by the time you do, they are back again!  It's so bad, I've dedicated almost an entire blog post to the nasty things.  Enough of that.

So last night after I got home from work I had a burst of energy.  Because of said stink bugs lying dead around my house I decided to vaccum.  The entire house.  When I got to Michelle's room I saw that she had taken down her curtains and washed them but hadn't gotten them back up.  She had to work a long day yesterday, so I put her curtains back up, made her bed, and straightened up her room for her.  Then I put away some laundry, did some ironing, cleaned the bathroom and scrubbed the kitchen floor.  While doing the floor I took the vent cover off to clean under it and looked down the vent and it was filled with-you guessed it-stink bugs!  I told you they are everywhere!  So, I cleaned out the vents too.  Then I pretty much dropped because I was pooped. 

That was about it for me last night.  No craftiness, nothing more exciting than cleaning.  How about you?

Monday, September 13, 2010

Weekend Review

Had a great weekend!  It felt like a normal weekend for a change, don't know why that is but I'll take it.  Saturday morning we took Bella to a class that was sponsored by the parks and rec department and held at Rose Hill Manor in town.  The class was titled 'For the Birds' and it was about identfying birds and seemed right up Bella's alley as she just loves to watch the birds.  Having it at Rose  Hill Manor was an added bonus as that is the Hisoric Mansion of the state's first govenor and is a beautiful setting.  She had a lot of fun, met some new friends and even got to paint a bird house to take  home.
It was an absolutely beautiful day-the weather was just perfect!

Next we went to the scrapbook store and took advantage of some of the pre-closing sale.  Everything in the store was 25% off and some of the prices had been reduced.  Even the fixtures were for sale.  We didn't get there until close to 11:00 and the store opened at 10:00 and by then most of theBazzil cardstock was gone!  One woman bought over 600 sheets of paper!  (I heard her counting it.)  Anyway, I got some good bargains and then headed home. 
The big news is that I finally got to do some work in my craft room!  It feels like its bee so long since I've been able to spend any time in there and it was so good just to get something done.  So what did I do?  Well, I finished all the favor tags for the wedding that I am working on as well as the chair signs.  Here they are:
Front and Back
All packaged up and ready to go!
The wedding colors are Ivory,Chocolate Brown and Avacodo.  You can't see it in the picture, but the wooden signs have a bit of a shimmer to them and beneath the brown there is a very thin line of gold paint.
Here you an see it a little better.

I also made a few cards:
And that was about then end of my craftiness for the weekend, then I went to bed.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

A New Look

Decided I needed a new look for Fall.  What do you think?  Woke up this morning and the temperature had dropped by more than 20 degrees, so it seemed like an appropriate time.   I'm really not so good at this and when I add an element and put it somewhere I want it to go and it doesn't wind up there, I loose it.  Don't have very much patience with this kind of stuff.  Well, who am I kidding?  I don't have a whole lot of patience with a whole lot of stuff!  Ha!  Not my specialty that's for sure.  Anyway, got it up and in Fall colors, so that's what I was going for overall...

Found out what the stomach ache was all about.  After spending several hours in Immediate Care in severe pain, barely able to walk they decided that they are pretty sure that it is diverticulitus.  Pretty sure.  That's confidence inspiring.  Better than don't know, but still.  So, I was prescribed two antibiotics to treat the infection.  Hopefully that will take care of it, but gotta tell you-feeling pretty rough.  Again, these type of problems are not uncommon among MMD  patients, but sometimes it feels like I just get it all.  Enough already!  So last night after work I dropped off my prescriptions, stopped and picked up Bella from school and then went back and got the scripts.  Since both Michelle and Jim were closing, it was just Bella and I fo dinne and I wasn't much up to eating so I stopped at McD's for Bella, got he a Happy Meal and off we went on home.  She got a little Madame Alexander doll of Alice inWondeland in the Happy Meal and she asked who it was and I told her.  She was playing with the doll and kept calling her 'Allison' and I corrected her and told her that her name was Alice in Wonderland. She said that she thought that IN was a pretty silly middle name and she was going to give her a nickname.  When asked what the nickname was going to be?  "Allison"
OK.  Just so we're clear on the whole name thing.

Gotta love her.

And in other news, out local Scrapbook store is closing its doors.  Sad.  The owners have been trying to sell for about a year now and have not been able to find a buyer and with their lease coming up for renewal, they have decided not to renew.  They both  have young children and want to focus on their families needs, something that I understand truly.  But I will miss having them there.  They were a great source, particulary when I didn't want to go to the big box stores.  I liked working with the smaller stores too, but I do understand how difficult it must be to compete.  Still....sigh.




Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Playin' Catch Up!

