A Post-Holiday Post

These are fun! Played around a bit in Paint Shop Pro while transferring pics to my hard drive. This was a really dark and blurry photo improved a bit by turning it into a snow globe. I used the Circle Geometric Effect. They really ought to call it the Snow Globe effect, and put a base on it, if you ask me. Here's another one, made from a less-than-stellar shot of our front yard:
In the original photo, those pink lights are actually bright red and the blue-ish cast is really blackish-dark and drab. I like the pink and blue better, although Hubs would never go for it. Since I didn't participate in the outdoor decorating this year and had no say in how Hubs did it, I can't really complain about how much I dislike his minimalist approach. (minimalist = lazy) We have so many yard scenes in the garage attic, but he bah-humbugged all of them. Since I was in severe pain at the time he put the lights up, however, fighting with him about it wasn't something I was up for. So, I guess I'll have to be happy doing it more my way in pictures, LOL. NEXT YEAR.....

Well, how did everyone's Christmas Day turn out? Ours went well, but we were all worn out by the time we got back from festivities with Hub's family. I promptly fell asleep on the couch, as did Hubs. Missy managed to stay up long enough to go to bed early last night, LOL. I called my folks and then took another nap. Woke up again and worked on my photos, and now I am wanting to get a bit more shut-eye. But I knew I needed to get back on the blogging trail, so I thought I'd pop in and post a few lines first.

I think our weather is to blame for something. In the past 24 hours, it's gone from really cold cold-front dry cold, to stunningly sunny gorgeous and almost spring-like, to London-fog-nasty-chilly. I mean, I hardly ate much of the holiday meal today as we had a Mexican food theme (really odd, if you ask me, but Hub's sisters wanted to try it). So I know for sure that tryptofan (that turkey chemical) is not to blame for my grogginess. I suspect it's a combination of the weather, my health, and holiday stress. I guess I'll just have to sleep it off.

I ended up going to the doctor last Thursday about my ear, and it turned out I have a massive ear infection! No pain, still, so can you believe? I got a shot, and then scripts for an antibiotic and ear drops. The pills are huge and I only got 5 of them because they are Levaquin, really strong stuff. They were $6 a piece! They made me feel horrible, too, so for the first couple of days I was miserable.

Bottom line though is that my ear is still plugged up. Totally, completely. So now I have to make an appointment with an ENT specialist and just hope it's hard wax and not hearing loss and nerve damage causing my problem. Stay tuned...

Hubs and Missy are going to brave the after-sales later on, but I seriously cannot think of another thing I want to buy, and certainly nothing that I need. Santa was that good to me this year, after literally years of crap in that department. I so cannot complain.

Among my many new goodies are a Cricut and 4 cartridges, a Cuttlebug and some new embossing folders, a Bind-It-All, an Epson Picturemate photo printer, some ridiculously expensive Privo fur-lined flip-flops, and a Janome sewing machine. Both my parents and my in-laws conspired together with Hubs and Missy to get me some special scrapbooking and card-making equipment, because they wanted to thank me for the gifts I've made family members over the last few years.

It really made me tear up and was a total surprise, except for the Cricut and Cuttlebug, which I found out about at Thanksgiving. You can imagine, after knowing you are getting both of those, then to get all this other, too. I'm going to be days unboxing and setting up and trying out. And of course I cannot wait!

Frankly, I'm still a bit in shock that I actually got stuff I would love to have but wouldn't necessarily buy for myself. Hubs got money and some big honkin golf clubs (along the Big Bertha line of club, and that's all I know), and Missy got money, her favorite thing in the world to get. So, everyone was probably napping last evening out of sheer pleasure, LOL.

Well, I'm v-e-r-y groggy, so I'll sign off for now. I'm liking the idea of trying to blog a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule, so with any luck I'll be back Friday. I have to get 3 gum-line cavities filled Thursday, so please wish me luck (hate those!)...

Really really quik Update

OMGosh, I can't believe I haven't blogged in almost a week! I'm just so short on time right now with Christmas and having Missy and Hubs both home at once this week. I'm sure anyone reading this is in the same boat or worse, so in case there is one person out there who has even missed me, I'm still alive. Just don't have any time to really explain what's been going down with me right now.

Looks like it might be that way until after Christmas, so I want to wish everyone a Happy Holidays, and I will make sure I get a good blog entry in sometime next week, after the Big Day on Tuesday. And I will try to remember everything, because there has not been a dull moment, LOL.

Love, Hugs, and Peace!

The Weird and the Wacky

...is how my week has been so far. Wish I could add Wonderful to that alliteration, but so far that ain't happenin'. I still hold out hope, though, lol.

Our street's Christmas decorations were put up this past weekend by our usual tiny band of resident volunteers. The drive-thru winter wonderland is slowly taking shape. At least I hope it'll be another lit-up year. The neighbors seem to be a bit slow this year in preparations. Lord knows we've been there ourselves. LOL

The arches are really cool to drive under. Of course, not being able to leave your driveway for all the cars on the street almost every night after the 15th or so is not cool, but there's a price to pay for everything, I suppose. We are one of the top 5 spots in town for looking at lights.

***

You know, I do want to make sure that I thank all of you who have continued to read and post a comment or two during my recuperation from my hand pain problem. I really appreciate all the thoughts and concern.

I know it's the time of the year to be thankful, but even if it wasn't I'd still feel the same way, LOL. I am working on leaving everyone comments on your blogs, although it may take a while longer until I am back to my old speed. (I'm embarrassed to say this one little post has taken the better part of 3 hours on and off. My fingers are really out of shape bigtime, LOL).

I won't stop plucking away at it, though, and I hope to be back the way I was before too long. Just know I do read! With a blog addiction like mine, ya have to. LOL Thank goodness my eyes are still working....

***

Life around Casa Miguel is a bit frantic these days, as I'm sure it is at your house, too. Seems I've been doing nothing but ordering stuff online, creating gifts, sleeping, eating, and showering occasionally. Last Friday night I started feeling lousy and so I quickly beefed up my supplement and home remedy intake, as it felt like I was coming down with a cold or the flu. But by Sunday night, I realized that except for a stopped-up ear (that's still stopped up), I was feeling better.

The ear does not hurt at all, but it's pretty frustrating, especially when talking on the phone. I began using these drops I bought at CVS called Debrox a couple of days ago, and at times it almost clears up, but so far not totally at any time. It always goes back to being stopped up.

