What a weekend!

I was busy, busy, busy!  Friday night Jim, Timmy and I took Bella to her Family Fall Fun Festival at school.  Michelle spearheads the campaign and she worked very hard at it.  All of the proceeds go to Make A Wish and her goal was to raise more money this year than last when they raised about $800.  Well this year's total was $1,800.  Way to go Michelle!  Anyway, Bella had a great time. 

We got home about 8:00 and waited for Beth and Jeff to arrive from Ohio.  They were going to stay with us for the weekend while we all attended the wedding of Julia and Bryan.  I guess they arrived around 9:00 or so-Bella was still up!  We sat around and chatted for a while before turning in.  Saturday it was all about the wedding preperations.  Bella got her hair done because I didn't want to mess with it and it looked beautiful!  She was sooo excited!  We got to the church and when Claire & John and the kids walked in all Bella wanted to do was go sit with Gigi.  Jacque came up from Florida, so the whole "A Team" was there.  We had such a good time.  The wedding was just beautiful and Julia and Bryan are walking on the moon!! Sunday, Kathy had a brunch and invited us all, Beth had to drop Jeff at the airport and didn't make it, but everyone else was there.  Never enough time though.  Living near to each other for so long and having no family around us, we became each others' families in a sense.  I don't think that any of us took that for granted and now when we have an opportunity to get together the time just flies! 

When I got home from the brunch the first thing on my agenda was a nap!  Boy, do I feel old.  Ha!  Anyway, such a wonderful weekend with new memories to share.    Here are a few photos.

Less Words Wednesday

These Eyes

Such beautiful, big, brown eyes.  So expressive.  They are just a hint of the beauty that lies within. 

Have I mentioned that I love this girl? 

Been away...

From my computer and haven't had time to post.  It rained all weekend here!  Just as we began to think about making a trip to Home Depot to stock up on some wood, the rain stopped.  But, it was a good excuse for staying inside as much as possible.  Jim and I took in a show at the Weinburg Center on Saturday, after we had dinner at the Green Turtle.  We choose that place because it was the closest to the parking deck, so less rain to walk through.  I wasn't impressed.  But the show was very enjoyable.  It was Jim's choice and it was a Bluegrass group called Seldom Seen and another group that opened.  The opening act played for an hour and a half and then the Seldom Seen played for nearly the same, so it was a long night. 

Slept in Sunday and woke up at 9:30, which has got to be a first for me!  It felt good though.  I spent the remainder of the day in the Scrapatorium and got some more work done.  In total, 2 sets of cards, 4 shopping bags, 2 clothespins, a clipboard and covered some Tic Tac's too.  Here's a peek.

My Open House will be on Saturday, November 21st beginning at 1:00, so if you are in the area please stop by! 

Thanks for stopping by!

What happened to Fall?

It seems like just yesterday I was enjoying the beautiful fall weather that we have been enjoying.  Oh yeah, it was!  Okay not yesterday but surely last weekend.  Almost overnight the weather has changed and it is beginning to feel more like winter than fall.  This morning the thermometerr read 38!  It has been raining since yesterday, today is a miserable, gloomy day and the forecast is calling for rain all weekend.  I guess I can say good bye to the brightly colored leaves of fall. 

More importantly to me, anyway  is the efffect that this type of weather has on me and my functionality.  I can tell you this, it isn't prettty!  My hands and feet swell up, my grip becomes increasingly difficult to open-the myotonia really rears its ugly head.  Yesterday I experienced another new symptom or effect of this disease.  I was at work and during a conversation  with a co-worker the muscles in my neck & throat, including my larynx and trachea tightened up to the point that I was temporarily unable to speak. Can you imagine?  Me!  Unable to speak!  After a momentary panic attack, everything relaxed and I was able to regain my control.  It only lasted seconds really, but it sure felt like longer.  Swallowing has also become a bit more diffiicult.  Perhaps it will  help me to loose weight-one can only hope!  Overall, moving in general has become more difficult.  I sometims walk like a 90 year old woman.  Like I said, it isn't pretty-but it's me! 

(Remember Georgette from Oliver & Company?)