I fee like that is what I am always doing!  Where does the time go?  A three day week end was not nearly enough time, but it was a start.  What I need is a three day work week and a four day week end every week. 
I decided to stay close to home over the holiday weekend and try to get something done.  Anything really.  Jim had to work both Saturda and Sunday, so it was a great opportunity for me to get to work.  Bella's dance classes have been moved from Saturday mornings to Tuesday and Thursday evenings, so our Saturdays are a bit more open now.  Being as this was the first Saturday though, we headed to Home Depot for their monthly project.  If you have kids and have never been there, I strongly encourage you to go.  Check your local Home Depot, but most of them do it on the first Saturday of the month.  They offer free Kids Workshops at many of the stores and they are great!  The children get all the pieces they need to make a craft, a child sized Home Depot apron, a certficate and a pin for their apron for each workshop that they complete.  A different one is offered each month and Bella just loves to go!  This month the workshop was a football table or stand..  (Bella choose the table.)
The finished product!
After we finished we ran a bunch of errands and finally made it back home. 
I was asked to help Michelle's best friend with some of the preparations for her upcoming wedding, so I decided it was time to get down to work on it.  She has asked me to do the favor tags, programs, name cards for the tables, a Mr & Mrs sign for the bride & groom's chair and a memorial bi-fold frame.  There are to be approximately 150 guests at the wedding, so its a lot of paper work!  The name cards look similar to this:
But in the colors of the wedding of course, but it is a lot of steps when making 150 of them, but I got that part done.  The favor tags with match the leaf in the small circle pictured above, and I've gotten those cut out, but haven't done the veining yet.  Good start anyway.

Monday was an absolutely beautiful day!  Perfect weather and Jim wanted to gt up and go. Unfortunately, my get up and go got up and went.  I was pooped and just not feeling well.  Tummy problems.  So he took Bella and Michelle and the went to the zoo.  They had fun and celebrated the last day of summer!

Hope you all enjoyed a great few days! 
I'll be back soon with more pictures and some crafty ones too!
P.S.  Bella ended the weekend by loosing yet another tooth!  She has now lost a total of seven-one way or another! Ha!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Jerry and Me

I'm a fan of Jerry Lewis.  Yes, I admit it.  I loved all of those old comedies like "The Nutty Professor", "At War With the Army" and "The Errand Boy".  He cracked me up!  But more than making me laugh, I have always admired him for his tireless efforts on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  Ironic, Huh.


When I was a kid, my brothers and sister and I I would often stay up all night and watch the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon.  We cheered him on as the tote boards rolled out the new high numbers.  (In those days the numbers actually kind of rolled!)  We challenged each other to stay up all night, to see each act as they came on stage and to hear each story, each tale, each heroic act, and see Jerry tear up with each donation given in honor of 'his' kids.  We did our best to raise money and to make our donations when we could.  We didn't know why Jerry was so dedicated to this cause, but it didn't really matter, he was and we watched.  It was a Labor Day Tradition, and it continues to be one.  

I had no way of knowing then that I would come to know the MDA in such an intimate way.  No way of knowing that  Muscular Dystrophy would have an affect on my life in the way that it does today.  Who would have guessed it?  Often when I tell people that I have Muscular Dystrophy they are surprised, often shocked.  I am not what they 'expect' of someone with the disease.  For one, because I walk on my own accrd and for another because I am female.  Something that I didn't know is that many people associate MD as a 'male' disease.  Well, I am  here to tell you - it can and does affect both male and female members of the population!

*myotonia*Steinerts*genes*Chromosone 3*Limb muscles*ptosis*MMD2*CPAP*distal muscles*mexilitine* EKG*Provigil*cataracts*alleals*diabetes*electromyogram*EMG*muscle biopsy*degenerative*progressive*auto-somonal*weakness*slurred speach*cardiac arrythmia*

A few yeas ago these were just word to me, now they have a whole greater meaning.  With Labor Day right around the corner I wanted to take a moment to remind you to take a moment and be grateful.  For your health, for your family, for your job, for whatever.  I have much to be grateful for and I try to remember that daily.  I'd also like to ask that if you are so inclined, please make donation to the MDA this weekend, every bit helps to do so much.  The research that is going on daily is amazing and I am convinced that a cure will be found and soon!  There are so many different types of neuromuscular diseases that are helped by the MDA, your dollars can do so much.  I urge you to take a few minutes and go to the website and see what is being done-you will be amazed! 

And that is the end of my public service announcement.  On to our regularly scheduled programming. 
Have a safe and happy Labor Day!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

I'm Tired

I know, you've heard it before.  But it bears repeating.  I am tired.  Bone tired, weary.  Exhausted.

                * I am tired of being tired.
                * I am tired of being sick.
                * I am tired of feeling out of control.
                * I am tired of taking pills (prescribed).
                * I am tired of giving up part of each day to naps.
                * I am tired of feeling helpless...

But I am not without HOPE.

               * I have Hope for a cure.
               * I have Hope for patience.
               * I have Hope that my suffering will help to alleviete anothers.
               * I have Hope that the Drs. continue their research.
               * I have Hope that I will be sustained.
               * I have Hope for understanding.
               * I have Hope for that He will continue to carry me when I am weak.
                                   And HE does.  And HE will.


For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
                                                            Romans 8:24-25