I guess I'm old-fashioned about this. Since there is no pain, I just don't believe I have an ear infection, but I know they are not always painful. Sigh. Looks like a trip to the doc may be in my near future, darn it. I'm tired of doctor visits. Stoopid ears!

***

I haven't been doing much accounting lately, but I have been having to go to get some continuing professional education. I went to a course in Houston last week and right now I'm taking an online course. This one is not really accounting, but more marketing and customer relations. It's about internet businesses. I have homework, too! So, I was hoping to get your input on a what-if scenario I have to put together. Ya'll are internet customers, right? I'll post my hypothetical scenario in my next blog entry, once I finish thinking it up, LOL. It's about general business practices that foster loyal customers or create angry customers. You know you want to help me by putting in your two cents, right? I think all of us are experts on that subject and could write entire books about it, LOL. Anyway, look for that next time.

***

How do you like my not-so-new Kandinsky framed prints? The Hubster and I finally got them hung last weekend. It only took about 3 years since I bought the prints and had them framed, LOL.

The first obstacle to my hanging them was the cathedral ceiling. It's way up there where I wanted to hang them and Hubs is too damn cheap to buy a ladder for that height (and I haven't been willing to start WWIII over it - and if it wasn't for telescopic handles on my dusters, there would be a huge dirty mess up there because I have no ladder that goes that high up). I usually get stuck doing these kinds of fix-it things on my stuff, so there I was with no solution. Time went on and I forgot the prints until recently when I was cleaning out a closet for Hubs to store some of his clothes and there they were. I then began bugging Hubs to get them hung.

So, he proceeds in his usual bull-in-china-shop fashion when he's irritated about having to do something he doesn't want to do. And, he broke the hanger on the back of the big print. Then he had to fix it. Then we ran out of picture wire. On and on.

Finally! He finally did it! You'd have run screaming if you had to endure being in the room when I was telling him where to hang them. Let's just say it was the Cuban Missile crisis redux. Almost WWIII, but not quite. This time though I was not backing down.

So now I finally have my prints of my favorite artist to admire. I just love them. When I was studying art years ago, I really connected with Kandinsky, for some reason, probably because he loaded his works with color. He's generally considered to be the first modern abstract painter. The big print in the center is the one he himself called his most intricate work, which is why I chose it. The other two I chose because they complimented the big one the best.

I have several of his prints, bought over the years when I could find them, but they are small, 5x7-inches, and since what I love about him best is his use of color, I wanted a big display of it, LOL. So, now that is finally taken care of. Amazing how a great piece of art can lift your spirits by just glancing at it as you walk by...

Oh, see the hanging beaded thing in the foreground of the photo? That's the ceiling fan pulls I beaded. Yup, no tiny little wimpy fan pulls for us. These are so big you actually pay attention to avoid crashing into them because they can bruise a forehead, LOL.

I have an ongoing feud with the Hubs about height-related things, since I'm barely 5'5"" and he's 6'1", and he of course thinks that everything needs to be at his height. Car seats, lights, fan pulls, ladders (argh). The frustrating and unfair thing is that he can always bend down -- hello! -- but I can only stretch up so far. Ya KNOW????? Ugh, men!

***

Lately, I've been inspired by:
Tim Holtz - awesome 12 days of tag creating with his products; if you like his stuff, this series is a keeper, bookmark it!
Nichole Heady - co-owner of Papertrey Ink and also the McGuyver of paper crafting! This woman can do anything with paper, seriously...
Ellen Hutson - if there's a machine or gadget that scrappers oughta have, Ellen's on the case scoping it out. I have learned so much from her about diecut machines and dies, not to mention about stamping and card-making.
Melissa Phillips - omgosh. just. Heaven. {long sigh}

***

Okay, enough. Off to create! Have a great week, I'll probably be back with a post on Friday....

"Put It On and Stay Strong!"

...Now that I have your attention and you're probably going, what the hey??? LOL

Yeah, totally lovin' that quote so much, I made it my blog entry title today. Said by one Jennifer Love Hewitt to all young women out there struggling with body self-esteem issues (that would be 99.9% of them, plus 98% of the rest of us females). Seems that the media had uploaded some candid beach photos of Hewitt in Hawaii on a vacation with her fiance, ones that {gasp} exposed her luscious curves clad in a spandex bikini. Yeah, we know what happens...ya get a few folds because spandex would squeeze folds out of a pencil, ok? People began posting she looked fat. So Love shot back, saying that a size 2 is not fat and that she loves her body. And to those young girls, she advised them to "put on a bikini, put it on and stay strong."

Now there's a great "So There!" moment. Love, welcome to the Kiss-My-Fat-*ss Club. Tyra Banks is the president, of course. You go, ladies! (Gawd, I'd give up taste buds to be a size 2...geez and double geez. What is wrong with people thinkin that is fat?)

Okay, hello everybody, TGI Friday to ya'll!Are ya gettin' hungy looking at all that candy, LOL? I am. This is what we sent Missy for her Finals Care Pkg., along with an encouragement card I made. I got to use the new KI Memories clear stamp I bought just for Missy's pages. (She loves the fleur de lis shape, in any variety.) Anyway, she called us when she got the pkg and was almost in tears of happiness. She must be getting homesick. Oh, as of yesterday, she is back with Diego now. I called my dad and told him, and he just had the best laugh. Yup, that's about all one can do. Better than getting ticked off like the Hubster, who cannot handle change quickly at all. Oh, to be young again, huh?

I made a decision this week. I am probably not going to show many or any more projects I've made for Christmas, in large part because the people I made stuff for may see and guess it's for them. It's another one of those decisions I don't like, but it's the right and best thing to do. I have been trying to decide this for a while and haven't shown several layouts I've made for presents. So, suffice it to say, there is gonna be a shipload of uploads come the New Year, bebe! LOL

I did want to talk about Christmas Planners, though. Better late than never, right? I always love looking in the galleries for the planners scrappers create, and I am forever flirting with jacking one for my own, but I continue to stick with my plain-jane planner I made back in like 1996 (seriously).

Oh, it's plain, plain, plain-o-rama, people. Here, let me show ya. I snapped photos of the sections (and I use them all every year):










Yeah, looks pretty old, huh? I think those are Print Shop graphics from back in the day, lol. But one thing new I added to it this year was sets of new pages for my sections, that I downloaded here, at Organized Christmas.

This website is amazing. 100% recommended, as well as it's sister sites for scrapbooking and household planner. In my opinion, every bit as useful as FlyLady. Check it out.