So that is my current tale of woe.  Overall, it doesn't change the way I live much.  Sometimes I do opt out of family activities, I might take the elevator at work as opposed to the stairs, and I might take advantage of the handicaped parking spaces when running (or waking in my case) errands.  I do have a Handicaped Parking tag for my car, but I don't always use it.  Which brings up a good point, just because you can't see  a peersons' handicap doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.  To the outside, I may look like just another middle aged woman, I don't use a cane, I'm not in a wheelchair and my disability isn't always aparant.  I have had my share of dirty looks and snide comments about parking in the marked spots and quite frankly it is not necessary. Be compassionate, be caring, be open minded, be kind.  Kindness maters.   Often we are too concerned with our own lives and our own problems to take notice of others' or to be quick to judge.  I know  that I am guilty of that at times.  I try not to be, but it happens.  But I am also helpful and I try to be kind not just to my family and friends but to strangers as well.  So, I challenge you all to do something nice, something unexpected for another person this week.  I will.  Tell me what you did and how that person reacted, I'd love to know.  It doesn't have to be a grand gesture, anything will do. 

I'll leave it at that.  Have a great weekend, be kind, enjoy your family & friends, take time for yourself, count your blessings and remember to thank God for all of those blessings!

See you next week!!

Less Words Wednesday

Not quite a 'Wordless Wednesday'.  This is a picture of my darling Bella in her Halloween costume for this year.  In breaking with tradition of dressing as an animal, (Zebra, chick, puppy, monkey) she has decided to be Bat Girl.  This is her "I'm gonna save the World!" pose.  Who knows where she gets this stuff, she's never even seen a Batman/girl show!

Weekend Recap

My Weekend was busy, really, well sort of. Friday found me at home all day on the couch feeling yucky. Nothing specific, just feeling lousy. I stayed home from work and went to the dr. just to be safe-diagnosis: virus. So, Friday was wholly undproductive. Then on Saturday I woke up feeling somewhat better, but I knew that I had a full plate so I had to get moving. I went to Toys R' Us to pick up a Christmas gift for Bella and then drop it off at my neighbors' house so that she could hide it. Ran a few more errands and returned home to do a quick cleaning. Around lunchtime, Andy & Durinda arrived and we began preparing for the evening's event-a Surprise 70th birthday party for Andy. Durinda was worried that he knew, but he was clueless. Here's the proof:

So, that was my Saturday, it was a lot of fun and Durinda pulled off the perfect surprise!  On Sunday, I never

even made it out of my P.J.s!  It was one of those days, the temperature dipped way down and I was still not feeling great, so I just stayed comfy.  I decided to have a go at cleaning my room and I really made quite a good showing at it.  I was able to really get a lot accomplished and after I finished cleaning, I was able to work in there for a while too!  Great day!  So now, I'd like to give you a tour of my Scrapatorium.  It is small-6' x 11' approximately.  It is right off the garage and used to be our mud room, but I took it over about a year ago as my own.  So, this is the view coming in the door from the garage:

As you can see it is painted a nice cheery pink.  (Pink makes me happy!)  I had the rub on over the desk made for me by Uppercase Living and I love it!  The desk and hutch top came from Office Max and is part of the Christopher Lowell collection designed for small spaces.  I have my Glimmer Mist and Stickles hanging on the back, they are attached to with velcro tape. 

This is looking from my desk towards the back of the room where a closet once was.  I removed the doors and put my cubbies in there, giving me lots of storage space.  The inside of the closet is painted a cream color and the shelves and the wall space in between are painted brown.  I have white baskets lined with a pink and green fabric sitting on the first shelf.  They are labeled and hold things like adhesives, rub-ons, punches, etc.  It is somewhat difficult to see, but on top of the cubbies sits a small DVD player with a TV sitting on top of it.  (Watching Golden Girls when the photo was taken!)  I left the coat rod in there and created a Clip It Up style of thing and hang some of larger embellishments there.

This bookcase sits next to the closet opening, behind my desk.  I can just reach back and grab whatever I need.  I keep my ribbons in the basked on the top shelf.  The boxes hold things like bags for cards and crafts, QK foam, foam stamps, etc.  In the small drawer unit with the green/pink drawers I have my stamp inks, and stamp accessories.  On the third shelf, I keep my Studio G stamps in the green binders (there are 2 of them) and next to that are pads of Basic Grey 6 x 6 paper for card making.  There are also idea books, files and all kinds of stuff. 

Finally, this is the view from the closet facing the doors.  The door on the left leads to the garage and the one on the right goes into the hallway and the kitchen.  The back wall holds my MM Embellishment Center and an old VCR Tape rack we had that fits perfectly.  I have all of my QK 2 x 2 fonts on that, as well as my markers, Primas and a Card box.  And finally, my DVD collection.  I like to put on old TV shows while I crop.  Between the door and my desk is a small 2-shelf unit that holds my border punches, embossing gun, some of my most used Revolution Dies and Spellbinders and on top of it is my 8.5" x 11" cardstock. 

So, there you have it!  It's small, but it's mine!  Now maybe I can get some scrapping done!

Wordless Wednesday

She gives my heart wings! :)