Well, it's busy here in the beehive, so I'm gonna close now. Have a great weekend, and I'll hopefully have another post on Monday. Namaste!

I'm now a Drug Trial Dropout

Yeah, so I'm a date late posting. Uh-gain. I promised to post Monday and now it's Tuesday @ 6:30. I run late in real life too, friends, so at least you know you're gettin the genuine article. lol

Anyone notice some capital letters being typed out? That's cuz my test appointment got moved up to yesterday (Monday). I got a call Saturday morning from the PA asking me if I could move up my appointment. They do that when they get cancellations around the Holidays. I think they're motivated into thinking if they get lucky, they can move up an entire week of appointments and close the office early or something. I'd think that way if that was my job.

But, oops, I digress. Back to yesterday. Yeah, so of course I went. You know how impatient I've been, just trying to make it until they did those tests. They took some blood first thing, then I went to do those cognitive tests, and that took 3 hours. I was a bit disappointed they didn't give me a Rorschach Test, but I think I had every other one I'd ever seen on TV. I had electrodes with cords stuck on me, blocks I had to manipulate while they timed me, memory tests at 2 different computers, and even some tread milling.

I got released for lunch, and Hubs and I went to a little nearby deli in the medical center somewhere. Then at our appt at 2, they gave me the news that I was officially kicked out of the study. LOL Ok, technically eliminated due to something about my blood levels and because of multiple side effects from the meds. I apologize for not paying enough attention to absorb the exact terminology, but frankly, by the time I had recovered from them having the blood test results back so quickly, my doctor had already gone over the specifics of the disqualification. (Here at my local doc, blood test results take at least one to two days, and well, I was really tired by then and my brain couldn't resist fixating on that boring tidbit.)

I have to admit that I was thrilled to get this news, even though I was in the study to improve my brain function. I just couldn't handle the side effects much longer. And I remain hopeful that those test results will show improvement, so that the whole thing was worth it. I'll find out for sure in about a week.

My last dose of trial meds was Sunday night (I was supposed to lay off the meds on testing day), and its effects have already left my system, thank heavens. I can tell ya though, my fingers are really sore from typing so much at once all on my own without Missy's help, even tho I cannot stop, lol, so I'll have to work my finger fitness back up in order to completely enjoy pain-free.

So, I was there all day and was so pooped out when I got home around 4 that I collapsed on the couch and began snoring loudly a few seconds later. No, literally. The Hubster saw it happen and never hesitates to keep me updated on those kinds of things. Thanks, Big Guy.

It must have been divine intervention that I awoke at exactly 10 to 8, with just enough time to go potty and get the channels on all 3 TV's in the family room, kitchen and my office by the time Heroes season finale started. Total immersion and it was thrilling. I must now try to live a Hero-less existence until the next season starts, bummer.

I was hoping that Claire would reconcile with West, and I was bummed-but-understanding about the allegory involved with Nathan getting bumped off (or did he? ie, NOAH; plus we all thought Peter bit the big one last year, remember?)

And I'm relieved that Noah isn't really dead, because I love seeing him give such a wonderful performance. Lord knows, he, Jack Coleman, the actor who plays Noah, deserves a meaty and prominent role. Poor guy, it wasn't helpful in the long run being the token gay Carrington on Dynasty, although he did a great job. I've missed him, so I love the episodes he's on as Noah.

My fave scene last was the "Hello, Claire-Bear" one, that entire scene with his family, and then leaving with Bob -- awesome! My second-favorite one was when Hiro took Adam into time warp with him and Adam lets go of the virus vial, but Peter runs in and grabs it just as it's fixing to break on the floor. Collective ahhhhs all the way around. Oh and just lovelove where Hiro left Adam, hahahahaha.

Hey, if you *heart* Heroes as I do, here's a great link that explains last night's finale step-by-step, almost like you were actually watching it, lol.

Speaking of Bob, the actor who plays him is named Stephen Tobolowsky. He was a boyhood friend of Hubs and my favorite guitarist, the late great Stevie Ray Vaughn, and he was the lead singer in Vaughn's first rock group, as well as the original first choice to play Al on Home Improvement, but turned it down. IMDB is my friend.....

Anyway, then I had to watch October Road and, you know it, I'm hooked on it again. I have this enormous need now to stick with it til she tells him the kid is his....

Let's see, oh what else. Yup, I have nothing ready to show you. I really need to accept that I should quit promising stuff when I know dang well that something's usually gonna mess those plans up for me. I was a total craft slacker all weekend, mainly due to illness and being exhausted, as well as being a total photo upload skank. I do have photos. Good ones, actually. But they will have to wait until next time, okay? I am seriously woozy still. I got halfway sick this weekend with a stopped up right ear and ridiculously pouring sinuses (I'm either in the throws of a weird cold, or reacting to all the weather changes we've had lately. I think.) I already overdid it all last week staying hyper-determined to do my AEDM's and those cards. (With my arthritis, that was over-doing it. Believe it or not.)

Then, Hubs forced me to go out clubbing with him Saturday night (my arm still hurts from being twisted, lol) and meet up with some friends of ours, and that further wiped me out, especially standing for about 3 hours straight. Had a great time, though and totally glad I went. OK, I'll show a couple of photos of us wild n crazy old-farts at this rock n roll club in Houston:





There are a lot more, but I'll save those for 2008 layouts.

Well, I'm not really in the habit of all this typing with caps, so that's enough for today. I probably should have kept on typing lower case, but oh well. I need to get back into the every day blogging thing again, but it may take me a week to get that frequent. I suspect there will be another post from me by Friday for sure, if not sooner, and this weekend I hope to go visit your blogs and be able to post a comment! Baby steps, but at least I'm able to type again, yay!

It's {still} Friday, and I'm Here!

true that.

it is 9pm my time and almost saturday, but i made it to post, as promised.

note to self: improvement over last time. yay for small accomplishments.

i won't go into what i had to wade through to get here. it's a little too woe-is-me, even for me. just know i was bound and determined to get here.

i didn't even blog last time about my hands and about the trial study drama. i've been trying not to think about it. but, my problems with the meds are still plaguing me, plus some. my toes are also in the same boat. damn, there went my idea to type with my toes, huh? lol but i'm hanging in, counting the days til i get tested (12 to be exact).

oh, and thanks for all the well-wishes and suggests. reading your comments helps me stay connected so much, and i'm really getting tired of only reading and not interacting on a daily basis. so, when i read your comments and emails, it helps me get through this, more than you'll ever know! {{{hugs}}}

i had to giggle at the voice-recognition idea for the blog posts, though. then it made my brain hurt when i thought about having to buy a program and ugh, learn it.

sort of ditto for the video idea, too, although the blame lies 100% with me on that one. i should know how to do that. it's almost 2008, for gawdsakes. and i do have the equipment. alas, i'm able to figure it out after investigating the idea, but only about 2% motivated to actually try. it's on my back burner for a later time, though, cuz occasional video blogging does seem pretty neat and intriguing...

oh, and thanks for putting up with the lower-case. hopefully, just a couple more weeks...

well, without further ado, i've some art to show that I've worked on since last I posted.

i'm linking to my flickr gallery, like last time, because there is more details about each piece posted over there, so it saves my fingers.

my aedm for 11/21 was our potato soup recipe:

the recipe itself is in the flickr description. we like this soup on the first day of a cold front, with some cornbread and a salad.

my aedm for 11/22, 11/23, and 11/24 is the dreamy girl i posted the last time, asking for ideas:

thank you to those who did offer up some. i've had some rhonna farrer autumn leaves stamps for a while that i had no clue how i was gonna use, but this gave me a chance to. you may notice the four stamped phrases surrounding her face. that's all i ended up doing. i could have flourish-stamped the edges all around and more, but i chose to keep it simple. this way, if the notion stays with me to do that, i always can. or not.

do you ever have any art (cards, layouts, journal pages, altered pieces)that you hesitate to finish, and decide not to for awhile? i've been going thru a phase lately where i hesitate to add on everything, fearing i'll ruin it by over-doing it. it's really a bugger to deal with, too. so, if my stuff seems too plain, that's probably why, sheesh! the worst part is, it may also be a wonderful thing. it might be me adjusting, evolving my style. i cannot see it in stone yet, though. so frustrating. the voices need to just tell me what's what and be done with it, ya know? hehehe

my aedm for 11/25 and 11/26 is a birthday card for the hubster's mom:

this card was inspired by a card i saw in my paper crafts magazine for dec/jan (current issue, pg. 36):


my aedm for 11/27 and 11/28 was a birthday i made for the hubster's oldest sister:

this card was also inspired by a card seen on the same page as the first one. lol, why not, they were both cute cards:


and finally, my aedm for 11/29 and 11/30...note to self: this means i actually completed aedm!!! yay for big accomplishments, too.
since i made a dozen of these cards, i decided to make a little photobucket slide show with them all and not clog up my flickr gallery with 7 uploads:

i told you i was going to start a holiday card marathon, and i did. i am trying to continue it through sunday, then see where i stand on how many i've completed. i'm at 28 completed right now. it is so fun! of course, i now wish i'd started in september, or maybe even july.

(note to self...yadayada).

next blog post will be monday, and i promise some cool web site shares, more creations, and a little family 411...

til then, have a great weekend, and leave me some comment love to let me know you stopped by!

TOO MUCH FUN FOR ME

...or so the headline should read. oops, my bad.
Hope no one missed my absence on black friday.
had i a lick of sense, i'd have planned to post today instead of then.

after the holiday weekend.

i'll have to say that this was the best holiday for me in many years. we celebrated with the hubster's family aka my in-laws, as we've done for the last 2-3 years since my parents moved away. we brought our famous corn casserole and our equally delish green bean casserole, with the topping of french's french fried onions. everyone was there, too, so that would be in addition to hubs, me and missy: hub's parents, his brother, 3 sisters, 1 sis-in-law, 2 bros-in-law, and 6 other grandchildren. what is that, 18 people. not one dull moment all day. gawd. why couldn't the previous 19 been this way?

hub's dad recently found out he has lung cancer, so i knew everyone would be on their best behavior, but even i was amazed at how loving everyone was. for hub's family, this is not a normal behavior, lol. they may love deeply, but they don't usually show it. whereas my family over-shows it.

so i was enjoying the atmosphere thursday. only bad things that happened were no ham to eat (bah!) and i should have flat ironed my hair because the nasty wet weather we had turned it into crap. Anyway, i figure if that was all, it was a very good day, and it was indeed.

well, where did i leave off on my art every day thing? i think 11/8's was the last i've shown. so, 11/9's aedm was baking
drop biscuits. i'll just link you to my flickr, where the details are, if there are any.

11/10's aedm was a
green butterfly box that's another little stash box for a niece.

11/11, 11/12, and 11/13's aedm was a
birthday card for my friend cindy.

11/14:
toll house choco-chip cookies. and they were good, too. lol

11/15, 11/16, 11/17's aedm was a little art journal essay
about that christmas cheer.

finally, 11/18, 11/19, 11/20's was another little art essay piece
about my tradition of eating ham instead of turkey on thanksgiving.

oh, i do need your help! this is an art journal piece that i finished up saturday. I haven't offically uploaded to flickr and called it an aedm yet because i don't know if it's finished or not. and, i'd love to know your thoughts or take, etc... some advice, please:



i'm wondering if it needs a title and/or some journaling. i really felt no need to add any (and i suppose that could be my answer, but i'd rather ask your input first). i cut that little girl off some junk mail, because she really looks dreamy, doesn't she? and then i began making a sunburst quilt pattern with paper scraps around her, that being her inner light shining out. and that's really all i wanted to say. so, do you see that just from the art? or do i need to add some words to make that happen? please leave me a comment or email.

that is all i've gotten uploaded so far. there are more because i am actually all caught up on my aedm's. i very much want to be excited about completing the entire month, it is the 26th after all, but that might jinx it so i won't mention it. lol but after what all happened over the weekend and the doctor today and the dentist tomorrow, i need to upload the others later in the week.

sometime during late saturday night / early sunday morning, hub's car tires were slashed. right in the driveway, next to our 2 other cars that were spared. and he says it was unlocked and nothing taken, so we are thinking a teen prank. it's really unsettled me even though i haven't let myself dwell on it too much. where we live is always peaceful and pretty untouched by any crime, so something as petty as this is big trauma.

every couple of years we will have cars broken into or some such, but that's it. lots of folks talk about property crime on a weekly basis. and we could clean out that garage and use it as it's intended. i doubt we'll do one thing different, though.

being hit by crime is just kinda unnerving, like you had to appear nekked in public or something. leaves ya a bit exposed. i plan to do my best to keep thinking of it as random and therefore over until the next time not soon.

now this worked out well for missy who had been campaigning to take her car back to school with her. suddenly it seemed maybe safer for her to do that, so off she left sunday and nobody had to take her. sweet. her insurance will go up again probably, but what else is new. with gasoline costs, it might be cheaper. might.

she got a job at the applebee's near the campus before she came home last week. another reason for needing her wheels back. she's got big plans for making some serious bucks. she knows it's hard work. so we'll see. how better to do that trial and error living otherwise known as growing up.

she was working 40-plus hours a week at the beginning of the semester at the book store (for the rush the first month), working hard, too. and she can always quit if it gets too hard. her advisor in communications (her major is broadcast - radio, tv & film) offered to get her a job operating a camera at the local nbc-affiliate for $7 an hour, but it was right after she'd accepted applebee's, and she's thinking she can make like $10 waitressing.

personally, i think she won't make that, but hey, not my life.

sunday i was stressed and exhausted over the tires and all the homecoming. hubs and i both fell asleep as soon as missy called to say she got to the dorms safely. and today I'm still dragging. so, i'll call this done for now. i'm thinking i will try to post this friday with more art.

i'm planning to start a card crop marathon on wednesday to finish them up and get started getting them mailed off. i did order stamps, but did i order enough? we are heading into that crunch down on christmas, aren't we? dec one is this saturday. ack!

i hope you each have an amazing fruitful week, since saturday will be december one and that means 25 days countdown crunch starts. ack! let's get in gear here, aimes...

Being Naughty

Well, guys, I have been blog-benched by my doctor. Turns out that the trial meds I'm on to re-coat the nerves endings in my brain with myelin (that were lost by the 2 years on the pain meds) have the side effect in my case of causing pain in my fingers if I type constantly for more than a few minutes. SO, I've been faced with having to decide between the meds and typing. Meds that can bring me back to where I used to be, versus typing a blog and freelance writing. Tough choice. Really tough for me, anyway, since I've been growing both this blog and freelancing work doing what I love most.

I finally made the hard decision to go with the meds, for now. I could type through the pain, but it leaves me worthlessly worn out and a real beotch to my loved ones. I'm able to use my hands in paper crafting and in cooking, as well as most of the household chores I regularly do. Even a fair amount of cutting and pasting on the computer, just not the typing. Weird, but hey, weird is how I normally roll, so it figures, just desserts.

I've had this blog for 2 years in January 2008, so I am NOT, NO WAY abandoning it. I plan to post some little something every Friday until the end of the year (which isn't too far off). Missy's agreed to help me do this, so I will still be posting, just once a week. Hopefully, by Jan. 1st I'll have been tested to see if the meds have improved my reflexes enough to warrant taking them longer. I'm scheduled to be tested the week before Christmas.

I apologize for not getting on here sooner to tell you all of this, but the idea of enlisting help with the typing for an entry did not hit me until a few days ago. I called Missy and what you are reading was typed by her as I dictated it to her. She then emailed it to me and I cut n pasted it to the blog. A big thanks to Missy for all of her assistance. Girlie, I owe ya one!

Next Friday I'll show some of the Daily Creatings I've been doing since I last showed my 11/8 daily creative. I need to get started uploading them to Flickr, so I promise to work on that in the meantime. I haven't stopped creating, it's just been taking me longer than the slow-poke time I normally take, LOL.

Finally, thank you to all of you who've commented and emailed to check on me. It has meant so much to me to read just a little note here and there from you. Even though I haven't been able to respond, please know I've read and appreciate them all. Hopefully, by Dec. 1 or close to that, I maybe can cut n paste a message on your blogs. Just know I do visit and read them. I just can't comment on them all. Very frustrating! LOL

Have a great weekend and week, and seeya next Friday!

still puny, but on the slow mend

i'm here, still in lowercase! how are you this morning? i hope everyone had a great weekend.

i followed doctors orders most of the weekend and will need to keep my typing at a minimum for a few more days. i was prescribed muscle relaxers and they've helped keep the hand cramping down, but they don't help with the keyboarding (i know, i tried on saturday morning like a naughty girl). the guess is that my painful hand cramping is being caused by the medication i am taking as part of that study, since it's a known side effect. great, huh? that makes sense. i don't usually get full-blown cramps like i am experiencing, just arthritis pain. the physicians assistant called to check up on me saturday evening, and seems to think it may subside after a while.

at any rate, i won't be able to post more than a tidbit every day, and today's was this explanation, lol. i'll think hard to come up with an interesting short for tomorrow, and of course the daily creative will just have to wait, but i'll make it up. i've been doing a little bit of magazine collaging in my art journal and have been enjoying it. i actually did some creating every single day since my last upload of art.

hope everyone has a great start to the week...till tomorrow! :-)

Out of Commission Today...I'll Be Back on Monday

Yup, my fingers cannot do the walking today. Mega pain, so I am postponing everything for today until Monday, when I promise to feel betters. My doc is calling me in a script that is going to help, but it will take a day or so.

Come back and check in on me Monday. I promise to catch up with visiting your blogs then too. Here's some wishes for good weekends to all of you!

Oops! Edited to add:

I did want to post my Creative Daily AEDM for 11/8, a quick and very simple card I made for another one of my nephew's for his birthday. Loosely inspired by Maria's April sketch #1: Really simple card, that's all I could handle! In these kinds of situations, best to let color rule the day, huh? It helps take up the skill slack, LOL. Laterz!

the details were sketchy, at best....

[[[note to readers: my fingers are feeling their arthritic pain today, so as few shift-key strokes as possible are called for and it's all lower case for me. hope you don't mind. just making the " and the ! etc. are painful today. suck-ville. oh, well, i *will* not let it keep me from writing, since writing to express myself is as essential to me (almost) as breathing...]]]

My AEDM for 11/7
...felt good to get a sketch under my belt again, haven't done one in so long. i did this while watching tv. i'd seen a woman who was laying on her side talking and fighting falling asleep, and it just stuck in my head. I thought the camera angle was interesting...it made her hair seem like it was floating on air, so I kinda exaggerated that in my sketch....

[[[note to file: put a digital frame around the web images of sketches i show in the future. white background axiom #1,445 and all.]]]]

and, i hope you like my sketching. what do you think? it isn't exactly a 30-minute art meal for me, but it is a way for me to get some daily art done. I studied art in college as a minor to my writing/journalism major, back in the ancient day, before changing to the more "practical" discipline of accounting. in my junior year, i had an epiphany of sorts and suddenly became bent on having my degree be something i could count on to financially support me for the rest of my life. that was a wise move because accounting did pay my bills well during my decade as a single career woman, and it has provided me with a lucrative way to work at home for almost 20 years now.

but i never lost my "first loves" of writing and art-ing, and that's why i turned to them, and re-discovered them, when i was diagnosed with the 5 arth's. it's all made me realize that i never chose wrong in college; there's just a time and season for everything. turn, turn, turn, etc.

oh, wanted to give an update on my online shopping credit-due story from earlier: i was credited that shipping amount to my paypal and the order has been shipped. i dodged the bullet on this one, i think. i rarely shop at smaller online stores anymore, and this experience does not help. i do have a cadre of smaller stores that i've bought from for a few years now, having gotten to know their owners and benefit ted from the great customer service that can result. i try to support that. but it's getting harder to. this spring's shipping increases were especially tough on that, but i do still try.

i really ought to share my short list of smaller stores with you, because many of you have expressed fear and trepidation in shopping online, and these places are worthy of your trust. i'll work up a list for tomorrow's blog entry.

well, my nice and cute dishwasher guy jose is here, so i need to wrap this up here and get my supplies out and ready to clean up after he finishes. his work today has been a bit messy, lots of water on my floor from the dishwasher-on-loan when he pulled it out, i guess from the hose. anyway, looks like my floor is getting mopped today, oh joy.

have a great evening!

My Creative-Every-Day for 11/6 was this yummilicious dinner dish:

KING RANCH CHICKEN (ALSO CALLED CHICKEN TORTILLA CASSEROLE)
4 chicken breasts
12 corn tortillas
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes
1 lb. Cheddar cheese, grated
jalepenos or other hot peppers, sliced (optional)

Boil chicken breasts. Cool and debone. Tear into bite-sized pieces; set aside.
Cut tortillas into quarters; set aside.
In a bowl, mix soups, milk, onion and tomatoes. Butter a large baking dish. Put a layer of tortillas in dish bottom, then a layer of the soup mixture, then chicken, and then cheese. Repeat, ending with the cheese on top. Bake uncovered at 300-325F for 45-60 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Serves 4.
The Hubster fried up some extra tortilla quarters in "his" big chicken-fryin' cast iron skillet (seriously, it's his exclusively because he loves it so; I get to touch the small one to make corn bread in). We topped it off with some sour cream, a salad and some guacamole, and called it Texas Heaven. Try it on a chilly evening when you need something to stick to your ribs, as they say. Good comfort food.

I Was RAK'd!
Started out innocently enough. Went by Sherry's blog, noticed her pretty blog banner and left her a comment. Last night, I find an email from her with {gasp} a banner for me! She'd made me one. How sweet is that? Sherry, you rock, seriously! Anyway, what do ya'll think? Isn't it pretty? THANK YOU!!!!! I just love everything about it.

I really admire the talent to scrap digitally. I've been scoping out trying to learn it and I decided yesterday that I need some kind of mentor cuz I suck at figuring out some parts of the software. I'm hoping I can find someone who could answer questions if I get stuck.

I checked out Sherry's gallery at 2peas, and you should see her first digital LO: Go here and leave her some praise...that was her first one and it looks so good, it just amazes me!

http://twopeasinabucket.kaboose.com/layout_images/1248688.jpg
I can only pray that my first digital layout looks 1/4 that good! If I can ever get through one, that is...

Well, it's another hump day. I am really feeling pressure in every area of my life lately. Have you ever felt jazzed and excited about life, yet depressed and dreadful about it, too? (I know, right? You're going "what???") Well, I have been. I think I'm really over-committed again. The Creating Thing every day is bearing down on me like a balloon made of lead. I think I'm going to have to slow it down to only a couple of times a week, because I have to do my Christmas gift-making, that was the deal I made with myself, and I've about run out of things that can be made in a day. Which of the two is more important here? I mean, "uh, sorry little Johnny and Jenny, Auntie Aimes couldn't get your gift finished because I was too busy creating a finished product every day" or "Here, you get a card or journal page, cuz it only took a day to make."

Not. So, you see my dilemma. Yeah, should have never signed up, sorry, Leah. I really thought it could work. I definitely will be creating every single day, but nothing to show for it except for every so often. That challenge is really more suited to art journal pages and such.

Well, great, now I get to feel like a failure for not being able to do it even a whole week. Man, can I ever set myself up? I guess I could try and just do a 30-minute doodle or drawing every day, pure fluff at the busiest time of the year, and call it a therapeutic break. We'll see.

So now, do you see, my attitude blows. Like, nothing to live for, even though that isn't anywhere near the truth. And, I am jazzed about learning digital and scrapping some layouts again the old-fashioned way, too. I'm burned out on cards, though. I needed a break and got a bit of one, but family birthdays are starting up again. Plus the few I make for Christmas. Back to the card factory grind.

I think I just want to be a curmudgeon. Just for that, I'm making chocolate chip cookies today. Oh, and I thought I was going to be gaining some weight (under the it-figures rule of Murphy's Law), but I actually lost 2 pounds. Didn't even walk a lot this past week, either. Must have been the yogurt and cereal. Maybe that Special K ad is correct!

It's In The Mail

Hey. How are you? I'm good. Late and Pissed, but good.


Before I get into my vent as to why I'm pissed, here is my Art-Every-Day for today, 11/5. Another box for another niece (I have 4 of them, just to warn you.)

Okay, for the vent: I just got through placing an order with an online scrapping site (who shall remain nameless for 24 hours, as I give them a chance to right this wrong before dissing them to the world). They put out a free shipping promo and their shopping cart was unable to account for it.

Why do store owner people do that? Don't they realize the blood pressure levels that rise? What ever happened to "a happy customer is a return customer" or "the customer comes first"?

Thing is, this was my first order with this site. I first tried to check out Saturday when the cart kept adding ten bucks of shipping in. I was able to save my cart, and I promptly emailed them to explain and ask for assistance.

Heard from them late today. They sent instructs on what to do to coax the cart to comply. (Say, what?) Oh, brother. Well, I wanted some of that stuff bad, so I did what they said.

I even went the extra mile, deleting cookies, restarting the computer, the whole nine yards. I was beginning to get a migraine and that's not good! Every time I went in Checkout, there was that shipping charge added in.

Finally, I think I just snapped, because I thought, well, I'll just pay with paypal and they can issue me a paypal credit. I was also beginning to get nervous that maybe some of the stuff would be out of stock if I waited. So, I checked out.

Now, I'm waiting to see if they will do the honorable thing and issue me the credit, or if that email promo was a scam, or if all they will do is issue me a store credit. The reason I chose to use paypal is that I'll at least have that avenue to complain to if I'm not compensated fairly. And I did save the promo email.

The site looks normal. Like it's been there a while, and their folder in my email prog has a welcome email from them from March which is when I must have signed up for their newsletter.

I probably should be less irritated about it, but it's really just fear on my part that I'm going to get ripped off. And that might be over-reacting, but honestly, it's also a great example of what goes through a customer's mind and why stores don't get return business when everything else was good to go. I'm hoping it's just stupid programming and techno-clueless ownership. Still, don't force the customer to have to suffer because of either of those. All I'm sayin.....

Now, as to why I'm real late posting this: I actually spent the entire day as if I did not have a blog. Weird, huh? I worked on stuff I needed to do all day long. In the very very back of my mind, the word "blog" did sit, waiting a little too patiently for me to get to her. (Yes, if my thoughts had a gender, they'd be female.)

***Weather Alert on the news right now: Dropping temps tonight! Jacket needed tomorrow....HERE! 39 in Amarillo right now.***

Today (though not in this order), I cooked King Ranch Chicken (recipe tomorrow with photos, ok?), I created stuff, I cleaned in the breakfast nook part of our kitchen (the nook where the table is), paid some bills, did some accounting work-work, and then I did some organizing on my Google Reader subscriptions (I about gasped when I noticed I have close 1,000 of them -- eegads, huh?).

Something else I did was keep the radio on all day instead of the TV, and I have to say that I get lost in what I'm doing more with muzak in the background. This is good and bad. Good, meaning more enjoyable. Bad, meaning less control on time management. When I did turn on the TV to watch Heroes and Journeyman as is my usual schedule, the sound sort of assaulted my ears. Whoa. It was refreshing to not have that TV on all the time.

And now I'm sleepy and still need to shower, so I'll close with something that happened this morning. My friend Vanny, who works by day as an office manager (she's actually a VP but I never call her that lest her head grow to the size of a watermelon, LOL -- you hear that, Vanny?), calls me this morning from her office. She does this a few times a week, but today she was really agitated. She starts in with "Can you believe?" A new girl who works for her called in to take a sick day because she had gotten a "beaver wax" (you can figure out what that is, right?) Saturday morning and it was already stubbly! OMG, I LMAO'd just to think someone would tell their boss that so nonchalantly. Yeah, she did, and said it would just be too painful to get out of bed, so...

Well, you really have to know Vanny, but she was quick to trot on this and told the girl (she's newly hired, remember) she was sympathetic but she would have to connect her to the big boss cuz he had to approve it because everyone was needed at work due to some kind of company files problem. So, the girl was weirded out, but Vanny cut her off and transferred her, telling her boss to just play along. A few minutes later he walks into her office and tells her the girl told him she was sick with a rash and couldn't come in, and then was like, come on, fess up, why in hell did you give her to me? (They're good friends and have worked together for over 20 years.) Vanny gave him the 411, and they were both like, what an idiot we hired. And Vanny asked Jim what would he have done if the girl had repeated the 'real' story to him? Yep, she proceeded to rib him good, and he in turn kept answering that he'd have fired both their butts. She pops back that she just wants to know, is that a legitimate excuse in the company manual for a work absence or not, because she doesn't hunt beaver so she doesn't know? Back and forth. Back and forth. That one will get tease-worthy action for months. I've have margaritas with both of them before, so I could just visualize the conversation perfectly.

I'm tellin' ya, Vanny does not let go once she has sunk her teeth in, but I love her. She's about the closest to a sister I have, outside of my closest and oldest friend Cindy.

Well, let me get off of here while it's still November 5th. Have a great Tuesday, everybody!

Sunday Confessionals

Well, a happy afternoon to ya! LOL Yep, I'm la-a-a-a-z-y today about gettin' on this computer. I've been going strong all day though, just on other things. I needed a break from the Chair.

I have a delish-i-o-so recipe for you today as my daily creative (remember, there's a very wide latitude in the rules for this thing. And I aim to keep 'em that way, tuh-duh-duh! LOL )

This one's called Easy Banana Bread, but don't let the name fool you into thinking that easy means bland or dry, cuz this is neither. The key to it is 3 ripe bananas that are almost trash-worthy. You want to be able to mash them thoroughly with your potato masher or whatever you use. I've been making b-bread for years, and I was told when I began that they need to be that ripe because only then will their flavor fully blend and gell with the other ingredients. There have been a few times that I doubted that and went ahead and made it with bananas that were still edible, well, as peel-and-eat bananas. And the bread was kind of tasteless. So, wait to make this until the time is "ripe".

I took a pic of my bananas before I made this so you could see just how disgusting they look. Not so far gone as to be attracting any insects, I want you to note, LOL, but I personally wouldn't eat them. Then again, I usually give a banana one bruise; any more and we are done, so I might be a nana-wuss, LOL.

Anyway, on with the show: (oh yeah, babe, doncha know, I'm Rachel Ray in 20 years, cough-cough)

INGREDIENTS:
3 large bananas , well mashed
1 egg
1 stick of butter, melted
1 1/2 cup of flour
1 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup nuts, optional (I add chopped walnuts, yum)
PREPARATION:
Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl; put into a well greased loaf pan. Bake at 350° for about 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted in middle comes out clean.

And, voila! I plan to eat on this for breakfast, snack, and dessert, if the mood strikes me. I actually get pretty lazy when it's in the house. That's two of three meals, ok? Cereal works for the third, I mean come ON! ROFL

I will be back tomorrow with a full-fledged episode of Aimeslee's Antics (hey, I smell a blog name change, don't you? LOL) Enjoy the rest of our weekend!

Sumptuous Saturday Sightings

If you promise to come back to me, I'll share 2 glorious photos I found on my blog-trotting last night: Click here, but come back, ya hear! LOL

Scrapbookers Whose Work I'm Currently Once-Again Eye-Candying:
3. Mara-May
2. Adrienne Looman
1. Tracie H.

Moving right along, my Art Every Day project for 11/3 is a blinkie I created all on my own in Jasc Paint Shop Pro and Animation Shop:



I swear I think my true calling was in advertising. I'm an idea person, through and through. Last month, I developed the idea for a sub-group on 2peas for older scrappers, and I named it AARPeas. Cute, huh?



Well, now it's an active sub-group on the Pub board. In a thread about being children of the fifties and sixties, I mentioned it and asked would anyone be interested. Yup. Marie even asked to moderate and run it, which was fine with me because like I said, I'm an idea person (which usually means not such a good action person). Frankly, it's kind of tough being an older member on 2peas. It's just the fault of numbers. The online part of this scrapbooking hobby is overwhelmingly GenX and Millenial (GenY). At least on 2peas it is. So, we mature-er ladies needed a lil sumpin' to call our own.

Now, this brings me to my latest blinkie, the CK one. I've held my tongue about the recent scandals, taking my time to really flesh out how I feel about it all. I know several things upset me about it, and geez, between the Big Picture ruckus, the CK HOF photog fiasco and now the 2peas G-Girls' private skank talk outing, I get dizzy trying to think about it at all. But, I do know my gut feeling on the HOF thing, and so once again, my facetious sense of humor honed right on in at CK's motto "CK OK" with the little check mark. Turning the phrase pretty much sums it all up for me on that particular verdict.

As for the others, I'm either still making up my mind or my cynicism over expecting any industry changes makes me want to just not think about it at all. I will confess to mulling over snarky references to gardens of eden and apples, but nothing catchy has come to me yet and may never. And to think, after 2 years of being on 2peas I finally place my first order the very same day that the "Glitch" post was made. Is my timing nuts, or what?

Speaking of orders, that 2peas order arrived today. I have not been able to find the 8x8 American Crafts 3-ring binders anywhere I usually shop, and I wanted some, dangit. 2peas was sold out (as usual - frustrating bigtime) of every spine color except the lavendar/lilac/purple/ whatever it's called, and that's Missy's favorite color. Plus that color was marked down 50% to like $6 a binder. So of course I scooped up 2 of them and had to exhibit tremendous self-control to not order more. Then, 2peas is one of the few places I know of that carries Maya Road chipboard albums and the darling little house books were in stock and at a great price, so I picked up 2 of those. Yes, I paid shipping {pout}, but I wanted those things. I through in the Queen & Co felt ribbon in the purple just for grins.

I also received my 2Scrappy Chix order. Got free shipping, and I scooped up some more felt ribbon, as well as some Marah Johnson goodies, some IP Circus Rose papers, the Cherry Arte Arcade papers I'd been denying myself, HS rhinestone stars, DCWV Rockstar shipboard alphas, and some Luxe Jotters. Nothing brand new, but all great stuff.

I had so much fun shopping there that when another ad for 30% off my entire order hit my inbox, I was back over there. I did more serious damage this time, eeks! I'll be sure and share when it arrives. All I will say is that I ordered enough to get free shipping and that was net of the 30% off. Good stuff!

A couple of days ago, I got the stamps I'd ordered from Scrap Candy. Finally, something new! LOL October Afternoon's Candid Camera stamps. I've been looking for a journaling stamp with the who/what/when/where/why questions, and this gave me 4 of those.

While it looks like I've gone hog wild with the pocketbook and to heck with my budget, let me share that all these items are part of a carefully thought out plan to one day soon be crafted into Christmas gifts. I have lists and lists on lists. So, I guess I could say I've already done quite a bit of shopping already. If the ding dang materials would craft themselves into cool presents, I'd be sitting pretty. LOL But I don't think I'll be hurting too much having to play and create, do you?

Friday's Here

My Art Every Day project for today is a cute little 'kinda' matching money box for my niece, to go with that Disney card. This is where I'll put her cash gift. That way she has 2 presents to go along with a book (I buy every niece and nephew one for Christmas just on general principles), cuz these are good for rings and 7-y-o-girl things. Polly Pockety things. Everyone needs a stash box, no matter how young or old, right?

I started about 8 of these almost 2 years ago, in addition to several that I made for Missy's friends in dance team. I got into a zone with my paints and didn't want to quit. The ones that didn't get finished were at least covered with color and could hang, waiting to be embellished. As happens a lot around here at Casa Miguel, inspiration hits me when it's ready to. I needed a little box to decorate and thought, now's the time to finish some of those that I'd started. Gotta love it, no expiration dates. That's how I roll, what can I say? LOL

In other news, I'm feeling calmer now, just about back to my status-quo. I spent last night blog-commenting, researching photo printers, watching some fave TV shows (Earl, The Office, Mad Men reruns), and a little guilty patterned paper shopping pleasure of pretty new stuff, believe it or not. (I know, I'm very bad, but I wanted it, and I'll blog about that this weekend and show what I got, maybe).

BTW, Mad Men continues its first season reruns every Thursday at 10 p.m. EST on AMC if you are interested in catching it. I myself became completely hooked on it, but was incredibly bored by the first episode and nearly didn't give it another chance. So, yes, you missed that episode but it might bode well that you did! You didn't miss anything you can't learn by starting with episode #2 on Nov. 8. LOL Let me just say, except for the Damages season finale (which was par excellence every second), Mad Men's finale was the best show I've seen in a while. Definitely grew on me....my favorite Don Draper quote: "It's not a viewer. It's a carrousel." (Ya kinda have to watch it to understand...)

Anyway, Hubs' attempt to install our new dishwasher went bust, mainly because he was in one of his moods and did not want to do it at all. I see now that this contributed to my no-good-terrible-dayness as much as anything else, by the way. {eyeroll} He did get the old one out and I managed to get all the gunk off the floor of the cut-out, and so Jose the install guy is here today.

There's also a another glitch: the front of the new dishwasher had a dent in it that neither I nor Hubs saw. The install guy pointed it out, what a guy! and suggested that he install this one, then come back with a pristine one and swap it out once they get another one (a few days, as it has to come from another store because my local Lowes is all sold out of this model now). The obvious fix, a new front panel, was not an option on this model.

So, the dishwasher saga continues, except that I have one to use and try out until my undamaged one comes. And, Jose the install guy is very nice, so I'll get to have him visit again. So sad when you look forward to having the install guy visit, huh? LOL

Well, today's blog entry is being posted earlier than yesterday's, but I would like to shoot for posting each day's entry before I go to bed the night before. I'll keep trying to shave off time and hope for the best. Thanks for reading and commenting, guys, you totally rawk!